COPING with Melbourne's current heatwave will benefit Richmond's NAB Cup preparations, according to vice-captain Nathan Foley.

Temperatures are predicted to top 40 degrees for the rest of this week, making it all the more difficult to complete a 90-minute session.

Training earlier in the day is a common measure to avoid the worst of it but, with the pre-season competition kicking off for two clubs next Saturday, Foley says it's something players are getting used to.

"It's all part of it – we've been training a bit earlier in the mornings," he said after Wednesday's session at Victoria Park.

"We head across to Perth for round one of the NAB Cup, so it's also good conditioning for that.

"It varies from week to week and where we're at as a group, how long we train for.

"Especially when we've got to go over to Perth, it's nice having that in the back of your head that you have trained in these sort of conditions and you're right to go."

Richmond meets Fremantle at Subiaco Oval on February 15 and even though bounce-down is set for 6.40pm local time, the weather is expected to be warm.

Foley said the build-up to that clash was going well for the entire group, continuing a productive summer.

"All the boys are training well, and we're lucky to have the majority of the group complete most of the pre-season training sessions, so it's been pretty successful so far," he said.

The home and away season doesn't start until March 26, when the Tigers take on traditional rival Carlton, and Foley noted that round one – despite widespread anticipation – was simply the start of a long season.

"I think when you're training all pre-season you've always got round one in the back of your mind, whether it's with the hype of [what] our game versus Carlton's going to be," he said.

"But it's important to know that there's 22 games in a year, and you can't win round one and then lose round two.

"It's important to have that focus that it's a long year."