IF GREATER Western Sydney is to win its first premiership this season – as most punters have predicted – it will need to produce a feat that hasn't been achieved by any team in more than 70 years. 

The Giants' shock 56-point hammering from Adelaide in their season-opener at Adelaide Oval sent the precocious flag favourite plummeting to the bottom of the ladder with a percentage of just 61.9.

In the 120-year history of the AFL/VFL, just two teams have won the premiership after languishing in last position after round one.

Carlton did it in 1907 and Richmond matched the effort in 1943 – and the Giants' round one loss was by a bigger margin than either of these long-ago instances.

The Blues, under coaching pioneer Jack Worrall, were the reigning premiers, having stormed to their first flag in 1906, when they suffered a 26-point home loss to St Kilda (which had missed the finals the previous year) in the opening round of 1907. 

However, Carlton soon put to bed any suggestion of a premiership hangover by dropping just three more games on its way to back-to-back flags. 

The following year the Blues claimed the first premiership three-peat. 

Thirty-six years later, once again at Princes Park, the Tigers suffered a 44-point round-one caning from Carlton (also a non-finallist the year before) despite firing more scoring shots, blazing 8.23 (71) to the Blues' 17.13 (115).

But Richmond ultimately turned the tables on their 1942 Grand Final opponent Essendon as the legendary Jack Dyer won his only flag as captain-coach.

All of which just adds another layer of intrigue to the Giants' quest for an historic, ice-breaking premiership. 

Incidentally, there has been just one instance of the reverse scenario – the top team after round one ending up with the wooden spoon – and that was North Melbourne in 1956. 

It's highly unlikely we'll see a repeat of that given the current top team is the Giants' conqueror, Adelaide.

ZEROES TO HEROES

Premiership teams that were on the bottom after round one.

• Information supplied by Col Hutchinson, the AFL's history and statistics guru.