Richmond rules out request for day games after Noah Balta’s three-month curfew

Richmond will leave its fixturing in the AFL’s hands as it waits to learn whether Noah Balta will miss more games due to the night curfew imposed on him by a magistrate.

Richmond will not lobby the AFL for a series of afternoon games from round 16-18 to dodge Noah Balta’s curfew despite his punishment already extending to eight AFL games.

Balta was hit with that 10pm-6am curfew by a NSW magistrate on Tuesday as part of his punishment for a summer assault, which means he will miss the Anzac Day Eve game and Dreamtime at the ‘G against Essendon.

He will also miss two interstate games but the Tigers also take on Adelaide, Geelong and Essendon in the first three rounds of a fixture yet to be locked in by the AFL.

The club is determined not to be too cute with his punishment, having already declined to appeal the sentence or the curfew despite considering it in the hours after the sentencing.

Balta did not play in the Thursday VFL game against Casey Fields after missing training on Tuesday, and the club is content to simply pick him when available in coming weeks.

Apart from the traditional Anzac Eve and round 1 night game against Carlton the rebuilding Tigers have played four afternoon or twilight games and one night game against Gold Coast.

Noah Balta returned to the AFL last round against Gold Coast. Picture: Michael Klein

The club’s next two games ahead of the Dreamtime clash are also afternoon games so on the balance of probability Balta will hope only one of those three games are scheduled at night.

Richmond has been pilloried for keeping Balta’s four-week penalty despite the release of vision which showed him shouldercharging a victim who was actually trying to break up a confrontation between his brother and a third party.

But Richmond and the AFL believed his contrition played a huge role in what was effectively a discounted punishment when many players in his position would have sought to minimise their role in the incident.

Their view is that to penalise him again would have sent the wrong message to the next player asked to be truthful about an off-field incident.

Matt Cronin, father of one-punch victim Pat, will meet AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon in coming weeks to discuss how the next situation of this type can be navigated.

But the league is not considering an automatic stand-down situation or a new policy, adamant that working through these issues with the club and its integrity team is the right move going forward.

Balta arrives at Albury Court.

Balta will miss several night games due to his curfew. Picture: Michael Klein

Balta apologised through a video message on Wednesday, saying: “Violence is never the answer. I was under the influence and made a judgement call which was stupid of myself”.

“I’m working on myself . (I have) stopped drinking — and this is going to go for another 18 months — for the last three months to try to get myself better off the field, to help myself.

“While I’m here I want to take the time to thank my family and friends for always being there to support me, the club and also the Tiger Army.”