PREPARING to meet the team on Sunday he could well have been coaching, Richmond assistant Brian Royal has said the Tigers intend to attack Fremantle in a bid to break their 2007 duck.

Following Damian Drum's sacking from Fremantle in 2001, Royal, then an assistant at Melbourne, and Chris Connolly, in a similar role at Hawthorn, were the last two standing in the race to take over at Freo.

With Fremantle eventually choosing Connolly, Royal is still waiting for a senior post, this week admitting he maintains ambitions to lead his own team after years as an assistant to Terry Wallace.

But on Sunday, Royal said he and Wallace will only focus on defying the odds to win Richmond's first game of the year.

"At this stage of the development of the team we really need to try and build a style of football that is going to hold up and be successful in finals football," Royal said.

"You could think the position Richmond are in the moment you have got to protect the scoreboard - but we also need to teach the guys how to play that brand of football.

"We will endeavour to play an attacking brand.

"If Freo do get a jump on us we might have to throw a player behind the ball - but I have got no doubt we will attack to start with."

With the Tigers at odds as generous as $5.50 to upset Fremantle at home, former Freo recruit Graham Polak has taken much of the focus this week on his first return to his old club.

And while Royal agreed Polak was having an outstanding first season at Punt Road, he also defended the form of younger players such as Brett Deledio and Richard Tambling.

"We could not have asked anymore of Graham - he would probably be in our top two or three in our best and fairest if we had the count today," Royal said.

"He has been the ultimate professional around the club, and he has been terrific with our younger guys as well.

"We are heading in the right direction, we just hope the supporters are going to be patient with us. Once we win one game, I think we will string a few together."

With Fremantle desperate to bounce back after last week's loss to Collingwood, Connolly has handed another debut to one of his rookies, with Garrick Ibbotson becoming the third to play their first game for Fremantle this year.

Following ruckman Robbie Warnock and forward Clayton Collard into the AFL ranks, 19-year old Ibbotson will add to Fremantle's midfield rotations and talked down any pressure he might feel in a potentially pivotal game.

"So tomorrow is as good a time as any and hopefully we can set up our season," he said.

"I don't think we are too far from playing our best football."