Former Geelong star Jimmy Bartel has hit out at Richmond’s stance to continue playing Noah Balta after pleading guilty to assault, not impressed that he is being portrayed as the victim by his club.
Balta has now completed a six-game AFL ban after being charged over the incident in January, and the 25-year-old is now awaiting sentencing on April 22.
Tigers coach Adam Yze, last week, came out in support of his player, suggesting that he would play him as soon as he was available and fit – and neither Richmond nor the AFL has considered extending his ban.
“The AFL was part of that process when we sanctioned him,” Yze said.
“Six weeks is a long time to have out, and it is not just the six-week suspension, but he’s been dealing with it for the past three months. He’s hating not being out there.
“The fact that it is in the media now when it happened in January. So he’s been dealing with it for a long time.
“We are not going to change our verdict, and like I say, we worked with the AFL, and they’re really clear on that.”
Despite being available, Nine News reporter Tom Morris has since reported that it is “highly unlikely” that Balta will play this week in Gather Round against Fremantle on Sunday. There are no VFL games for Richmond to play him in until April 18.
But Bartel was not happy at the coach’s comments that he said do not reflect the seriousness of what has occured.
“Adam Yze’s comments don’t sit comfortably with me,” Jimmy Bartel said on Footy Classified.
“It came across as Noah is being hard done by – the fact that he has had to sit so much time out and had to deal with it.
“That sort of behaviour we are trying to eradicate from society.
“Let’s not even talk about football. That’s not even being able to act properly in society.”
Noah Balta. (Photo by Josh Chadwick/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)
The defender even faces the possibility of jail time for the incident, and CCTV footage of the incident was publicly released as part of the court case last month.
The Channel Nine commentator added that because of the admission of guilt, he was happy for the club to support Balta, but not let him play football until he receives the sentence that the court hands down.
“He pled guilty. That’s when Richmond should have stepped in,” Bartel said.
“If he was actually contesting the charge, then it’s innocent until proven guilty, but he actually declared he was guilty.
“I don’t buy into the tone ‘poor Noah’.
“All of the heat could have been gone out of this; instead of us debating whether he should have been playing or not, once he said he was pleading guilty, you go deal with your court case.”
However, the AFL Players Association says the defender “has a right to play” while he awaits his assault sentencing
“There’s been a disciplinary process there. Noah has served that out. And so, he has a right to play this week. I don’t know whether he will,” AFLPA Chief Executive Paul Marsh said.
“At the moment, our thoughts are with Noah in a sort of broader sense, I think he’s got some problems, sorts of challenges ahead of him and that is the bigger issue.
“But if playing fully, and I think playing footy can be a nice distraction, being in a club where they’re actually working with him day-to-day is also really positive … I think that the club will make the right decision.
“He’s gone through a process where he’s been suspended, so I think it’s appropriate that that’s the suspension.
Noah Balta marks the ball. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
“He’s got a criminal process that he’s going through, and there’ll be a determination made at the end of that. But there has been a football process, and that’s the result of it.”
Balta pleaded guilty in the Corowa Local Court to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, which in NSW carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail.
Prosecutors said Balta’s actions, which hospitalised the victim with head injuries, met the threshold of a high-level offence. Balta’s defence team admitted to the court the incident was serious, but argued the assault was at the higher end of a mid-level offence.
His lawyer Belinda Franjic told the court the offence was “completely and utterly out of character” for the AFL star.
When asked whether Balta being able to play was a bad look for the game, Marsh said: “We’re getting into some really challenging areas when we start making decisions on what a good look for the game can be.
“The game has got an ability to help players rehabilitate and become better people.
“These are young people that we’re dealing with. And so I think the outcome we all want for now to come out of this is for Noah to come out of this experience as a better person.”
– with AAP
