The Dockers were left teetering at 6-7 and in danger of missing the finals after the 29-point loss to the Pies at the MCG in round 14.
"That was a turnaround game for us last year," Lyon said on Monday.
"They smacked us and we went to school on that and from that moment on we turned it around and changed the way we used the ball, changed the way we structured up."
Fremantle finished the regular season at 14-8 and won its first final against Geelong at the MCG.
Now sitting at 4-2, Lyon hopes the lessons have been heeded ahead of Saturday night's clash against Collingwood at Patersons Stadium.
"We're a much-improved team and we're pretty keen to test ourselves again but we're under no illusions, it's going to be pretty tough," Lyon said.
"We understand Collingwood's a challenger, as we see ourselves challenging to play finals as well,"
Despite coming off a 45-point win over Gold Coast on Saturday, Fremantle's task is made harder by the continued absence of several stars.
Matthew Pavlich (Achilles), Aaron Sandilands (hamstring), Nathan Fyfe (suspension) and Stephen Hill (quad) all missed the Suns clash, with only Hill a chance of returning against the Pies.
"We lost Stephen Hill on the track with the last kick of the day for the week last week, just having an innocuous shot for goal, just a little nick," Lyon said.
"He jumped a hurdle [at training] today [but] he's got a few more to jump.
"But given the team did so well, we really don't want to make any changes unless we have to, but Stephen Hill will be a welcome addition."
Lyon was wary of the threat Travis Cloke posed to his defence but said it was as much about the midfield as the key defenders in terms of stopping Collingwood's scoring power.
"The first thing is about supply," he said.
"Pressure supply, and then bank on your defenders winning one on ones when they have to.
"We've got two power defenders in Luke McPharlin, who's leading the team exceptionally well, and Zac Dawson, but he'll get support from Michael Johnson and Lee Spurr.
"So we'll need a lot of help with everybody.
"Pendlebury is a beautiful deliverer of the ball so we've got to be really mindful of that."
