Coaching can be a frustrating business, and few -- if any -- AFL coaches right now are entitled to feel as frustrated as Greater Western Sydney's Adam Kingsley.
Unlike his peers in charge of teams clearly in a rebuilding phase, or those just ticking along near the top of the ladder, Kingsley's Giants are currently cursed by arguably the most maddening performance trait: inconsistency.
GWS began 2025 in a blaze of glory, thrashing Collingwood to open the season, then winning four of its first five games, losing the other only narrowly to Hawthorn. The Giants then lost their next three, before their best win of the season, upsetting Geelong at GMHBA Stadium in one of the highest-standard games of the year.
That could have set up an entire campaign for Kingsley. Instead, the Giants have since lost on home turf to Fremantle and barely got over the line against Richmond, in between looking able again against Carlton, before losing on Saturday night in Canberra to Port Adelaide.
That's inconsistency week to week. Then there's inconsistency quarter to quarter. Last week, against Richmond, GWS managed just four goals in the first half but slammed on five in the last term to pinch a three-point win. On Saturday night in Canberra, they had six goals on the board at halftime, but could manage just 1.4 in the second half.
And to top off the hair-tearing frustration for Kingsley, there's inconsistency across the park, too, in different areas of the structure.
The Giants, like a lot of teams, have battled a tide of injuries all season, theirs taking the biggest toll in midfield, where too much has been left to Tom Green thanks to injuries to Josh Kelly, Brent Daniels and Stephen Coniglio, more recently, early-season star Finn Callaghan, and now heart-and-soul veteran Callan Ward.
GWS's drop-off since it was 4-1 has been most pronounced around the stoppages, where it's slipped from No.5 in the differential rankings to a dismal 16th, the Giants as a result conceding way too many scores from clearances, a ranking that has slipped from fifth to 14th.
In that context, the Giants were improved against Port, breaking even for clearances, Green in particular outstanding. Had the GWS forward setup performed as it has much of the year, that level of supply would have almost guaranteed victory.
But this time the forwards had a bad night, compounded by the hip injury which had Toby Greene subbed out by halftime. Not that Jesse Hogan, Jake Riccardi, and Aaron Cadman were helped by consistently poor delivery inside 50.
At the other end, meanwhile, there was inconsistency even within the one zone. Key defender Sam Taylor was superb on Port Adelaide's Mitch Georgiades, along with Jack Buckley. But the Giants continually brought themselves undone with silly defensive errors, three in succession in the final term effectively costing them the match.
First, a misdirected Lachie Whitfield chip inside was turned over for an easy Port goal to give the Power breathing space. Then, Xavier O'Halloran, unaware Port's Ollie Wines was contesting the ruck, blocked him and gave away a free kick, which Wines duly converted. Finally, Whitfield was pinged for holding the ball, Joe Richards sealing Port's win with a superb set shot from near the boundary.
That made it five out of the Giants' six losses which have come against sides beneath them on the ladder when they played. Yet they've also inflicted on Collingwood one of just two defeats, and knocked over Geelong at Geelong. Can you ever quite tell these days what the Giants are likely to do?
One thing which is pretty clear, however, is how big a fortnight Kingsley and co. are about to face before their Round 16 bye, taking on Brisbane at the Gabba before Gold Coast at home, the upshot perhaps a 9-6 record and top four spot, or a win-loss record in the red and a place in the top eight surrendered.
Obviously, there'll be plenty of anxiety about Greene's availability. Ward is done, Callaghan is still at least a week away, and who knows on Coniglio? And who knows anymore on the Giants as a whole, for that matter?
Their talent on paper always looks impressive. Kingsley, in his third season, has overseen 15 wins in each of the past two years, and taken the Giants within a couple of points of a grand final berth. An army of experts were happy to tip GWS for a top four spot again in 2025, several confident enough to tip a flag.
Callaghan, Darcy Jones, Harvey Thomas, Cadman are all still very young. Green is still just 24, Taylor 26. The Giants are still the sixth-youngest list in the competition and fifth least-experienced. It's not as though this season is their last genuine crack at it.
But those infamous "chokes" in their straight sets finals exit last year, and fade-outs like Saturday night's in Canberra, always leave that doubt in the back of the sceptics' minds. Not just about the Giants' depth, but about their resilience and mental fibre. And this year particularly, about their consistency.
No wonder postgame on Saturday, Kingsley, while as articulate and responsive as ever, also looked like he wouldn't mind a quick workout on a punching bag. Still just 64 games into his AFL senior coaching career, that sense of frustration might be at least one sort of consistency which, unlike his team, doesn't wax and wane.
You can read more of Rohan Connolly's work at FOOTYOLOGY.