This time, however, some terrible kicking for goal, and a six-goal haul from Tigers cult-hero Jack Riewoldt, meant the Blues had to fight back from a three-quarter-time deficit before prevailing by 20 points.
Midfielders Bryce Gibbs, Marc Murphy, Mitch Robinson and Chris Judd were the driving forces behind Carlton's 14.20 (104) to 13.6 (84) victory, while Eddie Betts kicked three brilliant majors.
Riewoldt's chief helpers were former Blue Shaun Grigg and fellow onballers Trent Cotchin and Daniel Jackson. The latter spent most of the night shadowing Judd, but also snuck forward to boot two goals.
But Richmond's Alex Rance could find himself in hot water with the match review panel after his second-quarter collision with Jarrad Waite.
The Carlton forward was taken from the field with concussion and was then withdrawn from the game altogether, his replacement, Kane Lucas, gaining the title as the first player substituted into an official AFL game.
Replays appeared to show Rance making high contact with Waite, although whether it was intentional was unclear.
In what proved to be a typically unpredictable round one affair, Carlton dominated the match everywhere but on the scoreboard.
By the final change, the Blues led the inside-50 count 50-28, yet they amazingly trailed by 14 points, having allowed Richmond to score six unanswered goals in the third term.
To the relief of the many Carlton fans in the crowd of more than 60,000, Brett Ratten's men held the Tigers goalless in the final term, while booting five of their own.
Carlton 2.8 9.10 9.13 14.20 (104)
Richmond 3.0 7.0 13.3 13.6 (84)
GOALS
Carlton: Betts 3, Garlett 2, Walker 2, Curnow, Gibbs, Carrazzo, Murphy, Judd, Armfield, Hampson
Richmond: Riewoldt 6, Morton 2, Jackson 2, Graham, Vickery, White
BEST
Carlton: Gibbs, Murphy, Robinson, Curnow, Simpson, Judd, Warnock
Richmond: Riewoldt, Nahas, Jackson, Houli, Newman, Cotchin
INJURIES
Carlton: Waite (concussion)
Richmond: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Rosebury, Stevic, Nicholls
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL.
