Preview: Melbourne v Richmond

VENUE & TIME: MCG, 2.10pm, Sunday August 31

HEAD TO HEAD: Played: 174: Richmond 97, Melbourne 75, Drawn 2

LAST TIME: Richmond 16.20 (116) def. Melbourne 14.10 (94) at Telstra Dome, Round 12, 2008.

WALKING WOUNDED: The Tigers won't risk spearhead Nathan Brown, who has missed two of the past three games with hip and leg injuries, now that Sunday's game is a dead rubber with the Tigers out of finals contention. The Demons will be without a host of regular senior players through injury including Aaron Davey, Brock McLean, Russell Robertson, Jared Rivers and Paul Johnson.

FORM: The Tigers might be out of finals contention but their second half of the season has been as good as any team in the competition. The Tigers have won seven of their past 10 matches but were fortunate to beat an under-strength Fremantle by just seven points at the MCG last week. But for the Demons the season from hell simply cannot end quickly enough. With just three wins, the club looks certain to win the wooden spoon in Dean Bailey's first year as coach and last week they were thrashed by fellow bottom-four side Port Adelaide by 78 points at AAMI Stadium.

WHO'S HOT: Shane Tuck is about to complete four successive seasons for the Tigers without missing a match and his 2008 season has even exceeded his stellar 2005 season, when he first established himself as a regular member of the Tigers' line-up. Tuck has averaged just over 24 touches per game this season but in the last four matches he has been in career-best form, collecting over 30 possessions in each game. It has been a bleak year for Melbourne but one positive has been the form of second-year midfielder Simon Buckley, who has averaged over 21 possessions per game this season and has gone over 30 in each of the past two matches.

WE THINK: A win here will assure the Tigers of yet another ninth-placed finish - their sixth in 15 seasons - while handing the wooden spoon to Melbourne but both sides have little to play for. However, the Tigers have finished the season strongly so you can expect a comfortable Richmond win here. Richmond by 50 points.