Richmond premiership defender Noah Balta will be restricted to playing day games after having a night-time curfew imposed by a court.
Declaring that a ‘lesson has been learned’ and vowing to ‘improve myself’, Balta was sentenced on Tuesday for assaulting a man in regional NSW on December 30 last year.
The 25-year-old was fined $3000, given an 18-month community corrections order and assigned a curfew, restricting him to his home address between 10pm and 6am until July.
The punishment came just days after his first AFL appearance of the season on Saturday night in the Tigers’ upset win over Gold Coast.
Balta was facing a maximum five-year jail term.
Richmond won’t try to negotiate the punishment so Balta will miss this Thursday night’s clash with Melbourne at the MCG.
Noah Balta has recieved a surprising offer from some Richmond fans after he was sentenced on Tuesday having pleaded guilty to a charge of assault of a 27-year-old man in December
Balta had been handed a four-match suspension by the AFL but the footy star made his return to play for the Tigers during Saturday’s victory against the Gold Coast
Balta’s attack in December last year left his victim a bloodied mess (pictured) and saw a police prosecutor tell the court that he could have died in the assault
Balta will also have to sit out the Dreamtime match against Essendon on May 23, and a twilight match against GWS at Engie Stadium on May 31 because he wouldn’t be able to get back from Sydney in time for his curfew.
Ahead of this week’s match against the Demons, it is being reported that some Richmond fans are offering up their homes close to the MCG to Balta in hopes that he could play three quarters of footy before heading back to an apartment close to the stadium.
SEN’s Chief Sports Reporter Sam Edmund took to social media to report the news on Tuesday, writing: ‘Footy fans are an amazing breed.
‘As Richmond assess Noah Balta’s 10pm curfew with a pair of night games on the horizon, Tigers supporters are at the club offering their apartments close to the G.
‘Chance for Noah to play three quarters and then have the slippers on by the fourth?’
Balta, via a written statement, apologised to the victim, his family and friends, and Richmond.
‘I have let a lot of people down and the lesson has been learned that violence is never the answer,’ Balta said.
‘I will continue to work to improve myself to ensure this never happens again.’
The footy star has now been handed a $3000 fine an an 18-month community corrections order, which includes a 10pm to 6am curfew
The curfew meansBalta could be set to miss several night games this season, but Sam Edmund reports that Richmond fans are offering up their homes close to the MCG so that Balta could play three quarters of footy
Richmond chief executive Shane Dunne insisted Balta had paid a a ‘significant price’.
‘This club does not condone violence in any form, and it is why we took such a strong and immediate stand when this incident came to light,’ Dunne said.
‘Noah has worked hard to improve himself in the months following the incident, undertaking education and counselling. That work will continue.
‘With the judicial process now concluded, it remains our collective expectation that Noah learns from this, and we see the best version of him going forward.’
The AFL are due to address the situation on Tuesday afternoon.
The Tigers’ decision to select Balta against the Suns, just three days before he was sentenced, prompted a strong reaction from in and out of the football community.
Richmond great Jack Riewoldt has been among the critics of his former club’s handling of Balta.
Tigers boss Adem Yze (right) praised Balta (left) for his work in training to get back to the footy pitch and said the club had punished him enough
Riewoldt said on Fox Footy the Tigers’ decision to select his ex-teammate while court proceedings are ongoing didn’t sit well with him or pass the public ‘sniff test’.
Speaking before Saturday night’s match, Riewoldt said there was ‘no way’ Balta should be playing.
Balta served a four-game suspension, then had a match with Richmond’s VFL team, before playing a key role in shutting down Gold Coast spearhead Ben King.
It comes as Jacinta Allan has criticised the AFL and Richmond’s decision to bring Balta back into the fold before his sentencing.
Allan questioned what kind of message the club and the league were sending out to members of the wider community by letting the 25-year-old return to action prior to his sentencing.
The comments have caused a bit of a storm among some in the AFL, with ex-Tigers boss Damien Hardwick telling the Premier to ‘keep her nose out of other people’s business’ implying that there are bigger problems in the state that the Premier needs to tackle.
On Monday, Hardwick subsequently copped backlash from Channel 7 journalist Caroline Wilson, who lambasted the footy coach, stating that his comments were ‘out of line’.
