Footy star could play for his club on Saturday and be behind bars on Tuesday

• Has pleaded guilt assault
• Will face sentencing after Easter weekend 
• Has been controversially named to play 

By STEVE LARKIN FOR AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS

Noah Balta could play for Richmond on Saturday and be jailed for assault on Tuesday.

While jail time – his charge in NSW carries a maximum five-year stretch – appears unlikely, Balta’s return to football has become a political football.

The Tigers premiership star returns against Gold Coast on Saturday and fronts court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to assault outside a NSW Riverina club on December 30 last year.

‘He’s a Richmond man, we’ve punished him enough, right now it’s around performance,’ coach Adem Yze said before picking Balta for his AFL comeback.

The brilliant backman was banned by his club for four games and additionally missed two trial games, with those sanctions imposed prior to Balta’s guilty plea and the emergence of CCTV of the incident.

The 25-year-old pleaded guilty in the Corowa Local Court to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, which in NSW carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail.

Richmond star Noah Balta has been named to take on the Gold Coast Suns in their AFL clash on Saturday

Balta has pleaded guilty to assault and is awaiting sentencing  after an incident on December 30 outside a NSW Riverina club

Prosecutors said the actions of the 2020 premiership player, which hospitalised victim Thomas Washbrook with head injuries, met the threshold of a high-level offence.

Balta was available for AFL selection last week, prompting outrage from Victorian premier Jacinta Allan.

‘How does the AFL and the Richmond Football Club answer that question about what’s going on here?’ Allan asked.

‘What sort of message does this send to kids about what’s right and what’s wrong?’

Andrew Dillon was repeatedly asked about the prospect of Balta playing last week, with the AFL boss noting the league completed its process in February and ‘it’s up to Richmond whether they select him’.

Balta ultimately played for Richmond’s reserves in what Yze said was purely a football decision to gain match touch for this Saturday night.

‘He’s served his suspension,’ Yze said.

‘We went really hard in doing so and he’s been dealing with that for three months.

The premiership-winning Tiger has served a club-imposed suspension and has been cleared to play, despite awaiting sentencing over the assault

‘He missed another game of footy, we suspended him for four and now he’s had five weeks out – we’ve got to make sure we’re looking after the player as well.

‘As I have said all along, that’s been a discussion we had with the AFL at the start of this process.

‘He’s been working on himself and he can’t wait to try and earn the respect back of not only us as a club and his teammates but our supporters and the AFL community.’

Balta returns for a Richmond outfit who enter Saturday night’s fixture at Marvel Stadium as rank outsiders to topple the unbeaten Suns.

Gold Coast have banked four consecutive wins to start a season for the first time with ex-Tiger coach Damien Hardwick’s imprint on the Suns ever-clearer.

Balta joins No.1 draft pick Sam Lalor and Samson Ryan in returning for the Tigers, who have one win from five games.

The trio replace Jacob Bauer, Tyler Sonsie and Jacob Blight while the Suns have recalled Connor Budarick for Sam Clohesy.

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Footy star could play for his club on Saturday and be behind bars on Tuesday

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