The loss was the Lions’ sixth in a row, seeing them sit in ninth place with hopes of a finals berth now dashed.

For the second time in as many weeks, a slow start and poor finish proved to be the difference in the contest.

The Tigers started strongly, booting seven majors in the first term to hold an early 33-point lead.

“They jump started us and we struggled to recover from that,” Great Western coach Will Bell said.

“We had a different mix of players again and it took some time for the boys to synchronise.”

Great Western hit back in the second term, only allowing the margin to extend to an even six-goal lead by the main break.

Another strong quarter from the Lions helped them reel in the deficit to just 30 points by three-quarter-time with the momentum going their way.

Read more: Tigers crack the 100-goal mark against Lions

In what has become an all-too familiar story for Great Western, they conceded eight final-quarter goals to go down 19.12 (126) to 10.6 (66) – coincidentally the exact same score they conceded in their previous match.

Bell said his side just needs to find some consistency.

“A bit of inexperience in the squad means we haven’t been able to put four quarters together,” he said.

“We are playing boys who haven’t played much senior football so they tend to get tired late in games. They will start to develop bigger engines with more time on the park.”

It was Great Western’s young players that stood up to lead the Lions on Saturday, with the likes of Mitch Kelly, Adan Wisby, Cam Notting and Jackson Thomas showing good signs.

“Our young footy players played really well. It is great to see the young kids standing up and making an impact,” Bell said.

The Lions finally welcomed back some players from injury, with captain Brady Miller joining Tom Cairns and Jesse Bennett on the comeback trail.

“With their injuries they only had limited game time but it was great to have some experience back in the side,” Bell said.