Frawley said the effort displayed against the Cats was a step in the right direction.
"They're a great team, but they've got two arms and legs and they bleed like everyone else, so we just went out with that attitude and tried to put the pressure on them, as much as we could," he told melbournefc.com.au.
"It was a good start early in the game, but we probably went away from that a little bit.
"We'll take positives out of the game. They're a great team, but hopefully we've got a bit of respect back."
But Frawley said losing by 43 points was still not good enough.
"It was good to compete, but we're still looking to win. There are no excuses being young, but it was good to have a go," he said.
"Everyone had a crack, so that's all you can ask, but next time hopefully we can kick them better and go a bit straighter and go a bit further.
"From last year, it's a big improvement. We've still got a way to go, but we're improving a lot and we're just got to keep going up."
Frawley is one Demon who has made some good strides in recent times, particularly in the past two rounds.
"I feel more comfortable out there. That's the thing. I'm starting to feel more confident out there and I feel like I belong more and I'm starting to believe in myself more," he said.
And his form has not been lost on Melbourne coach Dean Bailey, who praised Frawley post-match.
"Sean Wellman's a terrific back-line coach. In a young back-line 'Chipper' [Frawley] has probably had to mature quickly and [having] Jared Rivers back certainly helps him there," Bailey said.
"He's a great young man and he's going to play a lot of good footy for us and it's really nice to see him getting some reward for all his effort he did over pre-season. So his improvement's been good."
