It was one of the better games you'd see Dustin Martin play. Already rated a big Brownlow Medal chance, the bustling Tigers midfielder pulled in a near-certain three votes with a highly-effective four-goal return in the big win over Carlton.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick was similarly enthused about Martin's output, but more so because the addition of new midfielders Josh Caddy and Dion Prestia to the club has allowed Dusty to spend more time up forward – with obvious benefits.
"Look, he's a very good player," Hardwick said.
"He kicked - what, four (goals)? - and gave off two so it was a pretty special sort of game. The addition of Caddy and Prestia, it helps with Dusty being able to play more forward.
"Some times one player is going to get the benefit of others' good work. Not to say that Dusty doesn't do a lot of good work, but we were happy with that."
Richmond were happy with their lot after the convincing 43-point triumph, notwithstanding a third quarter slump when the Blues moved to within striking distance as well as some squandered opportunities in the forward half.
"We've still got a fair bit of work to do. There's some parts of a game that as a coach you're probably never happy with, so we'll endeavour to work on those," Hardwick said.
"We had a number of opportunities where we probably could have scored goals and we sort of fluffed them up.
"Our conversion inside 50 is probably a little bit disappointing at stages, but I couldn't fault the guys' intensity and effort, and that's all I want, that's all our fans want and to see the effort they gave today was outstanding.
"The key for us is the consistency we're looking for with that effort. We'll get a great test against round two versus Collingwood next week."
The new-look Tigers had a range of scoring sources aside from Martin and a quiet Jack Riewoldt. Dan Butler, Jason Castagna and Toby Nankervis all snagged two goals.
There was few negatives for the Tigers, however, particularly as they tinker with their game plan.
"From good defence comes good offence, and that's what we saw," Hardwick said.
"The 11 goals that I spoke of - you get 66 points from forward half turnovers, you're going to be hard to beat.
"If we get that right, we're going to be in games."