He made an instant impact and it was clear he will make Carlton a better AFL side, but in the end it was not to be Chris Judd's night.

Like his team, Judd started with a blaze of glory but faded as Richmond won the MCG season-opener 17.7 (109) to 11.13 (79).

Captaining the Blues for the first time in a premiership season match, it did not take long for the former West Coast skipper to earn a roar from Carlton fans who erupted when Judd won the toss, his first official on-field act.

Once the ball was bounced, he quickly stamped himself on the game, picking up two disposals in the first 10 seconds, despite the close tagging of Richmond youngster Daniel Jackson.

The first was a quick handball out of the centre pack, followed by the first kick of the season to drive the Blues into attack.

By halftime he had racked up 11 touches and three tackles, his possessions including four centre clearances, easily the most of any player on the ground to that stage.

The highlight was a run down the wing 18 minutes into the second term, when he passed to Marc Murphy at half-forward, raced down to receive the ball and pump a handball to Eddie Betts in space, who goaled on the run from 40m.

That put Carlton 25 points up, their biggest lead of the match.

Not only did he have an important early influence himself, particularly in sending the ball the Blues' way from centre bounces, but he also made life easier for his midfield cohorts.

He helped them by dishing the ball out of the packs, but also indirectly, with the close defensive pressure applied by the Tigers on Judd allowing the likes of Nick Stevens and Marc Murphy more freedom to gather possessions in space.

Interestingly, though, Carlton's best patch of the game came when Judd was sitting on the bench midway through the second term.

With Stevens and Murphy dominating, they put on three goals in five minutes to break away from Richmond.

But, from late in the second quarter until midway through the last, Richmond gained control of the match, putting on 10 of 11 goals, to turn a 25-point deficit into a 25-point lead.

The Carlton slump coincided with Judd's influence fading after his strong early start.

The after-effects of his off-season groin surgery clearly took a toll on his fitness, as the Blues skipper's hard running slowed down and Jackson worked his way on top of their duel.

The defining moment in the changing fortunes of their personal contest came when Jackson booted through the opening goal of the final term from outside 50m to put Richmond up by eight points, with the Tigers piling on the next three goals to seal their win.

Carlton coach Brett Ratten said Judd would continue to improve as he regained match fitness and played more game time.

"Tonight he played around 75 per cent game time and when we increase that to 85 to 90, that's when he'll be close to his best," he said.

"Next week we'll ramp it up another 10 per cent, so he's not that far.

"He might be another week to two weeks."

Richmond coach Terry Wallace also conceded Judd was below full match fitness.

"I thought Jacko did a reasonable job, but we know that Juddy's underdone and will be better for the hit-out," he said.

Even though Judd was under-par, both coaches saw signs of his Brownlow best, when he went to a forward flank in the dying stages.

"I thought 'Here we go, he might swing this in a matter of four or five minutes and that's all we had left'," Ratten said.

"He's a very talented player and he will get better each week."

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