The Giants were kept at arm's length early by the fast-starting Bombers, before flicking the switch after halftime to prevail 9.12 (66) to 7.11 (53) at Metricon Stadium and leapfrog Essendon into eighth place.

GWS and the Swans have been on the road for weeks amid Sydney's coronavirus outbreak while the Giants were coming off two disappointing losses.

"Being down by three goals at halftime and just sort of struggling to get through and not score sometimes - that can take all the energy out of you," Cameron said.

"But we still had good belief at halftime and it was a terrific second half and it was a really good character-building win - one we needed.

"... We've had a tough few weeks, just off the back of the results on the weekends.

"We know that we've been shifted around a little bit but the boys have been terrific."

The already undermanned Giants had skipper Stephen Coniglio (toe) pull out of the game on Saturday with former co-captain Callan Ward, who was originally listed as 'managed', called up.

But on his return from concussion, Giants star Lachie Whitfield (36 disposals) was everywhere while youngster Lachie Ash shut down Bombers sensation Darcy Parish.

Veteran defender Phil Davis was taken to hospital post-match as a precaution after playing through a knock to the back he suffered just before halftime.

"Davis played out the game but was still in discomfort post-match," the Giants posted on Twitter.

"Given his history with a kidney injury in 2014, the defender will be checked out at hospital."

Cameron was optimistic Coniglio would be in contention to face Port Adelaide and expected vice-captain Toby Greene, Matt De Boer, Kieren Briggs and Jake Stein to hit the ground running when they are released from isolation on Wednesday, and be in contention to play.

The Bombers impressed early with their rapid-fire ball movement and edged out to a 16-point halftime lead, while GWS were plagued by poor goal kicking.

The Giants came out of the main break with renewed intensity and dominated the third term, stringing together four consecutive goals while keeping Essendon goalless to lead by eight points at the final change.

From there, GWS held firm defensively, with the Bombers only able to snare one final-quarter major.

The loss is a big blow to Essendon's finals hopes, with coach Ben Rutten lamenting a day where GWS "had their way with us" around contests.

"We're not going to get too far in the finals if we play like we have the last couple of weeks," Rutten said.

"So that's our priority at the moment, is to get our game back to where it was for the most part of the season, really."

Australian Associated Press