Melbourne forward Michael Newton will make his 2009 debut after being named in the starting 18 for Sunday afternoon's clash with Richmond.

Newton narrowly missed out on selection last week, and will be keen to impress in his first major hitout of the season.

The Demons will be without captain James McDonald, who will miss his second week of football with a tight hamstring.

The emergencies for the match on Sunday are Cheney, Spencer and Maric.

The last time these two teams met was in Round 22, 2008, which saw the Tigers victorious by 80 points.

The final team of 22 will be selected on Friday afternoon, at 5:00 pm.

Melbourne Team
Backs: N.Jetta, M.Warnock, J.Rivers
Half backs: J. Frawley, S. Martin, A.Davey
Centreline: J.Bennell, L.Dunn, B.McLean
Half forwards: M.Bate,M.Newton, B.Moloney
Forwards: B.Miller, C.Sylvia, C. Morton
Followers: J.Meesen, C.Bruce, B.Green
I/C From: P.Johnson, N.Jones, C.Bartram, R.Petterd
Emergencey: K.Cheney, J.Spencer, A.Maric,

In: Newton
Out: Cheney

Richmond
Backs: Chris Newman, Kelvin Moore, Alex Rance
Half backs: Tom Hislop, Luke McGuane, Dean Polo
Centreline: Matt White, Shane Tuck, Andrew Collins
Half forwards: Nathan Brown, Matthew Richardson, Joel Bowden
Forwards: Mitch Morton, Jack Riewoldt, Brett Deledio
Followers: Troy Simmonds, Daniel Jackson, Nathan Foley
I/C From: Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, Jordan McMahon, Robin Nahas, Angus Graham, Shane Edwards, Daniel Connors, Jake King

In: Collins, Connors, McMahon, Nahas, Oakley-Nicholls
Out: Jay Schulz, Richard Tambling