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GWS have boosted their top four prospects with a historic two-point AFL win in the Sydney derby against the Swans at Giants Stadium.
GWS coach Leon Cameron rates four other clubs ahead of his surging Giants after they won another nailbiter and created a slice of Sydney AFL derby history with a thrilling two-point home win over the Swans.
The 12.11 (83) to 12.9 (81) victory at Giants Stadium on Saturday means for the first time in the eight-season rivalry, GWS have won both of the home and away derbies.
Sydney won three of the four quarters by single digit margins, but were were outscored by 21 in the second.
In front of the lowest ever derby crowd of 16,116, the Swans led by 17 early on and then by two in the final quarter but paid a heavy price for some missed chances in the final term.
Isaac Heeney, who finished with a match-high four goals, logged behinds with successive set shots and James Rose kicked another attempt into the player on the mark.
Jeremy Finlayson and Jacob Hopper made Sydney pay for their profligacy with successive goals.
Heeney kicked a goal to cut the deficit to two and Sam Reid came agonisingly close to taking a mark in the dying seconds, but GWS held on to notch a third straight win.
Cameron said GWS needed to improve by 10 per cent on fundamentals like ground balls, tackles and option taking to match the four teams he rated ahead of his club.
"There's no doubt we've got a lot of areas to improve," Cameron said.
"Clearly you're talking about Geelong, and Brisbane and West Coast and Richmond that have probably skipped away from some of the clubs that are jostling up to try and to get spots in the eight and the top four."
Coming off a one-point away victory over Port Adelaide last week, GWS have won three of four games they've contested this season that have been decided by a goal or less.
"One and two points in the last two weeks has been a bit nerve racking at the end, but it speaks volumes for our footy club," Cameron said.
Hopper, who kicked a career-high three goals and tallied 26 touches, was named the Brett Kirk Medallist as best on ground.
Fellow midfielders Zac Williams and Toby Green both racked up more than 30 touches, they also each won ten clearances and pulled off six tackles, and key defender Nick Haynes took several vital intercept marks.
Sydney, who suffered a fifth successive loss, kicked the first three goals, and led by eight at quarter time.
GWS turned the momentum around in the second quarter, kicking five goals to one.
They booted the first goal of the third quarter to stretch the lead to 21 but Sydney kicked four goals to two for the term to trail by just five heading into the final period.
Ryan Clark kicked his first goal in Swans colours to give them a one-point lead before the visitors squandered opportunities to expand their buffer.
"We played well for three quarters and won three quarters of the game, but we dropped away in that second quarter and that's what cost us in the end," Swans coach John Longmire said.
