IF RICHMOND beats North Melbourne on Sunday, and the Western Bulldogs defeat Fremantle on Saturday, the Tigers are likely to finish ninth on the ladder for the seventh time since the top eight was introduced for the 1994 season.

That galling fact has not been lost on dashing defender Brett Deledio, who will play his 150th match against the Kangaroos at Etihad Stadium.

But the 24-year-old defender remains confident that the Tigers will break their finals drought in the near future.

"If we can keep all our players fit and healthy and here, and everyone plays to their potential, we can definitely go places," Deledio said at the ME Bank Centre on Tuesday.

"We've got to keep learning and developing along the way, and get plenty of games of experience into players.

"It is exciting that we're definitely building towards something, and we can see light at the end of the tunnel at the moment, but there's a lot of hard work ahead."

Sunday's clash against North Melbourne presents a quandary for the Tigers. A win will push them up the ladder but further down the draft order.

For instance, if Richmond finishes 11th on the ladder its first pick in November's NAB AFL Draft will be number 14.

If the Tigers finish ninth, however, they will get selection 18 (Greater Western Sydney has nine of the first 15 picks).

Nevertheless, Deledio is adamant he and his teammates are desperate to beat the Kangaroos.

"We'll be out there to win," he said.

"We need that momentum going forward, so we'll be out there to win as I'm sure North Melbourne will be as well.

"In terms of ninth spot, unless you're inside the eight you don't tend to look at the ladder too much."

This weekend Deledio will become the youngest player in Richmond's long history to reach 150 games.

The current holder of that record is Matthew Knights, who was 24 years and 332 days old when he reached the milestone in 1995.

However, Deledio will be 24 years and 139 days old on Sunday.

"It's great honour; something I'm very proud of," he said.

"But it's a game we need to win, and that's something I'm looking forward to doing."