Richmond have survived a week of turmoil, suspensions and injuries and their own terrible kicking to defeat a depleted Melbourne in their AFL clash at the MCG.

The Tigers made hard work of their 13.23 (101) to 11.12 (78) win in a strangely scrappy contest in fine conditions on Saturday.

It lifted Richmond to a 7-7 record, keeping them well in the finals hunt, with another very winnable match to come against Gold Coast in Cairns next Saturday.

Shaun Grigg (34 disposals) and Shane Tuck (nine clearances, nine tackles) were prime movers for the Tigers, with Trent Cotchin, Reece Conca and Brett Deledio also handy in the midfield and Bachar Houli winning plenty of the ball off half-back.

The Tigers dominated the midfield, particularly in the opening 25 minutes, having the first nine scoring shots of the match while the Demons barely moved into attack.

But Richmond wasted much of their good work with a string of misses from simple shots to lead 4.6 (30) to 1.0 (6) at the first change.

The Tigers controlled the game throughout but continued to blot their performance with poor kicking for goal, adding 2.6 for the second quarter and 3.8 to Melbourne’s 1.2 in an error-riddled third term.

Jack Riewoldt kicked 0.4 for the third quarter, on his way to 1.5 and another shot out on the full for the match.

It meant when Melbourne kicked three goals in the opening eight minutes of the last quarter, they were just 22 points down, despite having been outplayed virtually all day.

Three last-quarter goals from Robin Nahas helped ensure a Tiger win, along with a Tuck snap.

The victory was a welcome tonic after the Tigers this week lost Dylan Grimes and Jake King to injury, Daniel Jackson to suspension, then sacked Daniel Connors and suspended Dustin Martin among seven changes.

For Melbourne, midfielder Nathan Jones continued his excellent season, returning from injury to be the Demons’ best, while James Frawley performed well on Riewoldt.