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.

Finals forecast: Take two for Tigers, Roos?

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.

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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.

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Trailing by four points early in the third quarter against a severely understrength North Melbourne, the Tigers needed a spark, and Brett Deledio came to the rescue.

The dashing Tiger was best on ground with 26 possessions, nine inside 50s and a game-high four score involvements, with captain Trent Cotchin (30 possessions and six inside 50s) also strong.

Defender Alex Rance was superb on North Melbourne forward Drew Petrie, while midfielder Shane Edwards continued to build form before finals after suffering a fractured leg. 

"We got through unscathed, we won, we move on and we look forward to our next challenge, which is the possibility of [playing] the same side," Hardwick said.

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"It was a funny opening to the game. We probably weren't switched on to the level that we would have liked, and they probably had nine guys that came in and were incredibly hungry and looking for a finals position to play." 

The Tigers didn't win by a big enough margin to overtake the Sydney Swans in fourth spot, and they can only slide down to sixth if the Western Bulldogs beat the Brisbane Lions by a three-figure margin. 

They finish the home and away season with a 15-7 record, equalling their 2013 tally, but now face a September acid test after two straight finals losses in 2013 and 2014.

There will also be pressure on Brad Scott and the Kangaroos to capitalise on the decision to rest nine stars and turn around Friday night's result next weekend.

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

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Daw, who has played one game 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. 

A message on the Tigers' bench read 'keep the ball going forward', and that is what they did for the bulk of the second half, without giving away everything against next week's opponent. 

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."  

Jack Ziebell came off worse for wear after a heavy clash in the final quarter. Picture: AFL Media

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: Nil
North Melbourne: Turner (head knock), Ziebell (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