Richmond is hatching a team defensive plan to contain Fremantle superstar Nat Fyfe, with Tigers spearhead Jack Riewoldt conceding no single player can stop the runaway Brownlow Medal favourite in his current form.
One bookmaker has already paid out on Fyfe winning the game's highest individual honour and the Freo Dockers jet responded with another best-on-ground display in an enthralling head-to-head battle with Adelaide's Patrick Dangerfield on Saturday night.
Battle of the titans: Fyfe v Dangerfield
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Riewoldt said the Tigers needed a team effort to curb Fyfe's influence in a tough trip to Domain Stadium to face the undefeated Freo Dockers on Friday night.
"Yeah, we're going to tag him with every player we've got," Riewoldt joked.
"No, look, he's such a great player, he's so good at clearances [second in the AFL, 8.7 per game], but he's also nearly leading the AFL in contested marks [equal fourth, 2.3]. So he's such a hard player to play on, but for us it's about team defence, we're not going to focus on one individual.
"There's another 21 guys out there who are playing great footy for them as well. We need to play really good team defence game and then obviously try and hurt them on offence as well."
Riewoldt said Richmond would take some confidence from beating Port Adelaide on the road and winning its past two matches at Domain Stadium, although both triumphs came against West Coast.
The Tigers haven't beaten Freo on their home turf since 2009.
Match day information: Fremantle v Richmond
"It's going to be a great test for us. Domain Stadium has obviously been a little bit of a happy hunting ground for us, we've played some pretty good footy over there over the last three or four years," Riewoldt said.
"Offensively it's going to be a game of inches for us, trying to find every little inch and play the way we want to play and hopefully that can hold us in good stead for the final result."
Riewoldt rated key forward Ty Vickery (knee/ankle) a 50-50 chance to be available for the trip west, and said a three-pronged tall attack had added to the Tigers' firepower.
The dual Coleman medallist has adapted his role, playing further up the ground to accommodate Vickery, Ben Griffiths and Liam McBean at various times this year, although he's still booted 25 majors.
"You can't become stagnant as a player. Key forward is one of the positions that has changed the most over the last few years with the game evolving and becoming a different spectacle," Riewoldt said.
"It's just practice and trying to play a different role and trying to get as much of the ball as possible."
Veteran Chris Newman (groin) is also a chance to be fit for the Freo clash as the eighth-placed Tigers search for their fourth-straight win.
At 2-4, Richmond's season was in danger of slipping into the abyss, but Riewoldt said the maturing playing group and strong off-field leadership had helped turn the campaign around.
"You've just got to roll with the punches … I think that's probably helped us to get some good results again, we weren't getting too down, we weren't focusing on too many negatives," he said.
"The strength around the football club in the football department and certainly off-field as well is holding us in great stead to be a successful club.
