GREATER Western Sydney entered its Sunday afternoon clash with Melbourne having won just two out of 16 games at the MCG.
The Giants ended up 26-point winners in a comprehensive display, all but putting to bed their hoodoo at the venue that hosts the Grand Final.
However, Melbourne couldn't have made their job much easier.
With their season on the line (a familiar refrain for the Dees in what has been a disastrous 2019), they were limp, looking very much like the 16th-placed side they are.
Only an excellent performance from ruckman Max Gawn, some errant early Giants conversion attempts and late goals to the Demons stopped the margin from blowing out.
Melbourne booted just one goal in the first half as GWS ran out the contest to deliver a 14.10 (94) to 10.8 (68) victory.
The statistics were lopsided at the main break. Greater Western Sydney led disposals (204-136), contested possessions (72-55) and inside-50s (33-16).
Plenty of credit should be given to the Giants. Having struggled at the ground they may return to in September, they seemed to have fixed whatever had been plaguing them there.
Josh Kelly led the way, racking up 31 disposals, while Tim Taranto (32) and Jacob Hopper (23) made their contributions in the clinches.
Up front, the trio of Jeremy Cameron, Harry Himmelberg and Jeremy Finlayson continued chugging along, meshing well and giving the Giants potency.
One play which displayed their cohesion came during the second term. Toby Greene sent a long ball to Himmelberg's advantage out the back, but instead of going for the mark, he opted to tap it into Cameron's path, which the Coleman Medal leader duly collected and put through.
Himmelberg kicked one goal in the first half before filling his boots to end with a career-best haul of five.
The list of scalps Matt de Boer has taken includes Dustin Martin and Patrick Dangerfield, and Clayton Oliver can be added to that list, having been kept to 17 disposals.
Greater Western Sydney's backline looked largely untroubled. Young gun Sam Taylor even found time to go forward and nail his first career goal in his 18th game.
As if the opening half wasn't hard enough to watch for Dees fan, the game became downright ugly in the third term, resembling a training drill at times.
It took until the 17-minute mark of the third quarter for them to record their second goal, via Jeff Garlett.
Tensions flared late with Toby Greene unsurprisingly at the centre of it all.
For what it's worth, Melbourne's mammoth injury list should be noted. First-choice defenders Steven May, Michael Hibberd, Jake Lever, Neville Jetta and Christian Salem were among the names missing, while Jake Melksham, Alex Neal-Bullen and Aaron vandenBerg are also in the best 22.
