It certainly didn't take long for Carlton to discover just where the goals were going to come from in the post Brendan Fevola era as the Blues comfortably accounted for Richmond in the AFL season opener at the MCG on Thursday night.
It might have been the start of a new era for the Tigers under new coach Damien Hardwick with four debutants in the team after a dozen changes to the playing list between seasons but it was the same old story for long-suffering Richmond fans as the Blues won 18.12 (120) to 9.10 (64) in front of 72,000 fans at the MCG.
For the Tigers it was a slight improvement on the 83 point loss they suffered in the corresponding game last year - which all but ended the failed five year reign of coach Terry Wallace - but it did not take long for former Essendon and Port Adelaide premiership player Hardwick to realise the size of the task confronting him in rebuilding a club that has played in the finals just twice in the past 27 seasons.
Coming into the game all the talk was how both clubs would replace their greatest ever modern day spearheads with the controversial Fevola having moved to Brisbane after the Blues got sick of his off-field behaviour while for the Tigers the great Matthew Richardson retired and was giving a fitting send-off before the game.
Considering Fevola had topped the Blues' goalkicking in the past seven seasons and had won two Coleman Medals in that time and Richardson won the Tigers' goalkicking a record 13 times, it was obvious both clubs faced huge challenges in re-structuring their attacks.
But those Blues' fans who had claimed that for too long their team was too Fevola conscious would have been thrilled when they saw their side slam on six goals inside the first 20 minutes to take control of the game as Richmond looked set to fold as easily as they did in the same game last season.
However when the Tigers hit back with three goals in three minutes late in the term the margin was just 17 points at the first change.
But with acting captain Andrew Carazzo having the ball on a string with 25 first half disposals the Blues were soon back out to 39 points in front late in the second term before again the Tigers fought back with Mitch Morton - who was well held most of the night by Paul Bower - kicking one after the half-time siren to again cut the margin to three goals.
With the match being played in temperatures in the high 20's it was only natural the pace of the game eased in the second half but the Blues always looked in control thanks to the midfield class of Carazzo, Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs.
And coach Brett Ratten must have been delighted by the spread of goals in the first game of the post Fevola era as the Blues had six multiple goalkickers in Eddie Betts, Chris Yarran, Setanta O'hAilpin, Jarrad Waite, Murphy and Gibbs.
The Blues also made the most of their opportunities unlike Richmond as Adam Thomson failed to even make the distance from 40 metres out in the second term while the experienced Daniel Jackson, who was one of his team's best, kicked out on the full from the same distance in the same term.
But at least the Tigers showed more spirit under Hardwick for the first three terms than they did under Wallace and their four newcomers in Ben Nason, Relton Roberts, Dustin Martin and Mitch Farmer all showed promise with Nason in particular catching the eye with a hard-working display in attack.
However the Tigers' problem was not the efforts of their many youngsters but of some of their most experienced players with Richard Tambling in particular disappointing with just two disposals in the first half when the game was there to be won.
RICHMOND: 4.2, 7.6, 9.8, 9.10 (64)
CARLTON: 7.1, 11.1, 14.7, 18.12 (120)
GOALS: Richmond: Morton 2, Riewoldt 2, Deledio, Hislop, Thomson, Cousins, Nason
Carlton: Betts 3, Yarran 3, O'hAilpin 3, Murphy 2, Waite 2, Gibbs 2, McLean, Henderson, Simpson
BEST: Richmond: Jackson, Connors, Cousins, Nason, Deledio
Carlton: Carazzo, Simpson, Gibbs, Murphy, Scotland, Bower, McLean, Betts
INJURIES: Richmond: Nil
Carlton: Nil
UMPIRES: Rosebury, H Ryan, S Ryan
REPORTS: Nil
CHANGES: Nil
CROWD: 72,010 at MCG