INTERIM North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw maintains his side can put their disappointing late fadeout against the Giants behind them and cause some damage during the second half of the season.

The Kangaroos took it up to their more fancied opponents for much of the first half of Sunday's Blundstone Arena contest and even held a narrow lead at the 10-minute mark of the third term when an upset looked to be on the cards.

But from that point on it was all the Giants as the Western Sydney side gained the ascendancy by booting seven consecutive goals to eventually run out 23-point winners.

GIANTS CLIMB HIGHER Full match coverage and stats

It was the first time that Shaw has tasted defeat since he was handed the reins at Arden Street last month and the loss was made even worse given the fact that his younger brother Heath was part of the victorious Giants' side.

While the rookie coach admitted he was disappointed with the result, he remains steadfast in his opinion that the Kangaroos still have plenty to offer over the remaining nine rounds of the season.

"It's never a great feeling to lose and I am pretty disappointed," Shaw said.

GAMEBREAKER Greene supreme in Giant outing

"But I am also optimistic about where we are going and where we are headed.

"We have got nine games after the bye to really do something and I don't see any reason why we can't do that.

"Even though we lost tonight, there are still signs we can do something in the second half of the year."

WATCH Rhyce Shaw's full post-match press conference

The Kangaroos were smashed by the Giants in the middle of the ground, with the absence of star onballer Shaun Higgins and a quiet game by the usually consistent Ben Cunnington clearly notable as Shaw's side lost the clearances 56-41.

Higgins missed the match with a shoulder problem, while in-form Giants' tagger Matt de Boer put the clamps on Cunnington by restricting the veteran midfielder to just 16 disposals - his lowest output of the season to date - in his 200th appearance in the blue and white.

"It was probably won in the midfield for GWS," Shaw admitted.

"In the second half they really showed their capabilities as they outscored us pretty heavily from clearances."

Shaw still took some positives from the loss to the Giants, including the efforts of young Tasmanian Tarryn Thomas in what was just his second game for the Kangaroos in his home state.

Thomas got the Kangaroos rolling early with two goals in the opening half and then more than held his own against the Giants' star-studded midfielders when moved on to the ball for the final quarter.

"I think he got the first two clearances of that (fourth) quarter, so that was a real pleasing sign from our point of view," Shaw noted.

"He looked pretty damaging in the first quarter and then he went into the midfield in the last quarter to give us a bit of spark.

"We tried to win the game and he provided us with a little bit."