Richmond have not selected defender Noah Balta for their Gather Round clash with Fremantle, as the premiership Tiger awaits sentencing over his alleged summer assault.
Balta, who played in the Tigers’ 2020 grand final triumph, was eligible to suit up for the Tigers after serving a four-match club-imposed suspension for his NSW assault charge in January, for which he will be sentenced on April 22 in Albury.
However, despite AFL CEO Andrew Dillon saying earlier in the week he and the league would leave the final selection call up to the club, Balta will not feature at AFL level against the Dockers, while the Tigers’ VFL team has a bye.
As first reported by Nine’s Tom Morris, the call is as much to do with conditioning as it is the implications of his AFL return amid an ongoing court case.
“Richmond met this afternoon and decided that his conditioning and the fact he hasn’t played this weekend means he won’t be facing Fremantle,” Morris said on 9 News.
“The plan was for him to play VFL this weekend … but there’s no VFL games this weekend, and the Tigers have elected to leave him out.
“It remains to be seen if he plays next week or whether he will play the Anzac Day eve game, which is two days after he gets sentenced.”
The call comes after Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen suggested that the Tigers selecting Balta would send a poor message.
“Having looked at the footage … what a sickening attack that was,” she said of Balta’s alleged assault.
“Like many Victorians … I’ll be sitting down with the kids, they’ll be watching Hawthorn, I’ll be looking at Essendon’s results.
“Either way, when we sit down, how do we explain to kids, particularly, how do we answer that question?
“How does the AFL and the Richmond Football Club answer that question about what’s going on here? What sort of message does this send to kids about what’s right and what’s wrong?
“I think that’s really a question that the AFL and Richmond need to answer.”
The Tigers will also be without No.1 draft pick Sam Lalor for the trip to the Barossa Valley, with fellow young gun Harry Armstrong also missing out.
Newcombers Jonty Faull and Campbell Gray could make their debuts after being named in an extended 26-man squad for Sunday’s game, while Maurice Rioli, Hugo Ralphsmith and Samson Ryan have also been recalled.
