GWS star Jeremy Cameron has challenged his team to respond next year after an “embarrassing” blowout loss in the club’s maiden AFL grand final.

The Giants went toe-to-toe with Richmond early in Saturday’s decider before falling away to lose by 89 points.

“I guess (I’m) proud of the club and what we’ve been able to do. First grand final is enormous for this small club that we’re building,” Cameron said post-match.

“But at the same time (I’m) disappointed with the result obviously it’s a really hard feeling at the moment.

“It’s a little bit embarrassing with the way the scoreboard blew out at the end but I guess it’s a whole mix of emotions today.”

A week on from a gutsy preliminary final win over Collingwood, the Giants were brought crashing back down to earth.

But Cameron said he expected his teammates to respond in style, rather than going into their shells.

“I was saying to some of our younger boys – it’s moments like this that make winning so good,” Cameron said.

“It’s crazy the feelings that we had last week and then compared to the feeling we have right now and I think that’s what makes sport so good.

“You can sort of go two ways – you can fall away and not want to get back here next year or you can work harder and become better footballers and make sure we give ourselves another crack at it and I know what this club will do.

“We’re a very tight club and I’m not sure what it’s like in other clubs but everyone in this club is a really good mate and we help each other out a lot away from football and we’re better people because of it,” Cameron said.

“And it’s going to be tough tonight and it’s going to be tough throughout the next week and I’m not sure when we’ll get over it but one thing I know for certain is we will and we’ll come back stronger.”