Richmond and North Melbourne are set to meet in an elimination final next weekend after the Tigers won a cagey final-round dress rehearsal by 41 points at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.

The Kangaroos will be sweating on a late head knock to vice-captain Jack Ziebell, however, with the key midfielder leaving the ground late in the fourth quarter after a clash with Anthony Miles.

 

Ziebell was able to walk off the ground, but teammate Kayne Turner had to be taken from the Etihad Stadium turf on a stretcher minutes later after being knocked out in a marking contest with four minutes remaining.

The late setbacks came with Richmond six goals clear and the sting clearly out of the match, which ended 16.12 (108) to 10.7 (67) after the Tigers booted nine goals to four in the final quarter.

That last term – the Tigers' best against North Melbourne since 1995 and their best for the season – provided some momentum for Damien Hardwick's team going into the finals after three stuttering quarters that would have had the Richmond faithful worried.

The Kangaroos tore up the script in the first quarter, with ruckman Majak Daw stamping himself on the contest early, alongside Trent Dumont, Brad McKenzie and Turner.

Daw, who has played one games this season, enlivened a dull start when he won possession backwards of centre and took off, taking one bounce and then guiding the ball through from inside the centre square.

The 24-year-old was at the forefront of the Kangaroos' physical approach, laying four tackles in the first quarter as his team went on a tackling rampage (28-11).

By half time the Kangaroos led the tackle count 42-23 as the Tigers struggled to generate any run, playing a conservative style and kicking just one goal for the quarter as a result.

Trailing by 10 points at the main break and with a score of just 2.7, Richmond needed a shot of life, or it risked going into its third straight finals series in a funk.

The response came from Deledio and Edwards, who injected pace into the Tigers' game and sparked a five-goal unanswered run that gave them control of the match.

Jamie Macmillan was one of the Roos' best, finishing with the game with 27 disposals, while Shaun Atley (20 possessions), Lachlan Hansen (19 disposals, 11 marks) and Turner (three goals) were influential.

North Melbourne coach Scott demanded an apology from commentators who had doubted his team's intent to win on Friday night, and said he felt vindicated for resting so many stars.

"I thought a lot of our young boys showed genuine intent in the first half and I thought we played pretty well," Scott said.

"It was obviously an issue sustaining that and we gave away some rookie mistake goals, which were made by rookies.

"We'll keep working on those things with them, but from a team perspective and a club perspective, it was a good night."



RICHMOND  1.4  2.7  7.11 16.12   (108)
NORTH MELBOURNE  2.3  4.5  6.6  10.7   (67)

GOALS

Richmond: Vickery 3, Martin 3, Lambert 2, Riewoldt 2, Ellis, Maric, Newman, Houli, Edwards, Deledio
North Melbourne: Turner 3, Daw 2, Brown 2, Bastinac, McKenzie, Petrie

BEST
Richmond: Deledio, Rance, Edwards, Lambert, Martin, Cotchin, Grigg
North Melbourne: Macmillan, Hansen, Tarrant, Turner, Atley

INJURIES
Richmond: TBC
North Melbourne: Turner (head knock)

SUBSTITUTES
Richmond: Sam Lloyd replaced Ben Lennon in the final quarter
North Melbourne: Brent Harvey replaced Mason Wood in the third quarter

Reports: Nil
Umpires: Margetts, Stevic, Meredith
Official crowd: 40,461 at Etihad Stadium