Media commentary #1Balta helps Tigers get a rare win, but at what cost?Peter Ryan
The Age
21 April 2025Richmond’s outstanding upset win over Gold Coast would not have happened without Noah Balta’s performance in defence.
He restricted Ben King to four disposals and one goal. He took four intercept marks and joined premiership teammate Nick Vlastuin in halting the Suns’ last-quarter onslaught.
The Tigers needed him, and his performance showed why they stuck to the penalty they imposed upon him soon after he was charged with assault for an incident in NSW on December 30. The Tigers resisted the public pressure to extend his ban until after this Tuesday, when he will be sentenced for the crime. That pressure came because the sentencing date was pushed back and after Balta pleaded guilty to assault in the Corowa Local Court in late March when previously unseen footage of the incident was aired.
That vision of Balta attacking the victim – who lodged a civil claim for damages which has now been settled – was horrible; exactly the sort of dangerous incident we want stamped out on our streets.
Balta is remorseful. He co-operated with authorities and has undergone education. It’s hoped he will become a better person for the experience, but first he will have to deal with whatever penalty the court decides to impose on him on Tuesday.
Richmond have established a reputation over the past decade of sticking with their players during legal processes or AFL investigations and staring down critics. But in refusing to budge on Balta’s ban, the Tigers have lost some respect as a community leader.
By allowing him to play against the Suns, the Tigers won a game of football but thumbed their noses at community sentiment. They put their needs as a team ahead of the opportunity they had to send a wider message to the world about violence. It might not seem fair, but the footage of the assault – and the extension of the court date beyond the original suspension – changed everything.
Of course, no one at the Tigers thinks what Balta did was acceptable. As their coach Adem Yze said, the tall has worked hard to regain the respect of his football club. Nor should anyone think one mistake cannot be redeemed.
But the Tigers had a chance to show where such behaviour sits in their decision-making, and they chose to take a player-first approach.
It was a decision of a bygone era, from a time when football clubs were a joke in many sections of the community and before they started preaching about how important they were within the community.
The decision to hold firm led to officials delivering ridiculous messages. They told us Balta had trained hard in the past three months and had done everything right to earn his chance to play. Unfortunately, the decision also led to head-scratching cheers for Balta as booing rang out when he played on Saturday night.
Those advocating to reduce violence in the community would have been entitled to shake their heads in despair.
Some straight talking from the club would have been more credible. It would have meant saying something like, “we need Noah in our backline and we won’t cop penalties being changed because the player and his teammates would not forgive us”. Of course, they didn’t dare.
Even Balta’s ex-coach at the Tigers, Damien Hardwick, diverted his post-match comments about Balta to a criticism of Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan for using the selection of the 25-year-old as a political decoy.
Hardwick will have plenty supporting his view the premier should stay out of football matters, but given the amount of public money that has gone into building training and administration centres for elite AFL clubs and grandstands – including $15 million from Andrews government to Punt Road’s development – the government has some skin in the game. A community licence is a community licence.
Of course criticism of the premier hasn’t come from Richmond, but nor has criticism of Richmond been confined to the premier. Even the Tigers’ esteemed premiership forward Jack Riewoldt said he didn’t think Balta should have played.
The truth is, the most consistent sentiment is disappointment rather than anger that the Tigers couldn’t wait for one more week for Balta to play.
Richmond are a great club with good people. They have run some of the competition’s best community programs, particularly their Korin Gamadji program that helps educate Indigenous youth. Dealing with young people is complex, and sometimes the right answers are more obvious to those at the coalface than observing from afar.
But, to date, Richmond have not used Balta’s mistake to positively shape attitudes towards community violence. It’s been mystifying. Unless there are other reasons they are yet to explain, the Tigers, on this issue, have lost some respect. They will need to do some work to win it back.
That work should start on Tuesday when Balta receives the NSW court’s judgment.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/balta-helps-tigers-get-a-rare-win-but-at-what-cost-20250420-p5lsyh.html
