Melbourne will embrace the prospect of attempting to beat a third AFLW title contender in as many games as they stare down a trip to Western Australia to face Fremantle.
The Demons backed up their dramatic win over reigning premiers Brisbane with a hard-fought 10-point victory over North Melbourne at Casey Fields on Saturday night.
In the process, Melbourne lifted themselves to second on 28 points, trailing leaders Adelaide, the only team they've lost to, on percentage, while going four points clear of the Dockers and Kangaroos.
"The team enjoys playing against the best teams in the comp and challenging ourselves," coach Mick Stinear said.
"North are a quality team and we really got challenged tonight. They beat us for inside-50s and they had their fair share of shots at goal.
"So it was a good contest and I think that's how you improve, by playing against the best and evolving and learning and finding ways to get better each week.
"It's certainly no different when we travel to WA and get the chance to take on Freo on Saturday night."
Third-placed Fremantle are coming off a nine-point defeat to Adelaide, ahead of next Saturday's clash.
A Melbourne win could all but seal a top-two spot, and therefore the first week of finals off.
"For us it's just head down and we just want to keep winning games, that's all we want. If we get rewarded at the end of this season with a top-two spot, well the group will be deserving of that," Stinear said.
"There's not too much talk about where we finish, it's more the opponent we're facing and what we need to keep improving.
"What we've seen is you just need to keep getting better in this competition. You've got to keep stepping it up and we think that we've got the team in that space.
"Having Maddi Gay and Casey Sherriff back tonight, it feels like the group's just starting to connect. Liv Purcell (played) only her second game with this team.
"I feel like there's some good signs if this team can keep evolving."
A breakthrough women's premiership has remained elusive for Melbourne, despite the Demons consistently featuring among the top handful of teams.
