‘Worried' Richmond abort Noah Balta media conference after shock curfew sanction
Richmond have been 'blindsided' and Noah Balta is thought to be 'shattered' after he was sentenced by the court on Tuesday.
Veteran reporter Caroline Wilson said Magistrate Melissa Humphreys 'shocked everyone, including Noah Balta and the Richmond Football Club' when she included in the list of Balta sanctions a strict curfew that will make him ineligible for night games.
'The AFL didn't say it was shocked, but I think they were when they realised that the curfew was going to be part of the penalty gentle,' Wilson said on Channel 7's The Agenda Setters.
The 25-year-old was fined $3000 and given an 18-month community corrections order but the curfew, according to Wilson has thrown the club into chaos.
'The curfew has thrown the club into ... obviously confusion, and then they went down through the fixture, and we know now that between now and the next three months, which is how long the curfew is going to last, no Balta will miss at least four games, and potentially six or seven, depending on what happens when the floating fixture kicks in in late June.,' Wilson said.
Wilson said Balta had been planning to speak publicly after the sentencing but that was aborted due to the shock curfew.
'The plan was, after today's sentence, that Noah Balta was going to give a press conference, or at least read a statement and speak to the Richmond public, the footy public and the wider public,' Wilson said.
'He was so blindsided, I think, and so disappointed, and Richmond was so worried about the way he might present himself that he didn't speak.
'Richmond is saying he will speak in due course, but not for a while.
'And the AFL, I'm not even going to run their statement, because it was just a complete waste of time. The AFL, I think, are more culpable here than Richmond.'
Wilson also suspected that the Magistrate made a statement, and Richmond only had themselves to blame by playing Balta on the weekend before the sentencing.
'(The sanctions) wouldn't have been worse, but it could well have been better,' she said.
'The AFL are adamant that Melissa Humphreys, the magistrate, would have done this anyway. I just don't believe that. How can they say that? How can they know? Richmond, to some degree, some people felt they were flaunting Noah Balta (in front of everyone).
'(They had an) an unbelievable upset win over the Gold Coast, and Noah Balta was one of their best players and there are hugs with the coach after the game.'
Wilson said the AFL was criticised for coming in over the top of GWS during the 'Wacky Wednesday' dress-up scandal last year, but the AFL had gone soft on this incident.
'This never, never passed the so called sniff test,' Wilson said.
'And so far we've heard nothing from Noah Balta.'
She said the whole situation and the way it had been handled was 'embarrassing for both Richmond and the AFL'.
7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary Balta had six chances to speak to the public.
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