Richmond’s Noah Balta no longer limited by a court-imposed curfew

Richmond defender Noah Balta will return to the line-up this week no longer burdened by a court-imposed curfew that coach Adem Yze said was a “tough” period for him to endure.

Balta missed the Tigers’ back-to-back wins against Essendon and then West Coast across the past two rounds, both night games and one interstate, due to the curfew that demanded he be at home by 10.30pm.

It was imposed as part of his penalty after pleading guilty to the assault of a man in NSW last December.

The court-ordeal and sentence, plus a club-imposed ban, have limited Balta, who signed a mammoth seven-year contract late last year, to just eight games in 2025 despite being fit and available.

Yze said the impact couldn’t be understated, but with the curfew now lifted, Balta had a “good block” of games to re-establish himself.

“Just the mentality around it, he did everything right during that process. He tried to do the right thing around the club, his leadership, his support of our younger players was outstanding,” he said on Thursday.

“But finally that’s over. It would have been tough for anyone. It’s hard enough going out through injury, let alone being fit to play but not able to play.

“He had a smile on his face the other night when that curfew finished.

“But he still has a responsibility to finish the season off in the right way. He’ll come into the team this week and hopefully be a really good teammate.

“He’s got a nice block of games to finish off the season and help us finish off the right way.”

The Tigers have surpassed expectations in 2025, winning five games, having unleased a raft of the high draft picks taken last year after a mass exodus of premiership players.

One yet to be seen at the top level, however, is Josh Smillie, who was taken at pick 7 but has been derailed in his bid for an AFL debut by hamstring issues.

Yze said the youngster was closer to a VFL return and could “push” to play AFL before the end of the season.

“He will hopefully get a full training this week and next week,” Yze said.

“We have a really clear plan, and we want him to get through two big weeks of training before he plays.

“Hopefully, in a couple of weeks he will play some footy, and he would be a guy that I would love to give some exposure to before the season finishes so he can go to the off-season knowing what AFL footy is about.

“I feel for him, but he is working really hard.”