No.3 NAB AFL Draft pick Dustin Martin, Ben Nason and Relton Roberts will all play their first AFL match against the Blues after being drafted by the club last year, while former Port Adelaide defender Mitch Farmer will play his first game for the Tigers.
Hardwick is looking forward to seeing what the youngsters can offer but isn't putting too much pressure on the draftees.
"Ben Nason hasn't even been to the MCG," Hardwick said before the Tigers' final training run at Punt Road on Wednesday morning.
"So it's his first time at the MCG [and] he's got 80,000 people screaming at him to 'kick it!'.
"They'll (the debutants) take a little while to get going, but hopefully we just see some signs going forward of what they can offer our footy club."
Instead, the coach is more upbeat about seeing the progression of some older Tigers.
"With four debutants in round one it's a massive step for our club, but the other thing is the emergence of players that we need to come forward," Hardwick said.
"You know [Tom] Hislop, [Adam] Thomson, [Daniel] Jackson, these types of players … they're probably the players that I'm more looking forward to seeing how they go.
"Those are the guys that we hope to become better players, and that's a measure of our coaching as well.
"If we can do that we'll become a better side a hell of a lot quicker."
Thursday night will be just the second time this year that key defensive trio Luke McGuane, Kel Moore and Will Thursfield will take the field together - the coach viewing that defensive stability as paramount to future success this season.
In another boost, Ben Cousins is also set to play after a recent illness. The 31-year-old was admitted to hospital twice in the past fortnight with stomach problems but trained without any signs of hindrance on Wednesday morning.
"He's right to go," Hardwick said.
"He's had four training sessions since his illness and he's looked really, really good, so we're very happy with the way he's heading and he'll play on Thursday night."
The first-year coach admitted to some butterflies ahead of his first match in charge
"I can't tell you the difference, whether it's nervous or excited," he said.
"I just can't wait to get it started. It is a starting point and look, we've got a long way to go, but we're looking forward to starting the journey."
Ben Nason is a $89,500 defender in this year's Toyota AFL Dream Team
