‘Really remorseful': Balta not playing after court case
Richmond coach Adem Yze says remorseful defender Noah Balta wants to 'repay the club's faith' in the wake of his sentencing for assault but won't play this weekend as he and the club deal with the fallout.
On Tuesday Balta was handed a 10pm-6am curfew until July 22 and a ban on interstate travel as well as being convicted and fined for assaulting a man outside a regional NSW venue last year.
The curfew means the 25-year-old can't play in Thursday's Anzac Day eve clash with Melbourne but he won't play in the VFL match earlier in the day either and was absent from the club after a 'tough day' which included attending court in Albury. Noah Balta arrives at Albury Court for sentencing over the assault of a man in December. David Geraghty Credit: News Corp Australia
Before shutting down questions about Balta, who made his AFL return last weekend, Yze said the club would deal with the ongoing issue of the curfew which could impact his availability for at least four games.
'You go through a case like that and we were prepared he was going to be sanctioned, it was just what they came up with. Dealing with that is part of it,' he said.
'We knew that he was going to be punished and we went through that process yesterday.
'That's one little element to that and we'll have to play around with that and deal with that as a club. But at the same time, we've got to wrap our arms around him and help him through this.'
Yze said the club would continue to support Balta who also has to abstain from alcohol as part of his punishment.
'He's really remorseful. He accepted the decision, and now it's about getting him back amongst the group and giving him the opportunity to repay the faith that we've shown in him.
'As I said, it was a tough day yesterday and we'll move on.'
Amid suggestions the strict penalty could have been imposed in the wake of Richmond electing to pick Balta at AFL level before his sentencing, the defender said in a club statement he would 'improve myself' and that 'violence is never the answer'.
'I apologise to the victim, my family and friends, and everyone associated with the Richmond Football Club,' he said.
'I have let a lot of people down and the lesson has been learned that violence is never the answer.
'I will continue to work to improve myself to ensure this never happens again.'
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