By Chris Nice and Jack Alfonso
Greater Western Sydney has kept their aspirations for a September berth alive, following its biggest ever victory of 108 points against a disheartened Gold Coast outfit.
Despite a host of injuries to Daniel Lloyd and Rory Lobb, the Giants seemed to barely break a sweat with the final 20.14 (134) to 4.2 (26) margin hardly indicative of the home side playing with just two men on the bench.
Jeremy Cameron was absolutely explosive for the home side, finishing with six of GWS' 20 majors, while Josh Kelly, Lachie Whitfield and Callan Ward ended their opulent outings with 38, 36 and 35 touches respectively.
The Suns meanwhile had no such ball-winners, with Jarrod Harbrow, David Swallow and Touk Miller the only players to rack up above 20 touches, while Jarrod Witts finished with 64 hit-outs.
Gold Coast's excruciating loss was the worst for the season, with the Suns yet to win a game since round five and becoming the first side in AFL history to not record a mark inside 50.
It took some time for the Giants to get their first, but a sustained spell of forward pressure saw Jonathon Patton slot the first of the game; it being just his sixth of the season.
The dynamic approach was furthered by the ferocity of Callan Ward and Dylan Shiel, the latter of whom finished the term with 12 possessions and three clearances, albeit with a disposal efficiency of 50 per cent.
As the Suns began to falter and the affair began to become increasingly one-sided, they were lucky the margin wasn't far uglier, with their opposition registering six behinds for the term.
With Aaron Young squeezing through the only score of the visitors for the term, it looked as if the margin would rest at just one straight kick at quarter-time.
But the quarter nonetheless ended in some controversy, with the returning Matt de Boer taking a mark after the siren had sounded - his subsequent conversion allowing the Giants to finish the term 12 points in front.
It soon turned into a nightmare for the Suns, who succumbed to a seven-goal GWS onslaught from just the 13 entries inside 50.
GWS continued what was fast becoming a training drill until calamity appeared to strike, with the home side losing Daniel Lloyd, Rory Lobb and Dylan Shiel in a carnage-ridden 30 seconds of play.
Although the latter returned in the third term with just a minor ankle complaint, Lloyd and Lobb were ruled out for the rest of the game with knee and rib injuries respectively.
Lobb was eventually taken to hospital for precautionary scans, with no evidence of lung damage.
Injuries aside, GWS looked virtually unfazed, with Jeremy Cameron booting three of the Giants' seven for the term.
His strength and goalkicking unrivalled, Sam Reid was the only one to come close to Cameron's forward dominance, booting two of his own for the quarter, while Zac Langdon and Lloyd chipped in to the GWS juggernaut.
The Suns on the other hand showed no such superiority, with Aaron Young and Jarrod Harbrow the only goalscorers, while Tom Lynch was kept goalless thanks to the solid defensive work of Phil Davis, who ended the half with seven intercept marks.
Thanks to the defensive efforts of the Giants, the Suns failed to record a mark inside 50 for the entire match.
GWS' pressure over the ground saw them own majority of the uncontested ball, with the margin in turn resting at a telling 44 points at the major change despite having just two men on the bench.
The third term was much of the same story with the Suns kicking just the one goal opposed to a whopping 8.3 from the Giants.
Harry Himmelberg's day went from good to great in the space of just 30 seconds, kicking back-to-back majors for the Giants, the first of which a remarkable snap around the body 40m out.
Ward soon added his name to the scoresheet with one of his own, burying the Suns as they struggled to find a response to the Giants' attack.
The Suns slouch only got worse, with an out on the full kick-in resulting in a simple Cameron major, with the big forward able to waltz around the Gold Coast defence who all had their backs to the play following the former's mark.
A crunching tackle from de Boer in the attacking 50 continued to be indicative of the GWS pressure, with his subsequent major ballooning the margin out to 75 points with 10 minutes left to play.
The Suns managed to break the Giants' run following a classy snap around the body courtesy of Will Brodie, yet the Giants were quick to return fire through Josh Kelly, who did one better with a remarkable checkside goal on the run.
As Cameron converted his fifth with another casual snap around the body following a gut-busting run to position, the margin blew out to 89 points at three-quarter time after Ward jagged his second.
With Stuart Dew's men desperate to salvage something from the game, the Suns were still unable to bring out many highlights for the term, with just one rushed behind bringing their total to 26.
Even with Jarrod Witts dominating in the ruck (64 hit-outs) following the absence of Lobb, the Suns were still unable to find any fluency around the clearances, with the final count sitting at 54-36.
It still took the Giants 15 minutes to hit the scoreboard, with Josh Kelly the benefactor to put the home side just one straight kick away from the mythical 100-point thumping.
Fittingly, Cameron was the one to inflict the Suns with the killing blow; his sixth putting the Giants up by 102 points with seven minutes left to play.
The GWS spearhead looked like converting his seventh just moments later as he ran back with the flight of the ball into the forward 50, yet his heroic fist forward only resulted in a rushed behind as his fellow forward tried to gather the tumbling footy.
