LEON Cameron has lauded his leadership group for ensuring the 'letdown factor' coming off a watershed win over Hawthorn was never an issue as Greater Western Sydney thrashed Carlton on Saturday.
The Giants were cock-a-hoop after their shock 10-point win over the Hawks in round six, but came out hungrier than ever and knocked-off the Blues by a club-record 78 points at Etihad Stadium.
"It was an emotional week last week knocking off the Hawks. There's always that question mark of a young group: 'What's their appetite to back up?'," Cameron said post-match. "But clearly I can see they've got a huge appetite to work hard and that was the pleasing thing about today."
Click here for full match details and stats
Although the coach avoided addressing the possibility of a letdown with his players, he was thrilled that his leadership group of Phil Davis, Callan Ward, Shane Mumford, Heath Shaw and Tom Scully took up the issue.
"Yeah I saw that probably from Monday, Tuesday and in particular Wednesday at training," he said.
"Probably our Wednesday session we started off a little slow in the first five minutes, but after that the remaining 45 minutes I clearly walked away and said ‘well, our boys are ready to go'.
"Sometimes you can't sense that, sometimes it's the flip of a coin, but I just looked at them and thought 'No, they're ready to roll. They're ready to have a crack'.
"We knew Carlton would come because of what happened last week (loss to the previously winless Brisbane Lions), but all we can do is control our work rate and I thought it was really pleasing that we did run out the 120 minutes."
GWS won every quarter and dominated the match with 40 scoring shots to 12, from 46 more inside-50s and 77 more possessions than the hapless Blues.
Having copped some hidings in their formative years, Cameron said his hard-running outfit hadn't forgotten those lessons as they climbed to a 5-2 win-loss record.
Five talking points: Blues v Giants
"I think they're pretty motivated. This young side's been through a fair bit, they've been beaten around the ears the first two years," he said.
"The last half of last year and the start of this year they're starting to realise they can compete with a fair few of the sides in the competition. There's a good foundation of experiences of being resilient.
"They were pretty quick to remind each other at three-quarter time they just want to continue on. I think we kept Carlton to a goal in the last quarter, so defensive actions came first."
The Giants had winners all over the ground, and star forward Jeremy Cameron (five goals) capitalised on his side's midfield dominance – led by Stephen Coniglio (32 touches), Adam Treloar (31) and Dylan Shiel (30).
WATCH: Leon Cameron's full press conference
Although some outside of GWS might be reassessing where the Giants could finish this season after an impressive fortnight, Cameron's focus in on next week against Adelaide at Spotless Stadium.
"Two weeks ago, when we were walloped by the Eagles, is a friendly reminder that if you're not on, anyone will beat anyone," he said.
"The challenge for us is we've never won three in a row and we play a very, very good side in Adelaide that sit level pegging with us on the ladder."
Cameron confirmed co-captain Davis would return from a corked leg, while Ryan Griffen (hyperextended knee) is also expected to be fit for the Crows clash.
