The young side struggled in the first half before putting on a more competitive display in the second and that was the main focus for the Roos after the 70-point defeat.
"Obviously they're the benchmark and we had a young team in. The result wasn't great, but when you're playing against the best it's a really good opportunity to let you know where you are as a team," Gibson said.
"As a defender I always compare myself with Matthew Scarlett, so we can all take something away from that even though the result didn't go our way. It really showed us what's required to be up the top of the AFL ladder.
"You've got to look at the positives you can take out of the game. There's no doubt they're a great side, I mean since we beat them down here in '07 they've lost like two games.
"You probably can't look at the scoreboard too much. We'll just try and focus on the positives, and there were plenty for some of the younger guys, and take them into next week against Fremantle."
Gibson said Dean Laidley had instructed his players to disregard the scoreboard at half-time after the Roos fell 56 points behind.
"We just needed to narrow our focus a bit more. I guess we had a few too many things going through our heads," he said.
"We fumbled the ball a lot in the first half and they make you pay for any mistake you make. We probably had a few opportunities to kick some goals, but we just didn't take them."
The Kangaroos had two debutants on the day and badly missed the experience of late withdrawals Brady Rawlings and Daniel Wells. Gibson admitted the cooler heads of veteran duo would have come in handy.
"I was the most experienced bloke down back and I've played 51 games," he said.
"We had a young team and it's probably a bit daunting for some of the guys to go and stand next to Jimmy Bartel. We've just got to overcome that and it was a great experience for some of those younger blokes to go through that."
