Rumour Noah Balta assault charges

[TruRoo]

Bench him at 3QT and play a man down in the 4th

That might be dumber than your last take.

 

[Back In Town]

Of course it isn’t, but BF is a site for discussions.

How bad do you want change and are you willing to do anything about it?

 

[sid the dog]

AFL have just announced that all of Balltearer's games will now be played in his lounge room so as not to violate the terms of his CCO, absolute bonus for those who like to operate in tight spaces. In other news, the earth is flat, over to you Xander......

"well, as i stand here, up high on my pedestal, i can actually make out the flat horizon......."

 

[Andyy]

By the letter of the law, it currently is in line. However I am saying that given the severity of the assault and the fact we have seen deaths caused from these assaults that the punishment needs to increased.

I am saying that the punishment threshold needs increasing so these offences are worthy of jail time.

Forget his public image, we saw the footage. Any punter off the street doing that that is also on camera needs a full whack also. No tall poppy syndrome. Simply a harsher punishment as I think it’s a very serious offence.

Ah OK.

In that case then yes, I'm not disagreeing that all assault cases of this nature could be treated more harshly in court.

I do however disagree that Balta specifically needs to be made an example because of his public profile.

Ultimately the sentence is par for course and a lot of the hysteria about it seems to be purely based on him being a professional athlete tbh.

Most wouldn't bat an eyelid if it was Joe Blow that they'd never met working a run of the mill blue collar job.

 

[Andyy]

This is true. However I feel that in order to stop the violence amongst men, the one punch hits, the violent assaults, jail should be imposed as a form of preventative measure and to send a signal that you will go to jail if you do this.

I also think that the RFC should be terminating his employment. I don’t think it’s acceptable for him to be signing autographs for kids or for the RFC to align themselves with someone who violently assaulted someone. If he stopped at the shoulder charge, ok, but the 3-4 head punches were pretty serious.

I think the question then is do you try to prevent violence through the threat of consequence or through education? Not my area of expertise, but my rudimentary understanding is that education is the way to go, although actions should not be without consequence.

As for the second paragraph, I don't agree that Balta or anyone else should lose their employment automatically. An alternative story might be one of remorse, learning and an opportunity to lead by example thereafter?

There is an extremely strong link between unemployment and criminality, so I would suggest that making people unemployed after an offence isn't necessarily the right way to go.

 

[demondavey]

Ah OK.

In that case then yes, I'm not disagreeing that all assault cases of this nature could be treated more harshly in court.

I do however disagree that Balta specifically needs to be made an example because of his public profile.

Ultimately the sentence is par for course and a lot of the hysteria about it seems to be purely based on him being a professional athlete tbh.

Most wouldn't bat an eyelid if it was Joe Blow that they'd never met working a run of the mill blue collar job.

I get what you’re saying as well. It might be prudent going forward now that everyone has seen the assault that the severity warrants jail time.

 

[Andyy]

Ok I'll elaborate.

I found your take dumb because it isn't something a person of any sane or rational mind would take.

You said "Players from every club commit assault probably annually". Do you believe if this were to be actually happening at every club every year that it wouldn't get followed up on and reported? That people will just shrug and say "ah an AFL player hit someone again - this happens all the time don't worry".

Like I said. Dumb.

I read what you're saying, but you're not really providing any reason or rationale for your opinion - just re-phrasing your opinion.

Every year we see AFL players in trouble for various offences, I'm sure that it stands to reason that we don't see every single one as well as they may elude authority, and I'm also very comfortable with my deduction that most people would care significantly less if this was a nobody vs a professional athlete in the limelight.

 

[demondavey]

I think the question then is do you try to prevent violence through the threat of consequence or through education? Not my area of expertise, but my rudimentary understanding is that education is the way to go, although actions should not be without consequence.

As for the second paragraph, I don't agree that Balta or anyone else should lose their employment automatically. An alternative story might be one of remorse, learning and an opportunity to lead by example thereafter?

There is an extremely strong link between unemployment and criminality, so I would suggest that making people unemployed after an offence isn't necessarily the right way to go.

Unfortunately I don’t think education has helped. I’d wager every weekend there’d be an alcohol fuelled assault occuring. It’s also hard because I know jail can make it worse, as in, you’re not coming out better. I thought it was pretty serious.

Perhaps not jail but home detention? Ankle monitor?

 

[Andyy]

Unfortunately I don’t think education has helped. I’d wager every weekend there’d be an alcohol fuelled assault occuring. It’s also hard because I know jail can make it worse, as in, you’re not coming out better. I thought it was pretty serious.

Perhaps not jail but home detention? Ankle monitor?

Well I don't have the answer to that myself, but as a person who doesn't drink much or often at all I would actually be happy to never drink again. It causes tremendous issues for society.

But then of course we don't want to force every to stop drinking like the USA did with prohibition, do we?

So then maybe it really does tie back to state governments writing stronger legislation. Jacinta Allen has copped a lot of criticism for violent crime being on the rise - maybe it's up to her to do something about it for the entire state instead of commenting on one high profile individual.

