Melbourne have reached the outright second-longest winning run in club history by extending their streak to a dozen matches with a 67-point AFL thrashing of GWS.
A dominant 10-goal third quarter was the catalyst as the Demons registered their highest score of the season in the 19.6 (120) to 7.11 (53) win at the MCG.
Christian Petracca starred with 29 disposals and two goals as Max Gawn, Jack Viney and Clayton Oliver (31 disposals, seven clearances) all shone in the engine room.
Bayley Fritsch (four goals) and Kysaiah Pickett (three) fired in attack, while Harrison Petty returned from injury to play an influential role alongside rock-solid Steven May in executing the Dees' defensive intercept game.
Melbourne's 12-match winning run dates back to round 20 last year and includes the drought-breaking grand final victory.
But it is still well short of the club-record 19 straight victories across 1955-56.
The latest performance didn't set hearts racing in the first half but was still enough to blow away a GWS side that was good enough to reach the second week of last year's finals series.
The Giants dominated clearances (15-3), contested possessions (46-33) and insides-50s (19-9) in the first quarter as co-captains Josh Kelly and Stephen Coniglio got to work.
But Melbourne managed to keep their opponents goalless in the opening term for the third straight week as May and Petty led the rebounding efforts.
Umpire backchat will be a hot topic of discussion again after the Demons were pinged 50-metres for disagreeing with a free kick paid to a ducking Bobby Hill for a high tackle.
The resulting goal trimmed the margin to 19 points, 10 minutes after half-time.
But Pickett nailed the quick reply and four goals in a seven-minute burst helped the Demons kick away during a 10.2 to 2.2 third-quarter demolition.
It was the highest-scoring quarter by any team this season.
Tom Sparrow's lunge to knock back a loose ball and set up a goal for Fristch in the final quarter epitomised Melbourne's superior work rate and desperation.
Tom Green (35 disposals), Kelly (33) and Callan Ward (34) won plenty of the ball for GWS and Hill finished with two goals.
Number three draft pick Finn Callaghan had 13 disposals and kicked a late goal on debut.
Just 20,791 fans were on hand to witness Melbourne's third home game of the season, their first against an interstate opponent.
A total of more than 102,000 saw the reigning premiers' opening two home games against Victorian rivals.
Crows impress in win over Tigers
Key forward Taylor Walker has booted five goals to inspire Adelaide to a 19-point AFL win against Richmond.
Walker's haul and four goals to his teammate Elliott Himmelberg underpinned the Crows' 15.11 (101) to 12.10 (82) victory on Saturday at Adelaide Oval.
Walker slotted four goals in a dominant first half as the Crows joined Richmond with two wins from five games this season.
Adelaide's Ben Keays (31 disposals), Rory Laird (26 touches, one goal) and Matt Crouch (26 possessions) were big midfield ball-winners.
And Crows defenders Brodie Smith (28 possessions) and Tom Doedee (22 disposals) were also instrumental in the victory.
Richmond hit the front in the third quarter but couldn't capitalise, with their skipper Trent Cotchin a stand out with 24 possessions.
Dion Prestia (27 touches) was also busy for the Tigers with forwards Jack Riewoldt, Tom Lynch, Jason Castagna and Liam Baker kicking two goals each.
But Richmond had no answer for Adelaide's former captain Walker, who was dominant in his second game since serving a six-match racism ban.
Walker booted three goals in a tight first term, including a long bomb from an acute angle after the siren which gave Adelaide a 4.1 to 3.1 quarter-time lead.
Just one minute in the second term, Walker won a free kick and converted, followed by fellow forwards Shane McAdam and Himmelberg then kicking two goals each.
Adelaide led by 24 points 21 minutes into the second term.
But evergreen Tigers Cotchin and Riewoldt scored vital late goals to keep the visitors in touch before Walker's first half ended with a snap at goal which missed.
The Crows led 9.4 to 6.3 at half-time and their advantage increased to 25 points early in the third term when a Himmelberg shot was cleared after a review.
But Richmond then rallied, and in about seven minutes they piled on four consecutive goals to take the lead.
The Tigers burst was triggered by veterans, with Shane Edwards and Riewoldt scoring a goal each and Baker booting two.
Yet the visitors were able to hold the lead only briefly, with the Crows responding with three unanswered majors including a Walker snap and another from Himmelberg.
Adelaide held a 14-point buffer at three quarter-time.
And the hosts' impressive first-year forward Josh Rachele increased the margin to 21 points with a goal four minutes into the last quarter.
A 15-minute goal-less period followed, including Crows skipper Rory Sloane limping off with a leg injury, before Rachele again took the spotlight -- he threaded a set-shot to put the Crows 31 points up and out of danger.
Saints keep the streak alive with win over Suns
Brendon Lade has maintained the perfect record of stand-in AFL coaches this season as St Kilda beat Gold Coast by 26 points.
The Saints broke clear in the second half on Saturday at Marvel Stadium to post their fourth-straight win, 13.9 (87) to 9.7 (61).
Jack Higgins kicked five goals and key forward Max King contributed three, as the Saints lost the inside-50 count 53 to 56, but were much more efficient in attack.
Lade was the latest assistant to fill in because of the league's health and safety protocols, with senior coach Brett Ratten ruled out earlier this week.
He is the fourth stand-in coach this season to register a win.
In last week's upset win over Carlton, the Suns dominated clearances.
But on Saturday, the Saints won that statistic by 17.
In his 100th match, St Kilda midfielder Jade Gresham was outstanding with two goals, 10 contested possessions and 25 disposals.
Suns on-baller Touk Miller also impressed with a game-high 32 disposals and 16 contested possessions.
After an even first quarter, the Suns took a nine-point lead early in the second term with three-straight goals.
But the Saints kicked the last two goals of the half and controlled the game through the third, before kicking four goals to two in the last to seal the win.
Gold Coast's Mabior Chol left the field in the final term with an adductor injury and teammate David Swallow hurt a hand, while Saints star Bradley Hill also was forced from the field late in the game.
