Geelong coach Chris Scott said the Cats were frustrated but still optimistic after the loss, which left the team at 5-5 and hanging onto its top-eight spot through superior percentage.
The absence of key players – including captain Patrick Dangerfield and ruckman Rhys Stanley – had left them disjointed at times and unable to play the way they had planned.
The coach remained confident improvement would come with a few shifts against Greater Western Sydney and the Cats would remain hard to beat.
"I'm sitting here feeling pretty optimistic about what we can do," Scott said.
"We completely understand, especially the last few weeks, we've been playing with a different team, which leads to some cohesion issues.
"It's a bit of an indication why we're frustrated but we're not tearing our hair out thinking why is this happening? Five-five in a really tight competition is not a time to throw the toys out of the cot.".
Scott said the Cats had not given their forwards adequate service, with champion goalkicker Tom Hawkins working hard against Alex Pearce for his three goals and superstar Jeremy Cameron kicking 0.3 against Luke Ryan.
The coach was optimistic Dangerfield would return from a hamstring injury against the Giants next Saturday at GMHBA Stadium, with Gary Rohan (hamstring), Sam De Koning (face) and Cameron Guthrie (toe) also close to returns.
