Try telling Melbourne there is nothing to play for in their final-round clash with Collingwood.
Although they will miss the finals for the first time since 2020, the Demons are attacking Friday night's match at the MCG with vigour.
The club will honour the 60th anniversary of their 1964 premiership - their last before Simon Goodwin's group broke the drought in 2021.
Melbourne and Collingwood battled it out across five grand finals between 1955 and 1964, with the Demons saluting in four of them.
“We just had Hassa Mann down here, from the 1964 premiership team that we’ll honour on Friday night," Goodwin said.
"He's a legend of our footy club and he spoke pretty clearly about the dislike for Collingwood.
“It's a massive game against a team that we've had some cracking games with in recent times and developing a really big rivalry.
“It doesn't mean a lot in terms of finals, but it means a lot in terms of us - we play to win no matter what.”
Melbourne were able put a difficult off-field period behind them last Saturday when they smashed Gold Coast.
Injured superstar Christian Petracca this week addressed the group directly for the first time since reports emerged he was disgruntled and considering his future at the club.
Goodwin is hopeful that meeting helped clear the air on any tension or confusion between Petracca and the rest of the playing group.
Petracca's season ended when he suffered a lacerated spleen, punctured lung and four broken ribs when crunched by an accidental knee from Collingwood captain Darcy Moore during the King's Birthday match in June.
The Magpies remain a mathematical chance to continue their premiership defence into September, but realistically they will be joining the Demons in starting their off-season early.
Heading into their last home-and-away round sitting four points and 10.6 percentage points behind eighth-placed Carlton, Collingwood need a host of unlikely results to fall their way.
Even Magpies coach Craig McRae, who is an eternal optimist, concedes the chances of them making finals are virtually nil.
Key forward Dan McStay will sit out the match through soreness, after playing five games on return from a serious knee injury.
Billy Frampton, Jack Bytel and Ned Long were all dropped, paving the way for recalls for Finlay Macrae, Joe Richards, Charlie Dean and Ed Allan.
The Demons recalled Bailey Laurie in place of Tom Sparrow (ankle).
