Cameron boots six as Giants maul Dogs to open campaign
Giants spearhead Jeremy Cameron bagged six goals as GWS laid an immediate statement of premiership intent in Canberra with an 82-point win over the Western Bulldogs, their biggest triumph over the 2016 premiers.
Unstoppable: Super Giant Jeremy Cameron breaks free at the UNSW Canberra Oval.
In a horror day in the nation's capital for the Bulldogs, hard-nosed midfielder Tom Liberatore suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury in the first quarter, threatening to rob him of a significant chunk of 2018.
Liberatore fell to the UNSW Canberra Oval turf early in the match clutching his right knee after being shepherded off the ball, and was left writhing in pain under the main grandstand before being helped to the Bulldogs bench.
The 25-year-old was left to watch his teammates flounder against a slick Giants outfit who exposed the gaping gulf in class that has opened between these two clubs since the Bulldogs deposed GWS in the 2016 preliminary final.
While Luke Beveridge's makeshift forward line barely landed a blow, the GWS front six had a field day in front of 10,454 fans led by Cameron and recently re-signed livewire Toby Greene, who booted four goals of his own.
They were supported by the ever-slick Giants midfield in which Stephen Coniglio, Josh Kelly and Tim Taranto ran riot assisting Rory Lobb, who did the bulk of the ruck work against Jordan Roughead, Jackson Trengove and Tim English.
Perhaps most pleasing for coach Leon Cameron would have been his makeshift back six, which not only restricted the Bulldogs to a paltry seven goals but provided plenty of thrust out of defence despite the loss of Nathan Wilson to Fremantle and Zac Williams to injury.
Second-gamer Jeremy Finlayson was a dependable rock at the back and his booming left foot looks a suitable replacement to Wilson's.
Phil Davis gave no quarter throughout and Aidan Corr returned successfully to the top-grade side after a pre-season punctuated by injury.
But the man of the moment was Cameron, as he so often is when the Giants win big.
He looks to have bulked up in the off-season, and it doesn't bode well for opposition defences trying to contain the raking left-footer who enjoys scampering up the ground as much as playing from deep in the forward line.
The Bulldogs couldn't find a suitable match up for Cameron and he took almost every chance presented to him, while magnanimously dishing off a handful while he was at it.
One-way traffic: Toby Greene takes a mark before kicking true for another Giants major.
Cameron was goalless in that 2016 preliminary final loss to the Bulldogs, which still very much stings these Giants, but has gone from strength to strength since.
Conversely, Bulldogs stars from that year like Marcus Bontempelli, Jason Johannisen and Easton Wood appear to be shadows of their former selves 18 months on.
They'll improve – they must do given how insipid the majority of Sunday's performance was in Canberra.
But so will the Giants, and already they look a team seriously capable of building on a pair of recent preliminary final losses.
GWS 4.2 11.4 17.4 20.13 (133)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.3 4.4 5.6 7.9 (51)
GOALS: GWS - Cameron 6, Greene 4, Patton 2, Kelly 2, Coniglio 2, Himmelberg, Shiel, Langdon, Tomlinson Western Bulldogs - Roughead 2, Suckling, Gowers, Dunkley, Dale, Honeychurch
BEST: GWS – Cameron, Coniglio, Greene, Kelly, Finlayson, Taranto, Shiel, Whitfield Western Bulldogs - Hunter, MacRae, English, McLean, Gowers
INJURIES: GWS - Western Bulldogs - Liberatore (knee)
CROWD: 10,454 at UNSW Canberra Oval
UMPIRES: Simon Meredith, David Harris, Andrew Mitchell
VOTES
Jeremy Cameron (Giants) 9
Stephen Coniglio (Giants) 8
Toby Greene (Giants) 8
Lachie Whitfield (Giants) 8
Tim Taranto (Giants) 8