A MID-SEASON review for Greater Western Sydney has shown that the club is improving in key areas, but still faltering on field in important moments.
It is frustrating for key defender Pepa Randall, who has been with the club since 2018, as she has witnessed the internal growth and list turnover, and knows her side has greater potential.
Last Thursday's defeat to Melbourne had Randall at a loss, however, unsure of where to turn going forward.
"That one was tough," Randall said on the Credit to the Girls podcast.
"Each week prior to that, when the results hadn't gone our way, there was something really kind of clear and glaring that we could go 'All right, sweet, as long as we adjust this thing', and all these things we wanted to adjust are kind of within the system we've been training, but maybe X part of it had fallen away in the game.
"It was like, great, this is what we need to change, this is what we need to change, and I think we'd had four or so in a row of that and it's like 'OK, great, we've addressed everything, and now we can go an implement', and it didn't click."
The Giants have recorded just one win for the season – in week one – and one draw, despite a promising off season. Thursday's 16-point loss to the Demons exposed some concerns in limiting opposition momentum.
"That one was a pretty tough one because it wasn't immediately glaringly obvious what we need to adjust going forward. But we had a mid-season review during the week and that was a lot more in depth around data, and it really showed where we really need to work," Randall said.
"But I think most frustratingly for everyone at the Giants at the moment is, for a lot of the other stuff, a lot of the other data (is) showing we are in it, and then there's one or two aspects that are falling over."
Poor starts have hurt the Giants this year, as they have too often allowed opposition sides too many looks at goal across opening halves, before pressing later in games.
Randall described it as a "first half curse", while also flagging the significant absence of defender Cambridge McCormick and midfielder Nicola Barr.
"Someone like 'Cambo' has played defence for a couple of years now. She's got a really great balance between attack and also knowing, once she attacks, she's relocating her opponent… and someone like 'Nic', she offers that run, but she's also really experienced in defensive running as a wing, and it's taken our wings a couple of weeks to get that," Randall said.
The club's current run of losses now coincides with its mid-week footy fixture, as it prepares to face St Kilda on Tuesday evening.
With travel to and from Melbourne further compounding the physical and mental load for the Giants, they are looking forward to getting back to a routine next week.
"I'm just thinking about how tired I am," Randall said.
"There's lots of opportunity with the compressed fixture. You could go in and (in) two weeks, come out with four wins, like, that's so exciting.
"You could also go the other way, and it could happen really fast, and your season could change really fast and potentially not for the better."
