Noah Balta speaks for first time since sentencing after assault in January

Noah Balta has spoken for the first time since his assault charge, detailing his remorse for his “stupid” act and committing to working on himself as a person in light of the incident.

Richmond defender Noah Balta has spoken for the first time since his assault charge, detailing his remorse for his “stupid” act.

In a pre-recorded video - his first interview since his December 30 assault in Mulwala - the 25-year-old apologised to victim Thomas Westbrook and said he was committed to working on himself as he navigates his sanction.

“I just want to take this opportunity to apologise to the victim and the family,” Balta said.

“Also (for) the harm I’ve caused to my family and friends, the whole of the Richmond Football Club and the Tiger Army.

“Violence is never the answer.

“Especially (given) I was under the influence and made a judgment call which was stupid of myself.”

Noah Balta has apologised to the victim of his attack. Picture: David Geraghty

Balta was sentenced on Tuesday to an 18-month community correctional order which prohibits him from drinking alcohol, with a 10pm-6am curfew imposed with no exemption permitted meaning he cannot play night games or travel interstate for Richmond.

He was also fined $3000, having also paid $45,000 to the victim in a separate legal matter.

He was absent from the club on Wednesday and won’t play at any level for the Tigers this weekend.

He was banned from playing the first four games of the season and two pre-season games, with the curfew meaning he will miss at least another three games.

Balta said he was “definitely just working on myself” in the wake of the incident and sanction.

“Things to control what I can control, really,” he said.

“I’ve stopped drinking and this is going to go on for another 18 months ... try and get myself better, become better off-field 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.”

Richmond was forced to shut down questions surrounding Balta’s assault sentence on Wednesday as coach Adem Yze prepares for three months of managing the premiership defender’s intermittent match availability.

After almost five minutes of questioning on the matter at his scheduled press conference, Yze asked for questions to move onto the game before Richmond’s media boss stepped in declaring it was time to “move on” in a testy exchange with one reporter.

“To be fair, that’s about six questions I’ve answered about Noah”, Yze said.

“He’s been sanctioned, we’re going to support him from now moving forward, and we’ve got a massive game against Melbourne. No more questions. Any questions about the game?”

The club official then declared “we’re done with Balta ... we’re moving on”.

Yze backed a “flat” and “emotional” Balta to “repay the faith” after he was hit with a community corrections order and fine, plus a curfew that will see him sidelined for night and interstate games for the next three months.

“It was obviously a tough day (on Tuesday),” Yze said.

“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.”

Yze said he was “prepared for anything” when it came to Balta’s sanction but admitted the enforcement of a 10pm-6am curfew with no exemption for playing was a surprise.

“Dealing with that is just part of it,” he said.

Noah Balta and Adem Yze after Richmond’s win over Gold Coast. Picture: Michael Klein

Richmond footballer Noah Balta arrives at Albury Court for sentencing over the assault of a man in December. Picture: David Geraghty/ NewsWire

“He’s really remorseful. 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.”

He said appealing the conditions of the curfew had been discussed but that to appeal the matter would have indicated “that footy was more relevant than the sanction” and that lengthening the process would be of detriment of not just Balta but also the club.

Yze said managing Balta and his looming disjointed availability for night and interstate games would be treated in the same ilk as physical management of a player.

“Going through what he went through yesterday, you’re obviously a little bit worried about what he could say. He’s obviously disappointed, he’s flat, he’s emotional. We’ve just got to protect him with that and he’ll speak when it’s his right time to speak and you will sense how remorseful he is.”

Originally published as Noah Balta speaks for first time since sentencing after assault in January