GREATER Western Sydney forward Devon Smith says he is "embarrassed" by the Giants' failure to execute and take their chances in Saturday's two-point loss to Melbourne.
Smith, who shouldered part of the blame after missing shots on goal he would normally convert, said the Giants needed to take a look in the mirror this week after losing their focus.
As well as Smith, whose misses came in a wasteful third quarter, big-name recruit Steve Johnson (2.2) and young tall Rory Lobb (2.3) failed to take their chances across the match.
There were also a number of examples of Giants forwards not sharing the ball with teammates in better positions.
"I'm a little bit embarrassed actually about how poor we were in front of goal if you look at the scoring shots," Smith told AFL.com.au.
"At the end of the day we've got to have a look at ourselves in the mirror and we're to blame.
"We had a real chance to put them to the sword and we didn't do it, we didn't execute."
While the third quarter was glaring in the wash-up, the Giants were wasteful throughout the match, kicking 3.4 in each of the first two quarters and missing chances in the dying minutes of the final term.
Smith, who is part of the Giants' leadership group this season, said a few players had lost focus and "didn't execute their routines with set shots".
He said the players had gone into the final change with a 21-point lead thinking the match was all but over before Melbourne stunned them with four unanswered goals.
"We probably thought we had the game sewn up, but all in all we weren't good enough to put them away," he said.
"If we had kicked straight we could have been up by 50 points (at three-quarter time) and it's pretty hard to come back from there.
"Everyone's going to be disappointed, but it's all about getting up for next week. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon."
The Giants face Geelong at Canberra's Manuka Oval next Sunday in a match Smith suggested could provide an opportunity to rebound quickly, with the Cats coming off a six-day break.
"They play on Monday, so we get them on a quick turnaround," he said.
