Few Giants would have slept soundly after Saturday night's thrilling semi-final loss to Brisbane on their home deck, coughing up a 44-point deficit to lose by less than a kick.
After sitting 28-points up and a quarter away from reaching the penultimate weekend with a win over Sydney in last week's qualifier, the Giants have shockingly been eliminated.
Desolate senior coach Adam Kingsley diagnosed the issues of the last fortnight that have sent his troops into an early off-season.
"We thought we'd learned our lessons from last week against the Swans... well tonight was the same story unfortunately," Kingsley lamented.
"It would appear we haven't yet learned that lesson... to be aware of our opposition when they do roll the dice a little bit.
"We're not the finished product yet and I've been saying that all year.
"We got some feedback today that we weren't good enough, and we got feedback last week. We're not yet a premiership brand."
Coleman medallist Jesse Hogan looked like the one to rip the game away from the Lions, kicking five huge goals from a whopping six contested marks, including two ship-steadying goals in the dying stages of the third quarter.
On reflection, Kingsley was left wishing he had more support for his full-forward.
"Yeah and we need to support him a little better. We've known that."
"I think when you look at our forward line, it is still really quite young with some of the players that we've played there across the course of the year."
"Harvey Thomas didn't play tonight, Toby McMullin didn't play, they're both 19 and 20-year-olds who have contributed really strongly... Darcy Jones and Aaron Cadman have grown."
Champion veteran Toby Greene has looked like a shell of himself at times this season, including in last week's qualifying final, where his coach publicly demanded more in the aftermath.
Greene booted three pivotal goals against defensive clamper Brandon Starcevich, but still had some chances go begging. Kingsley was still pleased with his skipper, given recent history against Brisbane's lockdown matchup.
"I thought Toby was a lot better tonight in terms of challenging, certainly far better than what he was in Round 22 against Starcevich, so that was great."
"Everyone plays their bit part, but we've gotta just do a little bit more."
Veteran midfielder Stephen Coniglio was unfortunately subbed from the match in the opening term, suffering a worrying cheekbone injury from this clash with teammate Aaron Cadman.
Stephen Coniglio left the field following this incident.#AFLFinals | #AFLGiansLions pic.twitter.com/BrgzsoSlFf
— AFL (@AFL) September 14, 2024
Coniglio slowly left the field with a puffy left eye and underwent a head injury assessment.
Kingsley was unaware of his condition post-match beyond having left the venue.
"No I don't. He's gone home, so that's probably a good sign I think."
"I'm not sure the extent of it or the severity of it."
GWS will provide a full post-season injury update in the coming days as the club enter a heartbreaking early off-season.
