GREATER Western Sydney have drawn a line under their most disappointing loss of the season, but not before a frank review highlighted how much harder and hungrier Geelong were last Saturday.
GWS studied their last-start defeat on Tuesday morning with the help of coach Leon Cameron, a no-nonsense operator at the best of times.
The third quarter of the 44-point loss, during which the Cats kicked six goals to one, was particularly unpleasant viewing ahead of a trip to Adelaide Oval for next Thursday's finals opening clash with the Crows.
"Leon was really firm, rightly so," hard-running midfielder Tom Scully said.
"We just didn't turn up for the contest. Geelong were that much harder and more physical than us, it's incredibly disappointing for that to happen in a big game.
"We can't brush over it. It was a bad loss. We've addressed it, now we have to move on pretty quickly and get back to what we do really well."
Rebounding defender Zac Williams admitted the Cats "wanted it a bit more".
"We didn't respond the way we wanted to," Williams said.
"Their contested footy was the best in the comp that I've seen for a while.
"They're a quality outfit and hopefully we get to play them later in finals."
The result snapped a four-match winning streak from the Giants, who have been touted as premiership favourites at various points of this year.
Scully backed his flat teammates to bounce back from the drubbing dished out by Geelong.
"The stakes go up another couple of levels now. It's time to perform," he said.
"There's no doubt the pressure is on but we've prepared all year for it."
GWS fell one kick short of making last year's Grand Final, having suffered a six-point loss to eventual premiers Western Bulldogs in an epic preliminary final at Spotless Stadium.