RICHMOND key forward Sabrina Frederick is hoping the Tiger army makes Ikon Park its own in Friday night's blockbuster AFLW season-opener against Carlton. 

It will be the first time a Richmond AFLW team takes to the field, and despite the Tigers having hosting rights, the match will be held at Carlton's home ground to allow as many fans as possible to attend.

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"I think the girls are just really excited to start the season. It's something I watched on quite enviously over the three years of playing at Brisbane, but it's nice to now be a part of that and it's such a special time," Frederick said.

"We personally want to paint Ikon Park yellow and black on Friday night, definitely just want as many fans as we possibly can out here.

"It's going to be great weather, thank god, which has been great for us, but can't wait and just want to get as many people here as we can." 

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Carlton midfielder Sarah Hosking is coming into her third season-opening match and believes the home ground advantage may give her side a bit of an edge.

"If anything, the girls are prepared. The season opener comes with nerves and especially being around these first four years, it's an understanding of what to expect from a game like this," Hosking said. 

"Especially given it's Richmond's home game, but here at Ikon Park, we're lucky enough to train every day.

 "We've sort of got an upper hand there, but we're really looking forward to starting the season opener, the girls know what to expect from a big game like that."

The Blues were runners-up in the 2019 season – in part to the conference system allowing them to qualify for finals in the first place – but they are under no illusions as to where they stand coming into 2020. 

They were simply outclassed in the season decider against Adelaide, going down by 45 points. 

"I don't think you ever forget about something like that, we were well and truly aware of where we finished," Hosking said.

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"We made it to the Grand Final, but I've mentioned a few times that 'Harf', our coach (Daniel Harford), has made the group aware that we finished in fifth position in an overall ladder. 

"The girls are looking forward to this year and in our pre-season it was just making sure we worked on the things we needed to work on and obviously putting our best foot forward for round one."

Richmond has been a powerhouse club in the AFL competition over the past few years, winning flags in 2017 and 2019, but Frederick is eager for her side to stand on its own two feet.

"Obviously there's a lot of history there and there's a lot of great resources in the people that's around [the club]," she said. 

"But at the end of the day, we're a new team, we're not the exact same team as the boys and we want to create our own history as well. 

"So, come Friday, they'll be here supporting us and the whole club will be, but we're about to write a new chapter of the book."