THE WESTERN Bulldogs survived an early scare before claiming a 42-point victory over Greater Western Sydney at Canberra's Manuka Oval on Saturday.

The Giants held the visitors goalless in the opening term and took a surprise 11-point lead into the first break as they chased their first AFL victory, but the Bulldogs steadied to run out 15.14 (104) to 9.8 (62) winners.

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In a low standard contest between two sides very likely to be on vacation in September, Ryan Griffen (37 possessions) controlled the midfield and Shaun Higgins kicked two goals for the Dogs, who claimed the inaugural Prime Minister's Cup.

For GWS, Jeremy Cameron's star continued to rise, kicking five goals and looking dangerous throughout the game, while Tom Bugg and Toby Greene were also prominent and Jacob Townsend kept Robert Murphy quiet.

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Israel Folau was lively early, but took a heavy knock in the second quarter and faded in the second half.

Opening quarters have been one of the major problems for the Giants, but they had the first two goals on the board through debutants Josh Bruce and Taylor Adams after eight minutes and led at the first change.

Ayce Cordy wasted little time getting the visitors on the board in the second quarter, kicking a goal 90 seconds into the term to get the Dogs back within five points.

Some sustained Bulldogs pressure led to consecutive goals to Justin Sherman and Griffen as whatever coach Brendan McCartney said at the break had the desired effect.

Coach Kevin Sheedy's side showed some good composure to stay within reach, kicking back-to-back goals through Jonathan Giles and Cameron to close the gap to two points.

But the Bulldogs again kicked clear and ultimately did enough to keep the young Giants at bay.

Greater Western Sydney    2.4      5.5       8.6       9.8 (62)
Western Bulldogs              0.5    8.9   12.12    15.14 (104)
 
GOALS
Greater Western Sydney: Cameron 5,  Hampton 2, Bruce, T Adams
Western Bulldogs: Higgins 2, Cooney 2, Dahlhaus 2, Cordy, Djerrkura, Boyd, Griffen, Jones, Sherman, Wallis, Picken, Grant

BEST
Western Bulldogs: Griffen, Cross, Picken, Boyd, Higgins, Cooney
Greater Western Sydney: Cameron, Bugg, Power, Greene, Davis, Townsend

SUBSTITUTES
Western Bulldogs: Tom Liberatore replaced Jordan Roughead at halftime.
Greater Western Sydney: Devon Smith replaced Stephen Coniglio in the third quarter.

INJURIES
Greater Western Sydney: Chad Cornes (general soreness) replaced in selected side by Josh Bruce, Stephen Coniglio (concussion).
Western Bulldogs: Ryan Hargrave (hip) replaced in selected side by Mark Austin.

Reports: Nil
 
Umpires: Fleer, Leppard, Grun

Official crowd: 9,128 at Manuka Oval

James Dampney covers Sydney AFL news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_JD

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the AFL or the clubs