Veteran GWS forward Jake Stringer will have a laugh with Essendon defender Jayden Laverde after dominating his former teammate to help the Giants to a big 48-point win on Thursday night.

The Giants made a slow start, but were never really troubled as they cruised to the 16.8 (104) to 7.14 (56) victory.

Stringer, who is in his first season at the Giants after seven years at the Bombers, kicked three goals and had a hand in many more in the comfortable win.

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He also provided the highlight of the night with a big mark over Laverde in the third quarter.

After launching over the hapless defender to haul in the mark, Stringer immediately shoved Laverde in the chest with a smile on his face.

The pair remain close friends with Stringer revealing during the week that he is the only Bomber he still speaks to every day.

Speaking to Channel 7 after the match, a delighted Stringer couldn’t resist taking another shot at his mate.

“That’s probably the happiest I’ve been in a long time,” he said with a big smile.

“He’s coming over to see the kids tomorrow. I’m sure they’ll have a laugh about it.”

After 123 games for Essendon, Stringer moved to the Giants last off-season to try to get the most out of the latter part of his career.

“He was quite nervous coming into the game, but I thought he played with a lot of respect and competed hard,” GWS coach Adam Kingsley said.

“Took a mark on his one of his best mates, so I think he was pretty happy with that.”

Injuries affected the 31-year-old’s early time in Sydney, but he is starting to deliver on his potential in a star-studded forward line.

Stringer (three goals, 18 disposals, three score involvements) received mild booing early from Bombers fans early in the contest, but by the third quarter he was taking big marks, slotting goals and involving teammates in scores.

Leading by just seven points at quarter-time, GWS powered away in the second term with six goals to one.

But the Giants failed to finish with the percentage-booster they threatened to unleash, winning the second half by just 11 points.

The Giants’ dominance started in the middle, led by a powerhouse performance from Tom Green (30 possessions, 16 clearances).

Bombers captain Zach Merrett (29 disposals) typically worked hard, but the likes of Green and Finn Callaghan did it easy for the Giants.

The only concern from a fifth straight GWS win will be potential match review officer trouble for Kieren Briggs.

The Giants ruckman laid a fearsome tackle on Sam Durham in the third quarter that left the Bombers midfielder dazed.

Working in Briggs’ favour will be that Durham passed the concussion test and came back on to the ground.

After losing to Richmond last week in what coach Brad Scott called a “terrible game”, Essendon’s poor kicking at goal again haunted them.

The Bombers started this match with 0.8, meaning they had kicked 1.21 in almost five quarters, including the Tigers game.

But debutant Liam McMahon, who was drafted by Collingwood back in 2020, was mobbed by teammates after he slotted Essendon’s first goal of the game late in the second term.

He also added the Bombers’ second goal in an encouraging performance from the 23-year-old forward.

Essendon will again be on the prime-time stage next Friday night when they face the Western Bulldogs, who smashed them by 91 points earlier in the season.

The crowd of 20,347 against the Giants was Essendon’s third lowest at home since 1997, and worst since the 2016 season when their list was decimated because of the supplements saga.

- With AAP