JUSTIN Leppitsch says his Brisbane Lions have not considered finishing last and are hell-bent on beating Carlton on Saturday night to avoid the wooden spoon.
Although there are still four rounds remaining, the Gabba matchup between the two bottom teams looms as a battle to evade the spoon.
The Lions have lost 11 successive matches are one win and two percentage points behind the Blues.
The extra twist in this year's race comes with November's NAB AFL Draft, with the top two selections likely to be key defender Jacob Weitering and key forward Josh Schache.
Both clubs are desperate for key-position players.
• NAB AFL Draft Hub: Get to know your club's future stars
The Lions are crying out for a key forward, and a last-placed finish would give them the No.1 pick and direct access to Schache, but Leppitsch refuted the suggestion there was a benefit to finishing with the wooden spoon.
"I don't want to finish last, the team doesn’t want to finish last, we're just here to win," Leppitsch said on Thursday morning.
"You look back at the history of time, teams that have tanked to lose … I don't think it's actually helped them or helped their footy club.
"If you have a winning culture that's the most important thing, so we keep trying to win every week.
"I'll be coaching hard every week, putting our best team out every week that's available to try and win."
Leppitsch said he had not spoken about avoiding the spoon as motivation for his players this week.
After Carlton, the Lions play Adelaide (away), Hawthorn (away) and the Western Bulldogs (home), all matches in which they would start massive underdogs.
Leppitsch said no matter where the Lions ended up after 23 rounds, he was looking to the bigger picture.
"The only thing we ever look back on is how many premierships you won, and everything else is irrelevant," he said.
"I won a wooden spoon as a player.
"I keep saying to our boys, 'We're here to win a premiership' and that's all that matters.
"It's never been about the short-term, it's never been about bringing in some quick-fix mature-age talent just to get enough wins to scratch a finals campaign.
"I find in the long-term history no-one's going to remember this season … hopefully it's the season that drives us on to greater things."
