Martin was close to best afield despite the Swans sending their resident tagger George Hewett to him from the first centre bounce.
The 2017 Brownlow medallist amassed 25 disposals (16 contested), eight inside 50s, five clearances (four from the centre) and three goals in a masterful display.
Martin spent large chunks of the contest playing deep in attack, where he proved a handful for Sydney's defenders.
The performance followed his one-match ban for a callous off-the-ball elbow to Giant Adam Kennedy's head, coinciding with tagger Matt de Boer holding him to only 15 possessions.
Martin also managed a modest 18 touches the week before that against Collingwood, but Hardwick prophetically backed him to bounce back on game eve.
"He was great, wasn't he?" Hardwick said.
"He was the first one to put up his hand that he was disappointed with his game and disappointed with what happened after that (the hit).
"But that's what great players do – they respond. We're very quick, I think, as a society to hang people, but he's an incredible player and a guy people love to come and watch…
"So I'm very privileged I get to sit there and watch him on the boundary, which is fantastic."
Source: AFL website
