Posted March 03, 2017 20:45:01

Greater Western Sydney have their first AFLW win three games quicker than their male counterparts, with wise words from Giants' co-captain Phil Davis proving inspirational.

The Giants needed a massive defensive effort and some inaccurate Melbourne kicking to secure a 3.2 (20) to 1.9 (15) win on Friday at Blacktown in western Sydney.

GWS scored only 1.1 after the third quarter and trailed 29-13 in inside 50s and 8-3 in marks inside 50.

It took the Giants four games to get their first win, compared to seven for their men five years ago.

Defender Davis inspired the Giants' women with some stirring words when he addressed them on Tuesday.

"Obviously, something hit home and the words he spoke were tremendous, exactly what we wanted and needed," Giants coach Tim Schmidt said.

"The way the group responded at the training sessions on Tuesday and Thursday was spot on and superb and it showed out there today."

Melbourne's first loss in four games dents their hopes of making the grand final.

"Now we're back in the pack a little bit and we've got to wait and see what happens with other results," Melbourne coach Michael Stinear said.

Playing their first game interstate, the Demons pinned the Giants back in their own half for big chunks of the match.

The Giants led by 12, 10 and nine points respectively at the first three breaks.

Jess Dal Pos and Emma Swanson were outstanding for the Giants.

"The leaders really stood up," Schmidt said.

Melbourne's Karen Paxman and Daisy Pearce were the game's two biggest possession getters, with 25 and 21 respectively.

The Demons didn't get any scoreboard rewards for their early domination and the Giants capitalised with Jacinda Barclay and Aimee Schmidt kicking the only two goals of the opening quarter.

The Giants didn't notch one inside 50 in the second quarter, but misfiring Melbourne added just two behinds for the term.

In the third quarter, Rebecca Beeson converted a set shot to give the Giants a 19-3 lead, before Catherine Phillips finally landed the Demons' only goal.

The visitors added five behinds to one in a goalless final quarter in which the Giants struggled to advance beyond halfway, but were again assisted by their opponents' wayward kicking.

Stinear attributed some of the many misses to a lack of composure and said he had a pretty young forward line.

"We're disappointed; we feel like we didn't play our best. We still had opportunities to win the game — they were too good'," Stinear said.

"They were first to the footy and wanted it more than we did."

AAP

Topics: australian-football-league, sport, blacktown-2148, nsw, melbourne-3000, vic, australia