A last-gasp loss to West Coast looms as a costly lesson for AFL club Greater Western Sydney but it’s one they have learned from.

The Giants slipped to fifth on the ladder after Eagles ruckman Nic Naitanui snapped a match-winning goal in the final moments of Saturday’s crunch clash in Sydney.

The (14.13) 97 to (14.12) 96 result will deny the Giants a top-four finish and coveted double chance in the finals – unless one of the leading premiership contenders slip up in the final two rounds.

Giants midfielder Tom Scully noted on Wednesday that it was important his side shift focus to Saturday’s home game against Fremantle.

Yet he detailed how GWS coach Leon Cameron helped the side analyse the frantic final minutes of the one-point loss.

“We were very disappointed … there’s a number of lessons that we’ve learned,” Scully said.

“We reviewed them really strongly and honestly.

“You can’t afford to make mistakes like that in big games.

“If we’re in as situation like that in the coming weeks I think we’ll be much better prepared.”

Scully acknowledged there could be more thrillers to come soon, with the expansion club’s maiden finals campaign fast approaching.

“As you get towards finals and big games like that, they’re generally pretty close,” the 25-year-old said.

“It’s funny, we actually spoke about it (what to do in a close finish) not long ago.

“A couple of things in our control we could have done better.

“Everyone will probably look at the last stoppage in isolation but leading up to that there were probably multiple times when we could have influenced the game differently.

“We can’t get that back now. We’ve moved on.”

Scully held out hope the Giants could break back into the top four.

“There’s still two games to go,” he said.

“Our focus is just purely on Fremantle this week and North Melbourne the following week.

“The other results are completely out of our control.”

Scully was confident complacency wouldn’t be an issue against the 16th-placed Dockers.

“We know finals aren’t far away but we can’t lose focus on our last two home-and-away games,” he said.