Richmond star Noah Balta breaks his silence after sentencing for assault
The star Tiger has been hit with a three-month curfew that rules him out from playing in several upcoming night-time games.
Balta pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm after it was alleged he assaulted a man who 'had his back turned' during an altercation that unfolded outside a pub in the rural NSW town of Mulwala.
The AFL star was facing potential jail time with the maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment for such an assault.
After serving a club-imposed four-game suspension, and playing a reserves match last week, Balta controversially returned to the senior line-up for the first time on Saturday night and played a starring role by keeping red-hot Suns forward Ben King to one goal.
On Tuesday, he was fined $3000 and slapped with an 18-month Community Correction Order (CCO) with a 10pm to 6am curfew and a conviction recorded.
He has now spoken on video about the incident, which was posted to Richmond's official website.
'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.
'I was under the influence and made a judgment call which was stupid of myself.'
The punishment will have a serious impact on Balta's footballing career, with the 25-year-old now set to be stood down from several matches because of the curfew.
Richmond plays Melbourne in the annual Anzac Day Eve clash on Thursday night, with the first bounce at 7.30pm AEST. He has not been selected for the game.
The Tigers also play Essendon in the Dreamtime at the 'G match from 7.40pm, while they also have a scheduled twilight clash with GWS in Sydney starting at 4.15pm.
Balta's curfew expires on July 22.
The 194cm defender said he has stopped drinking in an effort to improve his ways.
'(I'm) definitely just working on myself, things to control, what I can control, really,' he continued.
'I've stopped drinking and this is going to go for another 18 months (and has been going) for the last three months.
'And 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 coach Adem Yze also addressed the media on Wednesday in a sometimes testy press conference.
Yze confirmed a 'flat' and 'emotional' Balta won't play at any level this week as he comes to terms with his assault charge sentence.
'It was obviously a tough day. He's really remorseful, he accepted the decision,' Yze said.
'Now it's about getting him amongst the group and getting an opportunity to repay the faith we've shown in him.'
Yze continued to be peppered with questions about Balta, but said he was keen to move on.
'To be fair, that's about six questions I've answered about Noah,' Yze said.
'Our job right now, 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 Tigers' communications department then intervened and stepped in to stop questions.
'We've spoken about it, we're moving on,' Tigers media manager Nicky Malady said.
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