GREATER Western Sydney defender Lachie Ash is bracing for some honest – and perhaps brutal – feedback from coach Adam Kingsley after a tactical gamble failed to pay off against Gold Coast.

Despite a mid-game shift into the engine room, Ash's reassignment failed to spark a win. 

The proven half-back provided a different look to ignite the Giants' transition game, attending a high number of centre bounces during the 20-point loss.

However, the experimental move left Ash awaiting a potentially blunt review from his coach.

Speaking on Tuesday, Ash revealed the move had been on the cards since his exit meeting last year.

"With 'Clarry' (Clayton Oliver) coming on board, I've moved back to half-back a little bit, but (the midfield is) something I've been keen to do. If the team needs it, I'm happy to do whatever," he said.

"On the weekend, we saw an opportunity for more of a transition game, which is my strength. So, (Kingsley) threw me in there for a bit of a different look, which was good. I enjoyed it in there. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to influence the game and get the result we wanted.

"I haven't spoken to him (Kingsley) today. He might not be too happy with me, I'm not too sure.

"But I feel like I work well in there with Finn (Callaghan) and 'Claz' (Oliver), so hopefully it's something we can stick to. But we'll chat through it today, see how we went, and then make a decision on the next few weeks."

Ultimately, the Giants' poor skill execution and inaccuracy neutralised the benefit of moving one of their best ball-carriers into the engine room. Ash cited this sloppiness, alongside inconsistent pressure, as the primary catalyst for the defeat.

In slippery conditions, the Giants faltered in front of goal while the Suns dictated the tempo. While the clash was expected to be a bruising contest, the elements transformed play into a scrappy slog. 

Ash admitted wavering pressure allowed the Suns to rack up 114 uncontested marks — the highest tally conceded by the Giants under Kingsley.

"We wanted to bring our pressure, and at stages of the game, we brought that, but at other stages of the game, we probably let that waver. They were able to get on top and take a lot of uncontested marks, and control the ball, which controlled the game," he said.

"They took their chances a bit better than us. The conditions were a bit scrappy, and they scrapped a bit better and were able to make the most of when they did get good looks. Whereas we broke down or (with) skill execution, we weren't able to make the most of those going inside our forward end… we've had this sort of problem at times this year, so it's nothing we're not accustomed to."

A major hurdle for GWS this season has been the lack of a clinical finish. Despite matching the Suns in general play with 371 disposals, the Giants managed a wasteful 8.15 (63) – a trend present in all five of their losses this season.

Ash noted the inefficiency stems from shaky skill execution and settling for low-percentage shots. Rather than using the corridor to create high-quality looks, the Giants have been forced wide, struggling to maintain the clean ball movement required to punish opponents.

"(We're) not kicking the ball as well as we would like. That's probably across the whole ground. (Our) skill execution is not flying at the moment, which we can get to work on; that's an easy fix for us. 

"(We're taking) shots in harder positions to kick goals from. I feel our first three or four shots were from the pocket or the junction, which is a hard place to kick goals from. They're great when they go through, but they are low-percentage shots. 

"A missed handball and then they were able to get numbers back, so we could only sort of go wide versus being clean and then having the whole forward 50 to work with. 

"Those little things are letting us down. We get some opportunities in good spots and miss them, which is frustrating, and no one sets out to do that.

"We're putting ourselves under pressure in our forward half and making it harder to kick goals than when you're clean and move the ball well."

In better news for the club, Ash provided a positive update on Ryan Angwin, noting the midfielder is recovering steadily and progressing well through the early stages of the concussion protocols after being sidelined by a third-quarter dangerous tackle.