Carlton captain Lance Whitnall hailed his club's new-found team spirit as his side overcame a 27-point deficit to earn a 17-point Round one victory against Richmond at the AFL’s first Sunday twilight game at the MCG.

"It's fantastic for the club. The boys showed enormous spirit tonight", said Whitnall.

"It's great to get a victory in round one. That's what we focused on, just coming away with a win. At half-time we knew we weren't playing well so to go out there in the second half and turn it around was just a great team effort."

The 27-year-old admitted that he had more pre-match butterflies than usual.

“I was really nervous before the game actually. It was my first of the premiership season as captain so it was big”, said Whitnall.

“It was just really exciting to get the win in the end. It was a great team effort overall.”

The forward praised the Blues fan base who turned out in large numbers to cheer his side on.

“It’s great to get a win for the fans. We have a lot of members who have just come on board which is great to hear”, said Whitnall.

“Hopefully we’ll get a few more wins for them early on in the season.”