Richmond coach Adem Yze says non-selection of Noah Balta was purely a football decisionMitchell Woodcock
West Australian
12 April 2025Richmond coach Adem Yze says the non-selection of Noah Balta is purely a football decision as the defender awaits sentencing for assault later this month.
Balta has served the four-match suspension handed to him by the Tigers and approved by the AFL after he left a man in hospital with a head injury following an incident on December 30 in regional NSW.
The Tiger pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and will be sentenced on April 22.
Despite being available, Balta won’t take on Fremantle in the Barossa Valley on Sunday and will instead line up for Richmond’s VFL side against an AFL National Academy under-18 team.
Speaking at Glenelg Oval on Saturday, Yze said the non-selection was based around footy.
“It’s pretty tough to go into an AFL game without playing any footy at all,” he said.
“It was just unfortunate we weren’t able to play him in the VFL beforehand, so this is our first opportunity to play him at any level.
“He would have been playing on some really good forwards and to do that without playing any footy at all would be just too hard for the kid.”
Yze said Balta’s selection for their clash against Gold Coast next weekend would be based on form.
“He’s going to have to warrant selection,” he said.
“Similar to Josh Smillie last week we spoke about him playing VFL footy, he got some minutes under his belt. He’ll play another game this weekend but if he’s not playing well enough he doesn’t deserve selection and Noah will be exactly the same.
“He’s going down to VFL footy to get in form and warrant selection. We’re going to always have that selection integrity. If he plays well enough then well talk about that next week.”
https://thewest.com.au/sport/richmond-tigers/richmond-coach-adem-yze-says-non-selection-of-noah-balta-was-purely-a-football-decision-c-18347924---------------------------------------------
"We have obviously disciplined him, he's copped a fair whack for that and he's been dealing with it for three months," Yze said.
"It was just a performance decision. The coaching staff, we all thought the same.
"Put yourself in his shoes, if you haven't played a game of footy in, you're coming up into an AFL game against a really good team and some good forwards that are in good form, we're not setting him up to perform and play well.
"He would have been playing on some really good forwards and to do that without playing any footy at all would just be too hard for the kid.
"So he'll go and play a game of footy this weekend and be available the week after."
https://www.afl.com.au/news/1297570/richmond-tigers-defender-noah-balta-could-make-afl-return-days-before-sentencing
