Demons narrowly miss top spot in AFLW

Melbourne coach Mick Stinear is rapt with his team's barnstorming run to the AFLW finals and is unfussed at missing the minor premiership by just one point.

The Demons geared up for the finals with a 78-point demolition of West Coast on Saturday at Casey Fields.

Notably, Melbourne held their opposition scoreless in the first term for the fourth week in a row and they kept going, thrashing the Eagles 11.13 (79) to 0.1.

For such a one-sided game, Melbourne became desperate in the last few minutes as they piled on the goals.

They needed 4.2 in the last quarter to take top spot from Brisbane, as well as keeping West Coast scoreless.

Melbourne scored 4.1 to nothing, with a centreing kick from captain Daisy Pearce in the last minute cut off by the Eagles defence.

Melbourne will host Adelaide in next week's qualifying final and Stinear said a mid-season review has paid big dividends.

"We were winning games, but we weren't quite satisfied with the way we were playing and competing and the consistency of executing our game style, our level of spirit," he said.

"Since then, the last four or five weeks of footy has been outstanding and today was another reflection of that. We've probably gone to another level.

"We're really happy to finish where we have and to do what the players have in these conditions is excellent.

"We feel like we've laid a really good foundation to start our finals campaign."

Eagles coach Michael Prior said the gap between his young side and the experienced Melbourne lineup was "huge", but he added there had been significant improvement during the season.

Looking to the players' end-of-season exit meetings, Prior warned "some of them will be pretty pointed".

Kate Hore set the tone for Melbourne in the opening term with five forward-50 tackles and she kicked two goals. Eden Zanker also kicked two goals.

Melbourne defender Libby Birch was supreme. 

Tayla Harris's ruck work and long kicking were outstanding, particularly in the last quarter as she ensured the Melbourne attack had every opportunity to kick the score they needed to snatch top spot from Brisbane.

Melbourne are a foundation AFLW team and regularly touted as premiership chances, but they are yet to win the flag in six seasons.

Adelaide beat them in the grand final earlier this season.

It was a brutal end to the season for the Eagles, with Ella Roberts racking up 22 possessions and seven marks - game-high stats - in a rare highlight for them.

Prior said he will be "gobsmacked" if Roberts does not win the Rising Star award.