THE BRISBANE Lions will do "everything we can" to avoid the wooden spoon on Saturday, says skipper Dayne Beams.
The last-placed Lions host North Melbourne at the Gabba, and Beams says his team is desperate to get off the bottom of the ladder.
"We certainly don't feel like our performances this year have indicated we're the bottom side," he said on Tuesday morning.
"We're really keen to get off the bottom.
"The energy levels are really good around the group, everyone's positive and optimistic about where the club's heading.
"It's really important we finish strong this week."
Saturday's loser has the silver lining of getting the No.1 draft pick, but Beams laughed off any suggestion that tanking in the AFL was an issue.
"People will talk and have their own opinion," he said.
"Within the playing group we're keen to win this game of footy and we'll be doing everything we can to do that.
"When you look over the No.1 draft picks over previous years, it doesn't mean all that much.
"We're really keen to set that winning culture for our footy club, and finishing on the bottom of the ladder is not something we want to do."
While teams like Gold Coast and Fremantle stagger to the round 23 finish line, the Lions have been super competitive in the second half of the season, winning four of their past 11.
They gave Melbourne a scare at the weekend and also led the Western Bulldogs during the final term two weeks earlier.
They could climb as high as 15th if the Suns and Carlton are hammered by Port Adelaide and Sydney respectively this weekend.
"A lot of the guys don't want the season to finish and I don't think you could say the same about previous years," Beams said.
"It is a nice place to turn up.
"We come in every day with a growth mindset.
"It's definitely been an enjoyable place to come to work this year, put it that way."