 

[Seadog]

This is true. However I feel that in order to stop the violence amongst men, the one punch hits, the violent assaults, jail should be imposed as a form of preventative measure and to send a signal that you will go to jail if you do this.

I also think that the RFC should be terminating his employment. I don’t think it’s acceptable for him to be signing autographs for kids or for the RFC to align themselves with someone who violently assaulted someone. If he stopped at the shoulder charge, ok, but the 3-4 head punches were pretty serious.

Prison creates more criminality and violence than it prevents in the instances of first offenders.

 

[Andyy]

Prison creates more criminality and violence than it prevents in the instances of first offenders.

Thank you.

Someone with some stuffing sense in their head.

Thankfully the morons screaming for jail time aren't magistrate judges, elsewise we may as well start lynching people again like Jesse Washington.

 

[Coach_Required]

Glad Noah played last weekend, judge basically gave him an additional BS 3 week suspension over the next 12 weeks.

Welcome back Noah, I love a good 2nd chance story.

 

[Andyy]

Glad Noah played last weekend, judge basically gave him an additional BS 3 week suspension over the next 12 weeks.

Welcome back Noah, I love a good 2nd chance story.

Everyone deserves a chance to redeem themselves (within reason, let's not get confused with mass murderers for example).

Failing to offer that essentially condemns a person to a life of deviance and criminality.

 

[Kappa]

FWIW club statement and its reported that Noah won’t be fighting any part of his punishment and his curfews will stand



Richmond Football Club has issued the following statement:

Noah Balta has been fined $3000, issued with an 18-month community corrections order and assigned a three-month curfew after a court hearing in Albury today.


Balta said his actions were unacceptable and that he was deeply sorry.

“I apologise to the victim, my family and friends, and everyone associated with the Richmond Football Club,” Balta said.

“I have let a lot of people down and the lesson has been learned that violence is never the answer.

“I will continue to work to improve myself to ensure this never happens again.”

Richmond CEO Shane Dunne reiterated that Balta’s actions were unacceptable.

“Noah has been held accountable for his actions and has paid a significant price as he should,” Dunne said.

“This Club does not condone violence in any form, and it is why we took such a strong and immediate stand when this incident came to light.

“Noah has worked hard to improve himself in the months following the incident, undertaking education and counselling. That work will continue.

“With the judicial process now concluded, it remains our collective expectation that Noah learns from this, and we see the best version of him going forward.”

Richmond took a strong stance?

What was it?

 

[Muddiemoose]

Richmond took a strong stance?

What was

6 game suspension and mandatory counselling and anger management re-education course depending on where you work it could be seen as lenient to extreme

Other punishments handed down by via the legal system that was today’s punishment plus a civil payout

 

[Kowalski]

Now that he's been sentenced and everyone's had plenty of time to vent.....
Any chance they could release the footage of the minutes leading up to the incident? Or has it mysteriously been mislaid?
Yes, I'm a Richmond supporter (que abuse...) but I'm likely in a minority that I don't have any outrage either way.

 

[Teal Leviathan]

The curfew seems like karma for Richmond and Balta not having the good sense to recuse himself from playing pre-sentencing.

 

[Timothy Luncheon]

I think the point is that it should be. But I agree, it’s hard to get locked up.

Don't think you'll find going to jail for first offences when you've been taking steps towards rehabilitation would help said rehab.

Edit: Actually Andyy has said most of what I'm thinking. I disagree with you that education isn't the way to go though, especially for people who are much lower risk of doing something again, and who are taking those steps of improving themselves. Making these offences require jail time or the likes seems pretty detrimental imo

 

[sosos]

Court has handed down the sentence, I am comfortable the decision.

 

[Timothy Luncheon]

The curfew seems like karma for Richmond and Balta not having the good sense to recuse himself from playing pre-sentencing.

You'd hope not, as a magistrate shouldn't take that into account really

 

[1970crow]

Say a Richmond player goes down injured in Q1. What should the Tigers do then?

Activate their sub.

 

[Timothy Luncheon]

The sentence is probably a bit harsher than most people would get (specifically not granting exemption for work), but it's understandable since he's a public figure (although, I'm not sure that should be considered in sentencing). If it wasn't on video nothing would've happened, but rightfully Balta did get punished and hopefully he continues taking steps towards rehabillitaion.

On the footballing side, it does hurt our team. Back 6 was extremely good last week, will have to change it up going in to some potentially winnable games. Certainly less chance of winning them now, and I hope Balta realises the impact he's had on the club, as well as the victim (which he has said he does)

 

[Back In Town]

Good to see Balta receive votes from both coaches for his role in the Tigers win on Saturday night.

 

[demondavey]

Thank you.

Someone with some stuffing sense in their head.

Thankfully the morons screaming for jail time aren't magistrate judges, elsewise we may as well start lynching people again like Jesse Washington.

That’s bullshit.

Unfortunately this behaviour can lead to deaths and it happens most weekends. Plus it’s alcohol fuelled.

 

[1970crow]

I think the point is that it should be. But I agree, it’s hard to get locked up.

Then we’ll need more prisons. Reality is that there’s more pressure and effort going towards keeping people out of prison. Even people with reasonable criminal records.