GEELONG coach Chris Scott is refusing to hit the panic button despite a shock seven-point defeat to Greater Western Sydney putting another dent in his side's premiership defence.
The Giants celebrated captain Toby Greene's 200-game milestone in style with a 12.9 (81) to 10.14 (74) victory on Saturday at GMHBA Stadium.
Greene kicked four first-half goals as Jake Riccardi and Brent Daniels combined for four crucial majors in the final quarter to stave off the home side's late challenge.
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The result inflicted more pain on injury-hit Geelong (5-6), who have now suffered three-straight losses for the second time this season.
Tall defender Esava Ratugolea is the Cats' latest injury concern after being substituted off with a hamstring concern.
Asked if Ratugolea was just feeling hamstring tightness, Scott replied; "No, I think it's more than that unfortunately. Hopefully this injury's on the minor end and he only misses a small amount of footy."
The key defender's imminent absence wasn't Scott's only concern.
"It was a really frustrating night and we do feel like we are chasing our tail a little bit, but I don't feel like that's a unique position within the competition at the moment," he said.
"We're not hiding away from the fact that we're not playing as well as we could, but we think there are some pretty obvious reasons for that.
"We don't think we're in the position where we need to throw out what we're doing and start all over again."
Scott did have some joy to take away from the loss though with the impressive debut form of Irishman Oisin Mullin.
"He wasn’t overawed by the situation at all," Scott said.
"He looked like he relished the contact and the intensity of the game. He was really solid with the ball - great speed and power. It's nice when you bring young players in and they look at home at the level. It’s a really good sign for us."
First-year Greater Western Sydney coach Adam Kingsley heaped praise on his players, who seized control of the contest when Greene kicked three majors in a 4.2 to 1.2 second quarter.
Kingsley lauded the pressure-packed style of game that he is desperate to make the Giants' signature way of playing.
"If that can be the bar then that's going to turn us into a really good team," he said.
"Our challenge is to continually deliver on that with a relatively inexperienced group across the field surrounded by some really experienced guys.
"I was just so proud of the guys and their fight.
"Our pressure and our ability to step into tackles was a real feature of our game."
