SUDDENLY on a winning streak for the first time in club history, Greater Western Sydney is embracing the challenge of meeting the competition's hottest team next up, the Sydney Swans.
The Giants recorded a 15.10 (100) to 14.8 (92) victory over Carlton on Sunday, making it back-to-back wins following last week's 45-point victory over the Brisbane Lions.
Next they face a Swans outfit that has strung together nine straight wins and will be smarting from a round-one loss to the Giants at Spotless Stadium.
But GWS head coach Leon Cameron says his young troops will meet the almighty task head-on.
"They're an awesome side," Cameron said of the Swans. "They're a top-two side and they're up and going at the moment.
"We feel as though we've got our game back on track in the last four weeks.
"It's a huge challenge, we understand it's a massive challenge, but one thing for sure is this young club is looking forward to that challenge."
GWS is in the middst of the best run in its short existence, suffering narrow losses to Hawthorn and Essendon before its winning streak.
Jeremy Cameron (ankle) and Tom Scully (hamstring) both missed Sunday's win, with only Cameron some chance of recovering in time to take his place in the line-up at the SCG.
One man who will be there is ruckman Shane Mumford, who again put in a masterful performance against the Blues.
Spending nearly the entire match in the ruck, Mumford finished with 55 hit-outs, adding 18 disposals and nine tackles in an effort that could lead to Brownlow votes.
His teammates walk a little bit taller just having Mumford out on the ground.
"Ask any player at our footy club and they just love having him around," Leon Cameron said.
"He's a warrior, he just gets up and continues on. He plays 90 per cent of game time in the ruck.
"He's enormous for our footy club and it's no surprise to see Dylan Shiel, Callan Ward, Adam Treloar (and) Stephen Coniglio play some really good football on the back of Shane Mumford.
"And he'll be looking forward to taking on his old side next Saturday night."
The Giants jumped out of the blocks this year with victories in two of their first three games, before slumping to an eight-game winning streak.
But the Carlton triumph takes them to 4-9 for the year, level with the Blues and the Western Bulldogs, with Melbourne (4-8) playing later on Sunday.
"To get a couple of wins in a row, and now four for the year, and be really competitive in probably 10 of the 13 weeks, it creates an enormous amount of confidence," the GWS coach said.
"Winning gives the place a really good feel and a good vibe and understanding what hard work is all about and what goes into winning a game.
"The hard work comes first, the talent comes second. You can see that exciting style of play can come out when they do the hard work first.
"It was really pleasing."
