GWS Giants coach Adam Kingsley has called for calm after the Giants lost to the Western Bulldogs by 88 points on Thursday night.
The Bulldogs, who virtually need to win every game to play finals, looked in control from the first bounce at Marvel Stadium, winning (19.18) 132 to (6.8) 44.
The 88-point loss is the biggest loss in Kingsley’s tenure at the Giants since starting in 2023 and the biggest loss for the team since the 2019 grand final.
In his post-match press conference, the Giants coach explained the match was lost around the ball.
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“We got belted in the contest, plain and simple. I think maybe minus 51 [in contested possession] in the end. Wow. Can’t really compete when you’re getting belted like that,” Kingsley said.
"We were just off tonight, I don’t know why. Bulldogs clearly playing for their season, and it just felt like we weren’t, and so that's disappointing.”
Kingsley said he wasn’t overly concerned about their performance tonight, and they will look to next week.
“I think we’ve been up for a long period of time now, we’ve won six in a row, we’ve had a big block of games, played some pretty good opposition and done quite well against them,” he said.
“It happens, we don't want it to happen and certainly not the way it did happen tonight, but it does, so I think we’ll accept that and move on pretty quickly.”
When told that premiership winners don’t usually have a loss that big so close to finals, his response was pretty blunt.
“If that’s what it’s telling us, then we can't win. But we’ll keep trying.”
The Giants will play North Melbourne, who are currently second last, next week, while the Western Bulldogs will take on Melbourne.