It was a sight to make Damien Hardwick’s eyes moist. There in the Suns’ small but resolute cheer squad, a fan holding up a corflute of Richmond superstar Dustin Martin, decked out in red and yellow. Who knows where it came from?

Unfortunately for coach Adem Yze, Hardwick’s replacement at Richmond, the real thing wasn’t available. No Tom Lynch, either. But it’s unlikely even Martin could have stopped the tsunami that swamped the Tigers in the first half at the newly anointed People First stadium on the Gold Coast.

Damien Hardwick in his first premiership match as Gold Coast senior coach.Credit: AFL Photos / Getty Images

Hardwick might have been reassured to have had Martin back by his side in the third quarter, as the Tigers slashed a 61-point lead at half-time back to 26 at the last change. Briefly, another miracle on grass threatened.

In the end, the Suns survived some nervous moments early in the last quarter to prevail by 39 points. They deserved the win, but Yze can take heart that his team rallied after being embarrassed early. Hardwick will just take the win. So should his players.

The game was a sellout, with 22,086 people the fourth-biggest crowd this ground has seen. They were drawn to the hype around Hardwick, the triple-premiership coach, up against the side he left behind for what he called a shiny new set of toys.

New Richmond coach Adem Yze.Credit: AFL Photos / Getty Images

Who could blame him for getting excited? The talent at the Suns has never been the issue. Hardwick was lured to the Suns to give this list a system to work within, knowing he would also demand an uncompromising level of application.

That system is familiar to Tigers fans. It’s about territory at all costs. Suns ruckman Jarrod Witts made a statement of intent when he ripped the first bounce out of the air and hoofed it forward. The ball hardly left the Suns’ forward half for the next two quarters.

“You could see the style we were trying to look to play and implement, and I was really happy with how they went about that,” Hardwick said post-match. “The frustration as a coach is you always go to the third quarter, we just didn’t quite execute some things as well as we did.