THE GUTSY Brisbane Lions are "desperate to earn the respect of the competition" and coach Chris Fagan thinks they have gone some way to doing that this season.

Melbourne was expected to comfortably win on Sunday afternoon at the MCG, but after trailing by 32 points in the last quarter, Fagan's men twice brought the margin back to just seven.

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The Demons settled, but not before a couple of massive scares as they all but sealed their first finals berth since 2006.

"The thing I know about our lads is they're desperate to improve (and) they're desperate to earn the respect of the competition. I think they've gone a fair way this year towards doing that, but there's a lot more work to be done," Fagan said after the 13-point loss.

WATCH: Chris Fagan's full post-match media conference

With just one match remaining, the Lions will enter the final round on the bottom of the ladder with five victories.

However, the round 15 comeback win against Essendon at Etihad Stadium and impressive performances in losses against the Western Bulldogs in round five (Etihad Stadium) and on Sunday have shown a resilience that was often absent in 2016, when the club won just three times.

Five talking points: Melbourne v Brisbane Lions

It finished last season above only a Bombers side left reeling by the absence of 12 stars because of doping bans.

"It's been a hallmark of the way we've played this year that we've actually hung in games, fought hard, won quarters of footy," Fagan said.

"Today we won two quarters of footy against a top-eight side, so that's been a characteristic of our group.

"It's something that they've worked hard to pride themselves in, and I would've thought at the end of this season we'll be able to sit back and look at that and give them a tick for that, and that's a really important part of our growth as a footy team."

The wooden spoon could be up for grabs against North Melbourne next Saturday afternoon at the Gabba, but that wasn't of major concern to Fagan.

"For us, wooden spoon, no wooden spoon, it doesn't really mean anything to us. We just look at the bigger picture (and) how we've improved.

"This year, we've won a lot more quarters of football. Since the bye, we've been particularly competitive. Our points for and against have improved.

"All those things that we measure ourselves on, unless we have a disaster next week, are going to be really big growths for us in the second half of the year. (I'm) very pleased about that.

"Ladder position is in a sense, irrelevant, as we continue our climb."