Melbourne ruckman Mark Jamar says a win over Richmond at the MCG on Saturday could set the erratic Demons up for a chance to consolidate an AFL finals place.

The victors could move into the top eight if Essendon or Fremantle lose.

And, according to Jamar, that could be the spur the Demons need to prove they are finals material.

"If you look at it, it's nine versus 10 and both teams want to get that spot in the eight," Jamar said on Friday.

"This game is critical to break away from the other teams.

"Whoever wins is going to give themselves the best opportunity for the second half of the season."

Jamar said Melbourne has been "up one week and down the next" this year.

"Tomorrow will be a good chance to try to end that. It's a big game for both teams," he said.

He moves straight into the side without match practice after six weeks recovering from a knee injury.

Pencilled in at full-forward, Jamar said he expects to rotate between attack and the ruck with Stefan Martin, who performed well in the ruck in his absence.

"With the game nowadays and the rotations, you've got to spend more time on the ground. At the start of the year, I played ruck and forward so I'll just continue doing that tomorrow.

"In the past, I've always been able to go forward and take a few grabs and, hopefully, I'll get an opportunity tomorrow to do that.

"Stef's probably proved himself in the ruck over the last six weeks. He's really grabbed his opportunity," Jamar said.

"He's been playing great footy and I've been so happy for him so, hopefully, we can build a good partnership and finish off the second half of the year strong."

Jamar warned against picking too tall a side, but said he could see matches where he, Martin and young ruckman Max Gawn could combine as a weapon.

"The good thing about us is that Stef can also play key forward and key position back - I can go forward or Gawny can go forward.

"We've got that versatility so, as we get more experience together, we could probably look at doing something like that."

Jamar said he does not expect to take so long to recover from his round-seven injury.

"It's been frustrating. Last week, I probably could have played but they just held me back that extra week, just to be safe," he said.

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