It was obvious to Chris Scott why Geelong suffered their first loss of the AFL season on Saturday: the GWS midfielders were simply better than his.
Despite losing co-captain Callan Ward from their onball brigade to a serious knee injury just five minutes into the GMHBA Stadium encounter, the Giants dug deep to come from behind to score a famous 11.13 (79) to 11.9 (75) win.
Stephen Coniglio, Jacob Hopper, Lachie Whitfield and Josh Kelly led the charge for the brave visitors, while Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood and Tim Kelly were subdued.
"Around the ball that midfield group of their's beat our group," Scott said simply.
"Some of our best players weren't as effective as they have been in the past and the opposition have some really good players.
"Even without Ward, maybe their biggest problem is how you squeeze them all in.
"To a man, I thought their guys around the ball after quarter-time were fantastic.
"As to why, I think just a group of really good players beat our guys where it counted."
As for how the Cats will address that next time they play, the coach wasn't as forthcoming.
But he took a glass-half full approach after his side's unbeaten run came to an end.
"It's disappointing and it should hurt when you lose but we're doing enough right to be optimistic about the future," he said.
"... We'll try to ride the momentum when we're going well and not lose the plot when things go against us."
The coach is confident the loss won't be compounded by a suspension to Dangerfield, who felled tagger Matt de Boer in an off-the-ball incident.
"There was umpire there and it wasn't even a free kick, so let's just deal with the facts," he said.
"It wasn't a free kick. There might have been some contact to the body.
"These days you might try to milk a free kick if you cop a push, that's the way they're being umpired, but if there's not much in it you jump to your feet and play on.
"They seem to me to be the facts."
