A GIANT slap in the face.

That's how Greater Western Sydney defender Heath Shaw described the 87-point humiliation at Domain Stadium on Saturday night.

The Giants went into the match second on the ladder but were given a rude reminder that they still have a long way to go. 

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"It's definitely a slap in the face because over the first four weeks we did pride ourselves on competing and tonight was a very, very average performance by the whole team," Shaw said. "We thought these sort of games were behind us, but to put on the performance we did tonight is very disappointing.

"We thought we could compete against the best teams, so to do what we did tonight is very disappointing, we'll have to have a look at it and regroup.

"We lost the contested ball which was a focus for us going in, and when we turned the ball over forward of centre they scored.

"We couldn't get the ball into our forward line, we couldn't create those turnovers. We lacked that bit of composure."

Shaw also forecast a strategic review of the Giants' style after being blown away in Perth.

"They are a good team and had obviously done their homework on us and got numbers back and defended," Shaw said.

"We didn't have a plan B, plan A has worked for us for the first four weeks but plan B didn't come to fruition tonight. Hopefully we can resurrect that this week.

"We have got to perform a lot better than we did tonight, against Hawthorn (next Saturday in Sydney).

"We have got to do our homework on them - they are amongst the best two or three teams in the league - we have got to really be on our game and win that contested ball.

"On nights like this you don't want to totally forget about it, but you've got to look forward because you can't change the result, the only thing you can do is look forward. 

"We have got a big opportunity against a good team next week and if we play the way we want to play who knows what can happen."