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AAP
AAP
Joanna Guelas

Giants on guard as AFL top eight race heats up

Finn Callaghan is well aware the Giants have a tough run home to clinch an AFL finals spot. (Morgan Hancock/AAP PHOTOS)

AFL flag hopefuls Greater Western Sydney know there's little margin for error with four home-and-away rounds left.

The Giants are fifth and stuck in the logjam where only two games make the difference between fourth and 12th.

Their run home will be no easy task, with a plucky Hawthorn unit their next opponent.

Sam Mitchell's Hawks are now 11-8 after losing their opening five matches and sit just outside the top eight by percentage.

Genuine premiership contenders Brisbane, Fremantle and a surging Western Bulldogs wait for the Giants after the Hawks.

Drop a game or two and GWS could easily be out of the top eight. Win all four and a top-four finish could be theirs.

Young gun Finn Callaghan is well aware of the circumstances.

"Our last four games, they're all around us on the ladder or even higher so it's going to hopefully set us up well if we make finals," Callaghan said on Monday.

"We have a really tough block to get there so we have got to be playing our best football the next four weeks."

Hawthorn v GWS
The Giants take on Hawthorn this weekend after losing to the Hawks by six points in round 13. (Linda Higginson/AAP PHOTOS)

The former No.1 pick starred in their two-point win over Melbourne at the MCG last time out, taking a career-high 36 possessions to cause trouble for the Demons midfield.

Trailing by 27 points at quarter-time, a dogged Giants unit booted 12 of the next 15 goals before withstanding a late Demons surge to seal their victory.

"It just shows, when we win the ball around stoppage and get our ball movement up and going like we showed during the middle part of the game, we can beat anyone," Callaghan said.

"Our best football really stacks up but when we're a little bit off, like that in the first quarter and probably the last 10 minutes of the game, every team is good enough to beat anyone.

"Everyone wants to be coming into form hopefully around finals time, which is what all our players aim to do, so it's nice to play well on the weekend but I'm just happy to win at the end of the day."

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