Greater Western Sydney v Hawthorn: Hawks turn into Giant bunnies

Greater Western Sydney 7.3 13.6 19.10 24.14 (158) Hawthorn 2.1 6.3 9.6 12.11 (83)

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 7.3 13.6 19.10 24.14 (158) HAWTHORN 2.1 6.3 9.6 12.11 (83)
GOALS GWS: Johnson 5, Lobb 4, Cameron 3, Palmer 3, Greene3, Scully 3, Whitfield 2, Ward. Hawthorn: Gunston 5, Breust 3, Puopolo 2, Rioli, Howe.
BEST: GWS: Dylan Shiel, Steve Johnson, Rory Lobb, Stephen Coniglio, Lachie Whitfield. Hawthorn: Jack Gunston, Grant Birchall, Luke Breust, Jordan Lewis, Ben McEvoy.
Injuries: Greater Western Sydney: R Griffen (back, replaced in the selected side by N Haynes). Hawthorn: J Frawley (concussion).
UMPIRES Ryan, McInerney, Foot.
CROWD 13,766 at Spotless Stadium.

There aren't many teams in recent years that can call Hawthorn their bunny.

But after belting the Hawks by 75 points – their second win on the trot over the three-time reigning premiers – Greater Western Sydney can lay claim to being the competition heavyweight's unlikely bogey side.

The Giants' five-goal hero Steve Johnson celebrates with Josh Kelly. Photo: Getty Images

Last year it was a seven-goal feast by Jeremy Cameron that propelled GWS to an upset 10-point win at Spotless Stadium. This time, the beacon was carried by a player at the other end of his career.

Former Geelong triple-premiership winner Steve Johnson has made a sizeable impact early in his tenure at GWS. But his five-goal first-half effort on Saturday was on another level.

Backed up by a rampant midfield performance by Dylan Shiel – heading a long list of enthusiastic contributions across the team – Johnson was at his competitive, determined and niggly best, annoying the life out of Luke Hodge and setting the standard in front of a vocal crowd of 13,766.

Dylan Shiel of the Giants breaks away from the Hawks. Photo: Getty Images

"When you're such a competitor like him, it just rubs off on [the players around him]," coach Leon Cameron said after his 50th game in charge.

"To bob up and have 20-odd possessions and kick five goals, it's a pretty good effort for a 32-year-old. But there is a trend in the game at the moment where some of these guys that look like they're at the back end of their career are actually playing some of the best footy of their lives. Steve's been to the mountain three times and won. But right now you'd have to say he's playing some real good quality footy."

The Giants won six of eight games at Spotless Stadium in 2015. But none were as impressive as their first game there this season, which was built on a club record 45-point seven-goal first quarter.

In the second term, GWS added another six goals to make the halftime score 13.6.84 to 6.3.39. 

Another six-goal avalanche in the third quarter took the lead past 10 goals and they finished off the destruction of Alastair Clarkson's all-stars with another five majors to complete a win that could send shudders through the competition.

The numbers told the story of the Giants' utter domination: they won the possessions by nearly 100, clearances by 18, contested possessions by 38 and made 22 more tackles.

"We started off the game really really well, gained some ascendancy in the first quarter and a bit," Cameron said. "But the pleasing thing was, when they kicked two or three goals, we responded. It wasn't just any particular person. I thought all 22 that represented the club tonight should be proud of their efforts."

The only sour note for the Giants involved Ryan Griffen, who was ruled out before the game with a back problem. Griffen trained on Friday but woke sore on Saturday and Cameron confirmed the injury would keep Griffen out for at least a month.

Meanwhile, in the Hawks' camp, Clarkson suggested there would be a thorough investigation into the way his side was playing after they scraped to three unconvincing consecutive three-point wins before meeting the Giants.

"I've said it for the past couple of weeks, not just tonight - we've got some work to do as a club. We're under no illusions as to where we're at and what we need to do. But it's going to take some hard work," Clarkson said.

"At the moment we're still four and two, so our season's well and truly alive. But we've got to find a way to play a little bit better than we did tonight."