As de Boer kicked the final major of the game moments later, the margin finished up at a whopping 108 points, with the Giants moving up to ninth position on the ladder.
Greater Western Sydney will take full advantage of their allocated bye to gear up for a massive second half of the season, with a third finals appearance still a possibility in their minds.
Meanwhile Gold Coast will be presented with an opportunity to notch up their fourth win of the season against St Kilda next Saturday at Metricon Stadium.
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 2.6 9.9 17.12 20.14 (134)
GOLD COAST 1.0 3.1 4.1 4.2 (26)
GOALS
Greater Western Sydney: Cameron 6, de Boer 3, Kelly 2, Reid 2, Ward 2, Himmelberg 2, Langdon, Lloyd, Patton
Gold Coast: Young 2, Harbrow, Brodie
BEST
Greater Western Sydney: Cameron, Kelly, Whitfield, Ward, de Boer, Tomlinson
Gold Coast: Witts, Harbrow, Swallow, Miller, Young
INJURIES
Greater Western Sydney: Lloyd (knee), Lobb (rib)
Gold Coast: Nil
TALKING POINTS
1. SUNS SINK LOWER
It's been nothing short of a horror month for Stuart Dew's men, whose style of play and output on the field has been terrible for a young team with a pool of talent.
Coming off the back of a humiliating 85-point thumping at the hands of Geelong last week, the Suns fared no better against the Giants, succumbing to their sixth-highest losing margin in their eight-year history.
The Suns similarly broke AFL records, with not one player registering a mark inside 50 for the entire game.
In turn, their forward line barely looked threatening for the entire day, with Tom Lynch failing to have so much as an impact on the game thanks to the solid defensive work of Phil Davis.
Devoid of intensity, the Suns were hapless as the Giants ran rings around them, piling on a whopping 20 goals opposed to their four.
The deficit on the stats sheet was even more alarming, with Gold Coast registering 176 possessions less than their opposition, and just three of their 22 getting over 20 touches for the second consecutive week.
With performances such as these, it's difficult to see where the Suns will be heading in the future.
In Tom Lynch's case, the path ahead may be more distinct.
2. A CLINIC BY CAMERON
While Gold Coast struggled to get the ball through the big sticks, Jeremy Cameron had no such problems with his 6.3 outscoring the entire Suns' outfit.
His 26 disposals for the game was similarly greater than any Sun on the entire field.
Presenting strongly at the ball and sensing an opportunity for a massive bag, Cameron was close to unstoppable as he outmuscled, outplayed and outclassed his direct opponents.
It is the second time this season the GWS spearhead has kicked six in a match, with the first occasion coming against the Western Bulldogs in round one.
Currently just three goals behind Coleman Medal leader Ben Brown, another big bag from the Giant in a fortnight's time could place him on top of the leaderboard.
With Brown goalless against the Cats earlier today, both he and Cameron will be hoping Jesse Hogan doesn't put together another impressive haul on Queen's Birthday.
Top spot depends on it.
3. KELLY MAGIC
Jeremy Cameron may have kicked six, but Josh Kelly's was no doubt the most incredible during the Giants' outing at Spotless Stadium.
On the run and 30m out from goal in the left pocket, Kelly unleashed a spiraling banana, which sailed high and miraculously flew through for another six points.
Kelly couldn't believe it, neither could the Suns.
When things are going your way, you can't really do much wrong.
4. GWS INJURY LIST LENGTHENS YET AGAIN
While a 108-point victory brings no positives for the Suns, the Giants too weren't immune to some negativity, with two stars added to the already lengthy injury list.
Within the space of just 30 seconds, the home side fell victim to their terrible injury curse as Daniel Lloyd, Rory Lobb and Dylan Shiel all went down.
The latter appeared to be in the most discomfort after hurting his ankle in a scuffle, yet played out the remainder of the game and finishing with a final 35 disposals.
His fellow Giants weren't so lucky, with Lloyd getting his knee caught in a tackle and Lobb eventually taken to hospital after being kneed in the ribs.
With both likely to miss a significant portion of football, they join Toby Greene, Tom Scully, Zac Williams and a host of other players on the sidelines.
Stephen Coniglio's return next week will serve as some good news, yet such an injury list could be damning for a potential dash towards September.
5. THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM?
That being said, footy's a funny game in how circumstances differ dramatically from week to week.
Last fortnight, a third consecutive finals appearance had been all but ruled out for Greater Western Sydney, yet two remarkable wins over Adelaide and Gold Coast has the popular opinion swinging back in their favour.
Defeating last year's runners-up is certainly no easy feat despite their injury-hit list, while a comprehensive win over the Suns teased what the Giants could do when on song.
Currently sitting in ninth position and just two points outside the top-eight, there's still a chance the Giants could squeeze in, despite their increasingly lengthening injury list and tricky draw after their bye, in which they face Hawthorn, Richmond, West Coast and Port Adelaide.
Just don't discount them yet.
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