Richmond vice-captain Nathan Foley is convinced the embattled AFL club are on the verge of breaking their winless drought.

But it's highly unlikely to happen this weekend.

The Tigers face reigning premiers Geelong at Skilled Stadium on Sunday which will almost certainly leave them facing a 0-6 start to the season.

However with games against fellow battlers Adelaide and Essendon looming in the next few weeks, star midfielder Foley believes the bottom-placed Tigers will soon break through for a much-needed confidence boost.

"We think it's just around the corner," Foley said on Friday, ahead of his second game back after a long lay-off with an ankle injury.

"While the margins have blown out over the last few weeks, you look at some of the game and our tape on Mondays and there's certainly some good signs there.

"We sort of feel that it's not too far away."

Foley said Richmond were lifted by their spirited start against Fremantle last Sunday when they booted 6.1 to the Dockers' 1.5 in the opening term at Subiaco before being reeled in and overhauled.

"We will try and replicate the same sort of things we did in the first quarter against Freo," Foley said.

"A lot of people would have seen that it worked out quite well but we'll just continue to try to implement our game style and see how we go.

"I think fans can take heart from a few encouraging signs they would have seen on TV in the match against Fremantle."

Foley said the side aimed to be as competitive as possible against the Cats on Sunday but was concentrating more on coach Damien Hardwick's long-term vision.

"We're in a different stage at the moment in that we're going through a transformation period so each week is a challenge for us just to work on our structure and game plan," he said.

Richmond gave Geelong a serious fright when they last met at Skilled Stadium in the second round last year, leading by a point at three-quarter time before coming up 20 points short.

Foley said while memories of that encounter would help lift the Tigers, they was no thought that Geelong was suddenly vulnerable despite losses in two of their last three games.

"Geelong are always dangerous. They've been in incredible form in the past few years and are going to be the same challenge," he said.

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