Convicted Richmond player Noah Balta has broken his silence as his club desperately attempts to move on from the legal saga.
Balta was sentenced on Tuesday for assaulting a man in December. His 18-month community corrections order includes a three-month court-imposed curfew, which means he will miss several games for the Tigers this season.
Balta spoke publicly on Wednesday and apologised for the assault, which left his victim in hospital with broken ribs and a gash to his head.
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“Violence is never the answer. I was under the influence, and made a judgement call which was stupid of myself,” Balta said in a video posted by his AFL club.
“For the last three months I’ve tried to get myself better, become better to help myself.
“While I’m here I want to take the time to thank my family and friends for always being there supporting me, the club and also the Tiger army.”
The Balta video was released hours after Tigers coach Adem Yze was grilled in a tense press conference.
Yze got fed up with Balta questions coming from journalist, while media manager Nicki Malady stepped in to say “move on guys” in an embarrassing moment for the club caught on camera.
Speaking to Nine’s Today on Thursday morning, AFL legend Matthew Lloyd had no sympathy for Yze or his media team.
“He stopped the questioning because he was sick of the questioning… but that’s what they brought upon themselves,” Lloyd said.
“(They did it) by playing Noah Balta last weekend when most people said they shouldn’t have. A lot of heat on Richmond”
Journalists were urged to shift the topic away from Noah Balta Nine
Naturally, Yze was peppered with questions about the club’s handling of the situation, their decision to play him last week and how Balta is feeling in the aftermath of it all.
However, after half a dozen questions on the topic, Yze urged journalists to move on, saying: “That’s about six questions I’ve answered about Noah… No more questions”.
Richmond’s media manager Malady was equally attempting to control the situation and move the topic onto Thursday night’s game.
“Guys, we’re done with Balta. We’ve got a game tomorrow night,” she said.
“We talk about him every week. We have spoken about it. We’re moving on. This is a press conference about a game tomorrow night, we’re moving on.”
Balta and Yze celebrate the win over Gold Coast AFL Photos via Getty Images
Balta will not play VFL for Richmond this week despite being unavailable for AFL selection, with Yze saying it was best for the defender to have a quiet weekend.
“Yesterday was a big day for him, a three-hour drive to Albury and back off a five day break, we’ve got to look after him and he’ll look forward to playing against Hawthorn next week … he’ll be back in our side,” he said.
“He’s obviously disappointed, he’s flat, he’s emotional … he’ll speak when it’s the right time to speak and you’ll sense how remorseful he is.”
Balta was influential for Richmond in their round six win over Gold Coast, playing a key defensive role in what was his first game of the season.
