The Swans started the weekend atop the AFL ladder, but are now outside the top four after losing their second game of the season.
The Swans took the game up to the Cats early, twice leading by a goal in the first term, but the Cats started to take control in the second term and ran away with the match after half-time.
Speaking from a deathly quiet Swans’ rooms after the match, Kirk said his side was hurt by the loss and the manner in which it occurred.
“I think it shows how far we are off the pace in terms of the top couple of sides, and Geelong’s shown already this year that they’re going to be up there again," he said.
“It’s something we pride ourselves on - our hardness around the footy, our contested footy - and Geelong showed today they’re far better at it than us.
“I thought our defenders battled really hard early, and we probably had enough of the footy, but we turned it over.
“They just out-powered us in the end, and it turned out to be a big margin.”
The Swans next take on the spluttering Bulldogs at Manuka Oval in Canberra on Saturday.
“You’ve just got to get back on the horse - it’s a six-day break and we come up against the Bulldogs, who are another side that are going to be up there at the end of the year.
“We’ve just got to lick our wounds, look at what we didn’t do well and get back to playing the style of footy we want to play - hard, contested footy."
