AFTER four losses in its past seven games, Geelong faces an enormous amount of work to re-ignite its season and compete with the very best teams, according to Cats' coach Chris Scott.

He said the 38-point loss showed the poor performances were not just aberrations but represented a pattern that needed to be addressed. 

"We need to be realists, and the reality for us is that we have got a lot of work to do to compete with the very best teams," Scott said. 

Scott said he was alarmed at the poor start, which allowed the Sydney Swans to kick three goals before the Cats scored.

He described the stoppage goal Kieren Jack kicked inside the opening minute as soft, with it being particularly infuriating given the external pressure the Swans' co-captain had faced leading into the game.

"In a game like this you need to make sure you get everything right and early we just got too many things wrong," Scott said.

However, he refused to lay blame at the feet of individuals, saying the result was a collective failure that began with the Cats' inability to win contests. 

"Our midfield collectively was beaten," Scott said.

"You can work through the individuals and try to lay blame at the feet of certain players, and while they will be held accountable, that is not really what we are about. Too often in the 50/50 contest around the ball they were able to just work it out."

The Swans managed 28 more handballs and handball receives than the Cats and worked the ball into space with fluency and system.

Geelong had just four players win more than 20 touches while the Swans had nine, an indication that too much was being left to too few. 

Scott said the forward line was not as cohesive as it needed to be with 9.6 (60) a paltry return from 53 inside 50s, while the Cats conceding 15.8 (98) from 43 inside 50s showed the defensive system failed too.

He would not be drawn into criticising individuals, but acknowledged there was a large group of Geelong players performing below par. 

"We have got some clear flaws that are not hard for us to identify," Scott said.

"When we play our style we can beat some good teams, as we have done this year, and when we don't play so well we look really average."