Giants were never in the contest during the 20-14-134 to 1-4-10 loss at George Park 2, where the men in orange had to draw upon a number of their regular reserve grade players to fill the void left by numerous players struck down by illness.

Following a close round one loss to the Dubbo Demons the Giant approached the next game hopeful of emulating the football from a big final quarter of play - this time from the get go.

However, those plans took a big hit in the days approaching the game when a number of the team's key players had to step back for the weekend.

Against a fired up Bushrangers team, who were celebrating a number of personal milestone games, it was going to take something special to keep pace with them.

"We had a lot of boys out and we had a lot of our ressies boys step up, and they did a great job for us," he said.

"They all did the best that they could. We had a lot of guys playing their first game of first grade, so it was a big ask for them to come in. We're very grateful for that.

"Bushrangers are just such a skilful side and we got outdone on the day, really."

Brien said it's a game the team can comfortably put a line through and they'll simply turn their attention towards the next round.

"First round we only played one quarter of footy and we won't be winning any games doing that. Then not having most of our usual squad makes things very difficult," he said.

"Hopefully we get some good numbers this weekend and we're able to get that first win of the season.

"I know we'll be getting a few of our boys back in, and we'll hopefully soon have that core back together and gelling for the rest of the season."

Brien himself will not be one of those players taking to the field for the upcoming game against the Orange Tigers after he dislocated his shoulder in the Bushrangers clash.

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