Greater Western Sydney have not wavered in their AFL premiership aspirations despite succumbing to a 27-point defeat against local rivals Sydney, coach Adam Kingsley insists.
The Giants fell to their third defeat in five games after the league leaders at one stage piled on 10 unanswered goals on their way to a 16.12 (102) to 11.9 (75) victory at Engie Stadium.
Sydney are now three games clear on top of the ladder after notching their 10th-straight victory.
Rubbing further salt into GWS wounds, All-Australian defender Sam Taylor will be out indefinitely after rupturing his testicle against Port Adelaide.
But Kingsley remains bullish about their chances of going all the way in September after his side scored five on the trot to shave a 42-point deficit and give the Swans a late scare.
Asked of their premiership prospects, Kingsley said: "Absolutely. Very confident.
"I'm really confident in the way that we played. We fought hard.
"We've got some players to come back. Who knows what's possible? Certainly better placed this year than what we were last year and we were able to string a bit of a run together.
"We're certainly far from the finished product."
On the other hand, Kingsley's Sydney counterpart John Longmire kept a lid on their flag chase.
"This might come as a shock but I'm not into the reflections just yet," Longmire said.
"What are we up to? Round 15?"
Kingsley, who recovered from COVID just in time for Saturday's match, aimed to disrupt the Swans from the source and tasked Toby Bedford with nullifying Chad Warner.
The close attention mattered little for midfield bull Warner, who still managed two goals and 20 touches.
Errol Gulden led the statistics with a game-high haul of 41 disposals to win best-on-ground honours, while James Rowbottom brought the heat with 19 contested possessions.
Tom Green, who was the shining light for a disjointed Giants side missing Stephen Coniglio, was confident their shortcomings could be easily rectified.
"There's little system details that we're not executing perfectly," Green said.
"It is frustrating but we know that it doesn't take much for it to turn and then we'll be OK."
Sydney's Hayden McLean slotted the first goal of the game at the 20-minute mark as the Swans took a three-point lead into the quarter-time break.
GWS snuck ahead courtesy of a Jesse Hogan goal, but their hopes of extending the lead were quickly snuffed out, with the visitors piling on 7.3 to 1.2 before the main break.
Debutant Max Gruzewski kicked two majors in a five-goal stretch across the second half to help bring the Giants back into the contest, but an unrelenting Swans unit refused to give up their lead.
