A late goal from local hero Tom Green has handed GWS a thrilling comeback victory against Hawthorn in Canberra to drive a dagger into their rivals’ finals ambitions.
In the 29th minute of the last quarter, Green picked up a loose ball 30m from goal and snapped a clutch major to give his side the lead after they had trailed from early in the first term.
Sunday afternoon’s 12.12 (84) to 12.10 (82) win lifts the Giants into the top four and keeps the Hawks four points adrift of the eight.
With their winning streak extended to five games, Adam Kingsley's men are now right back in premiership contention.
"Hawthorn are a really, really good team. Let's not push that aside, they were the better team today," Kingsley said.
"So to play those sort of teams and end up not quite playing our best, but still coming out on top is really important and really pleasing."
Sam Mitchell’s side are still a red hot chance of what seemed an unlikely finals berth after their torrid start to the season, with two of the Hawks' remaining three fixtures against the league’s bottom two.
"Three quarters, as we learned today, is not enough and three quarters of a season is what we're relying on being enough for us because the first quarter was obviously not what we would hope for," he said.
"So right now, I hope the season is still in our hands."
The Giants got off to a flying start, amassing the first eight inside-50s of the game.
In-form full forward Jesse Hogan booted a game-high five goals, including the first of the match in the opening minute.
Hawthorn got underway through Jack Gunston, who converted from 30m out after a pinpoint Dylan Moore centre - the first of the veteran's four-goal haul.
The Hawks scored the game’s next four majors to open up a sizeable lead, with nothing seemingly going the Giants' way.
GWS’s defensive Lachlans got themselves into an awful mess coming off their goal-line: Ash sold Whitfield short with a wobbly kick that ended up in the hands of Gunston, who duly punished them with his second.
Frozen out of the attacking 50, the Giants’ frustration began to show.
GWS captain Toby Greene got into a tangle with Jai Newcombe on the sideline after the Hawthorn midfielder took exception to an overly enthusiastic tackle.
Hogan pegged one back for the men in orange, but Greene was again aggrieved after his 50m penalty gave the Hawks a ride upfield and Massimo D'Ambrosio extended their lead.
Heading into the final quarter with a 28-point deficit, fortunes finally turned in the Giants' favour.
Greene was awarded a 50m penalty of his own as he scored two goals either side of a Darcy Jones six-pointer.
Then the pendulum swung back Hawthorn's way. Ash again kicked it straight to a Hawthorn forward in his defensive zone and Gunston again made GWS pay, extending the gap back to 16 points.
But the 13,268-strong Manuka Oval crowd lifted the Giants once more.
Two more Hogan goals brought the Giants to within six points and the Canberra faithful erupted when Green iced the result in the dying minutes.
