DRAWN games and interchange frustrations are nothing new for Greater Western Sydney but it's a habit the players are keen to get out of.
The Giants and St Kilda couldn't be separated when they clashed at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, and one aspect of the result was eerily familiar for coach Leon Cameron and his players.
The team's best game-breaker, Dylan Shiel, watched the dying minutes from the bench, unable to get back onto the ground after coming off in the midfield rotation late in the final term.
An explosive Shiel clearance or some class delivery into the forward 50 might have been enough to help GWS to a scrappy win, but the 2017 All Australian was stuck on the wrong side of the boundary line.
WATCH: The last two minutes of StK v GWS
The Giants have seen it all before.
It happened in round 15 last season when power forward Jonathon Patton, who had looked unstoppable in the air against Geelong at Spotless Stadium, came off for a scheduled rest after slotting his fourth goal in the last quarter.
Patton didn't return that afternoon after a host of stoppages bogged down play on the opposite side of the ground, and history will show that the Cats levelled the scores after the final siren thanks to a behind from Tom Hawkins.
WATCH: Tomahawk's point snatches a draw
Shiel recognises the similarity of the two games but isn't sure there's a solution to the problems his side has encountered with its rotations.
"Obviously it was frustrating for myself and those on the bench, but that’s the environment we're in," he said on Tuesday.
"We're in a high-pressure situation and unfortunately we struggled to find an opportunity to get me back onto the ground.
"When you're out there trying to win the contest, playing a combination of offence and defence, and trying to locate your man and cover ground, it's hard to try and get off the ground without leaving your team one man down at a pivotal moment in the game.
"It's certainly not the first time it's happened for a player or team and on the weekend, it happened to be us at a really important time of the game.
"It's a hard one and I'm not sure what the answer is, but ultimately we want to make sure it doesn't happen again.
"We haven't swept it under the carpet but in saying that, it's certainly not the reason for the result on the weekend.
"There were bigger issues for us in that game that we really needed to review and address."
Shiel and his teammates will be hoping to respond to last week's draw better than they did to that Cats game last year, given they followed it up by again sharing the points, this time with Hawthorn in Launceston.
