While it may be only the second week of the season, defeat for either side under lights at the MCG would almost certainly put senior coaches Damien Hardwick and Nathan Buckley under a more intense spotlight.

The Pies would be winless after two rounds, with finals contenders Sydney (SCG), St Kilda (Etihad Stadium), Essendon (MCG) and Geelong (MCG) to come, while the Tiger fans would be wary of what happened at the corresponding stage last year when Brodie Grundy's match-winning goal with four seconds remaining prompted a run of six straight defeats and turmoil at Punt Road.

The Tigers, as they did last year, have begun the season with victory over a rebuilding Carlton. They were inspired by Martin's brilliant evening, when he finished with 33 disposals, six clearances and four goals and leapt into second spot on Brownlow Medal betting.

Buckley said on Tuesday the Pies would put a "fair bit of time" into preparing for Martin, but would not "put too much focus on one, because sides can kill with a thousand cuts in many different ways".

Shaw questioned whether that was the right approach considering how good Martin is.

"I was quite taken aback with Nathan saying, 'You wouldn't put much time, don't have to put time into Dusty'. Things might have changed and it's a team defence. I understand that and I understand the zoning. But if they don't put time into Dusty, he is the one who can get you," Shaw said on Wednesday.

"You have [Alex] Rance at one end, you have [Jack] Riewoldt at the other, and you have got Dusty in between. You have got to put some time into him. You can't beat him up forward. He is the best forward one-on-one player in the competition, so that's a hard thing to get around."

Martin had 30 and 34 disposals in two matches against the Pies last time, the latter won by the Tigers when Martin also scored two Brownlow votes. He also had 32 disposals in the Tigers' 91-point win in round 21, 2015.

Buckley said the Pies were not "ignoring [Trent] Cotchin, we're not ignoring [Dion] Prestia and [Josh] Caddy [or] the fact that their small forwards have got speed and put a lot of pressure on".

"We saw Dusty in the flesh [at Moe in the JLT Community Series] and watched him in round one and you can't help but be impressed with the shape he's in," he said.

"We've got multiple options but not all of them are going to work, either, because he's a good player and good players find a way to play well [and] he's almost impossible to tackle."

The absence of an injured Levi Greenwood (hip) means Jack Crisp is likely to spend time tagging Martin through the midfield, although that's likely to change when Martin is positioned inside attacking 50. Crisp has the body to muscle the robust Tiger, for he is listed as three centimetres taller and three kilograms heavier.

"Crisp has a good body that size, he is a pretty disciplined kid. He does win it [the ball] himself a bit. You quell Dusty to the point that he doesn't have a major impact, and I think you nearly get them," Shaw said.

"I know they have improved that part with Prestia and all that, but he is the one for me."

Shaw said a heavy defeat for either side would have ramifications for Buckley and Hardwick, each fighting to hold onto their jobs, but insisted a clearer picture in terms of their finals outlook would be known from about round eight.

"On the result, it's still early days. But if it was to become a smacking on either side, you would get the normal hoo-ha about both of them. That is to be expected," he said.

"Even Collingwood have been hit by injury. You have to hang in there - normally we get to round eight or nine and then we'll know for certain. There were only one, maybe two, changes to the eight after that last year. Historically, it doesn't change."

Those teams inside the top eight after round eight last year did not change come September, although their order did.