GREATER Western Sydney coach Cam Bernasconi will start on the bench rather than the coaches' box against Geelong on Saturday, believing more immediate feedback can help arrest his side’s seven-match NAB AFLW losing streak.
The Giants have lost seven straight games, four by less than 10 points, and sit 15th with a 1-7 record entering the final month of the season.
To halt in-game momentum shifts and in-quarter performance lapses, Bernasconi is prioritising real-time communication to help his side adjust, rather than waiting for quarter-time breaks.
"I'll coach from the bench to start this weekend to allow me to be more face-to-face with the playing group," he told media on Wednesday.
"So, if it starts to happen, we're not waiting until quarter-time, so I can actually have conversations with players."
Bernasconi stressed that putting together a complete, four-quarter effort remains crucial to the team’s success, believing that being on the boundary offers the personal contact needed to keep players aggressive and mentally resilient.
"I go to the bench, and I can have conversations with players eye-to-eye. You can do it over a headset, but it's never the same," he said.
"You get an opportunity to get face-to-face and have conversations about what they're feeling, what they're thinking.
"It's one of those things where I feel like it can shift really quickly. You go and have a really good win, or you have a really strong quarter, then this belief just can grow even more. But unfortunately, we just haven't done it for a game where we've played well for four quarters."
Asked what has been holding the Giants back, Bernasconi said the team's issues have varied from week to week, ranging from contested ball and inside-50 generation to defensive lapses.
"Each week it changes," he said.
"That's why we're not getting consistent yet, because some weeks it'll be contested possession (that) we'll get smashed in. Some weeks will be we don't generate enough inside 50s. Some weeks it'll be that scoring comes too easily against us.
"The hard thing is it's not consistent, but the good thing is when we address something, we improve at it. It's just once we improve at one thing, the other thing will dip."
Steering his players away from dwelling on the ladder or recent losses, Bernasconi is focused on ensuring the Giants execute their game style consistently against the Cats.
"What I've spoken about with the players for the last four games is just nailing our way. Like, yes, we need to do ‘oppo’, and when teams throw things at us, we need to adjust to it," he said.
"But really being clear that when we finish this year, we're not going, ‘Oh geez, our offence is struggling’ or ‘our defence is struggling’. Everything just levels out, and I don't think we're far away from doing that.
"Unfortunately, you spend a difficult month with some close losses, so the scoreboard and the ladder don't look great, but we're probably two or three quarters away from looking very different.
"I'm not big on reflecting on what's happened in the past now. It's about: can we play four quarters against Geelong this weekend?"
With four games remaining, Bernasconi said success would be measured not only by results but by the team's ability to deliver a complete and fearless performance.
"I'd love to sing the song again. That'd be pretty cool," he said.
"We want to win, and playing four quarters is how we do that. I know every question is about winning. I know we want to win, but it's playing a four-quarter performance.
"We get a great opportunity to do that against Geelong. It's going to be really difficult to go against a side that's 7-1 on the trot, but I also think there's an element of 'we play really well when we're fearless and have nothing to lose'.
"They play a similar system to us, which allows us to probably understand how to stop it as well. So, playing four quarters would be huge, then backing it up the following week."
GWS takes on Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday afternoon before finishing its home-and-away season against Hawthorn, Carlton and Gold Coast.