RICHMOND'S promise to give Dustin Martin more time in the forward line in 2017 came to life on Thursday night, with coach Damien Hardwick praising his star midfielder for producing a "pretty special game".

The Tigers' off-season recruiting paid dividends against Carlton at the MCG, with new midfielders Dion Prestia and Josh Caddy adding muscle to the centre square and giving Martin more freedom to push into attack.

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The gun on-baller was regularly positioned one-out as Richmond's deepest forward and he finished as a clear best-on-ground with four goals, 33 possessions, six clearances and six inside 50s.

"It was a pretty special sort of game," Hardwick said after the Tigers launched the new season with a 43-point win.  

WATCH: Damien Hardwick's full post-match press conference

"The addition of Caddy and Prestia, it helps with 'Dusty' being able to play more forward.

"Dion played really well tonight, and Josh battled mercifully through the middle … his body use and those sorts of things was first class. He smashed packs."

Martin's future has been a talking point through the off-season as he enters the final year of his contract and approaches free agency for the first time in his career.

But if there was pressure on the 25-year-old, whose stocks rose significantly again on Thursday night, you would not have known it.

"It's what good players do (and) he's the ultimate professional," Hardwick said.

"He goes about his business, he trains incredibly hard, he looks after himself, and he gets the result he deserves today."

Hardwick was also pleased with ruck recruit Toby Nankervis who had an entertaining battle with Carlton big man Matthew Kreuzer.

While Richmond conceded the hit-outs 35-50, Nankervis had a big impact with his bullocking work at stoppages and contributed to a slight advantage in clearances (40-38), also kicking two goals.

"He had a really good battle with 'Kreuz'," Hardwick said of the former Swan.

"'Kreuz' was outstanding tonight and I thought 'Nank' was pretty serviceable for us … I thought that was a contest worth watching those two."

The fourth of Richmond's debutants was Dan Butler, who played his first AFL game in his third season and found his niche as a pressure forward, finishing with 19 possessions and two goals.

Hardwick said the new-look forward line, which also included rookie Jason Castagna (two goals) and exciting youngster Daniel Rioli (two goals), had been a success.  

"I thought they really came to another level," the coach said of his small forwards.

"They've all still got a lot of improvement in them as well, which is really exciting.

"We're just going to continue to play them obviously but the consistency is what you're looking for ... with the pressure they can exert on the opposition.

"If we can get that most weeks we're going to be pretty hard to beat."