IN THE cold light of day, Greater Western Sydney's 27-point loss to North Melbourne didn't make for good viewing for coach Alan McConnell.
The Giants were scoreless until the third term, with the margin sitting at 47 points at the final break, before a three-goal-to-nil last quarter added some respectability to the scoreline.
On the broadcast, commentators noted the number of free Kangaroo players, the amount of space they had and the apparent lack of urgency from the Giants.
"When you watch the tape back in its entirety, it's not pretty. It's easy to think there are three thousand things you need to fix, but a lot of it comes back to an inability to win the contest and then a loss of confidence that results in a whole lot of other things going wrong," McConnell said.
"We need to be better around the ball, and we need to lose the ball a little bit better when we do get our chance with it. I think a lot of things will fix themselves up when we fix those two. I'm confident we'll be better in a lot of areas and that'll have a big impact on the confidence of the team.
"When as many things go wrong as they did for us on the weekend, it can be a pretty lonely place on the footy field. You might have 15 teammates on the field, but you can often feel like you're trying to stem the tide and create things all on your own, and that's the bit we got to at some points during the game.
"Alicia (Eva) made the comment where you can overcomplicate it a little bit. In lots of moments in the game, it looked like we weren't trying, but the reality is sometimes we might be trying too hard. It's complex, but it's simple all at the same time."
GWS will host the Western Bulldogs at Henson Park – the first AFLW game at the ground in Sydney's inner west, known for rugby league – in a match which has been shifted from Sunday to Friday night amid the fluctuating AFLW fixture.
The Bulldogs haven't played since round one amid a COVID-19 outbreak at the club.
The Giants have also opted to wear their Pride guernseys this week, instead of last, to mark their first home game of the season.
"My approach is we come into training, we know we're going to review some points. It's a short week now, so we can't get stuck or sidetracked on the North Melbourne game too much," skipper Eva said.
"There are some things we have been doing well, and unfortunately when you come off the back of a couple of losses, the things you aren't doing well are magnified. I think consistency in terms of our contested ball and at the contest will be a key theme, I'm sure.
"I'm really glad we've got a short turnaround. I know for me personally, when I come off a game feeling pretty frustrated, I almost want to play the next day, and I think a lot of the girls will be feeling the same.
"We've been working really hard on a different brand of footy this season, and we don't throw that off the back of a few weeks, we're not throwing that in the bin."
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McConnell said integral midfielder Bec Beeson (ankle) is a handful of weeks away, but also revealed the inaugural Giant had been dealing with some sad personal news.
"We certainly miss her paws around the contest. She's had a really tough month, to be perfectly honest," he said.
"Not only has she had the ankle injury – which is progressing reasonably well, the swelling went down over the course of the week – because we've been on the road, we haven't had the chance to have a full clearance of where she's at till tonight.
"The other thing she's been dealing with has been the loss of her father, which has been very sad for her and her family. So she's had a lot on her plate the last few weeks."
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