MIDWAY through its third season in the AFL, coach Leon Cameron feels Greater Western Sydney may have finally turned a significant corner and can start building belief it belongs at the top level.
It has been a long, slow road for the Giants to date, picking up just five wins over their opening 55 matches in the competition.
It reached a nadir two weeks ago when the side was on the receiving end of consecutive losses to West Coast and Richmond by a total of 224 points.
But GWS bounced back with a seven-point defeat to reigning premiers Hawthorn in one of its best performances on the road in team history.
The fledgling club then backed that up with a 15-point defeat to Essendon, having been within a point in the final term, with the past two weeks indicating to the coach the club is on the right track.
"When we had a bad couple of weeks their confidence can drop and that's been beaten around a bit, their confidence, over the first two-and-a-half years," Cameron said.
"But the last couple of weeks, I couldn't be prouder of the lads. They just keep on hanging in there.
"We all want to win games, but as I said to our players after the game, I'd prefer to have effort than composure at this stage.
"It was probably a bit of composure in the last quarter where we were going inside 50 and threatening to take the lead where we need to make some better decisions.
"But our effort was just first class."
The term "honourable losses" is often bandied about in the AFL, something teams like the Western Bulldogs have bristled against in recent weeks.
But to Cameron, it is a tag he is happy to accept.
"Part of actually building a club from scratch, especially with such a young list, sometimes you have to put up with honourable losses," he said.
"If you can build your game and build your club from that, it means that when the tide starts to turn, it will turn.
"It's not one specific thing, it's just a bit more composure, but our intensity was terrific."
GWS midfielder Dylan Shiel, who finished with 30 possessions, seven inside 50s and five clearances, felt his side was always in with a chance of earning its third victory of the year against the Bombers.
"Obviously we needed to do something about those performances against West Coast and Richmond," he said.
"I think it's just been our training standards. They've been really good lately.
"Throughout the whole game we had belief we were in the game, especially in that last quarter.
"The energy was up and it felt like we were right in the game, Essendon just got on top of us with contested ball."
Next up, the Giants face a trip to Brisbane to take on a Lions side that has strung together a two-game winning streak to leave GWS on the foot of the ladder.
