IT CAN be hard to fault Richmond at times, but the side's lack of discipline against Carlton in Thursday night's season-opener at the MCG left coach Damien Hardwick feeling a tad frustrated.

The Blues kicked eight of their 12 goals directly from free kicks in the eerie behind-closed-doors fixture, helping them reduce a 50-point deficit midway through the third quarter down to just 15 points late in the game.

TIGERS TAME BLUES Full match coverage and stats

The Tigers ultimately rallied to see off the last-gasp fightback and open their campaign with a victory, but the way in which the reigning premiers were made to scrap for the points ensured Hardwick found it difficult to find 'diplomatic' ways of explaining the fadeout.

"You give away eight free-kick goals … that keeps sides in the game," Hardwick said.

"The fact of the matter is, I thought we were undisciplined and I thought we gave away cheap frees that ended in easy goals.

WEIRD NIGHT Season kicks off in silence

"We defended for long periods pretty well, we just couldn't win contests down the line.

"Tom (Lynch) and Jack (Riewoldt) battled, but I thought they battled against guys … I'm trying to think of how I could say this diplomatically and I don't think I can, so I'm not going to say it.

"Look at the tape."

Richmond finished the match one man down on the bench, with star defender Nick Vlastuin failing a concussion test after copping a whack to the head during the third quarter.

While the Tigers didn't yet have an update on his condition after the match, the important half-back will be monitored ahead of next week's blockbuster against Collingwood.

"I haven't (got an update) at this stage," Hardwick said.

"He was obviously ruled out with concussion, but other than that we'll let the doctor do what he does.

"He'll have an assessment during the week, but once again I think we know what those guidelines are and our docs are pretty good with that."