Player Watch #21: Noah Balta

[Meteoric Rise]

They are adjusting the ruck rules in 2026 to encourage jumping at ruck contests and not wrestling. Is there any reason Noah can’t become a permanent ruck who rests forward, eventually sharing duties with Sims?

Genuine quality tapwork is as rare as hens teeth in the modern game. Why can’t Noah be our Luke Jackson equivalent?

He’d be a nightmare match up with his speed and marking ability, and his game would benefit from the freedom ruck provides.

He doesn’t have enough craft or kick well enough for goal to be a quality forward, and we are stacked for KPD options moving forward.

Unleash him in the ruck… he’d smash it.

Have you ever er tried jumping all day in ruck contests against someone 6 inches taller than you? I have. Jumped all over him the first few contests, then spent the rest of the match absolutely cooked. There is a reason rucks are very tall.

Balta is fine as a 2ruck. His goal kicking is fine. 41.23 over his career demonstrates that. He can be moved to defence in game as required. I would love to see him develop a more efficient running technique, I think that would really help his footy.

 

[wegetpumped]

Have you ever er tried jumping all day in ruck contests against someone 6 inches taller than you? I have. Jumped all over him the first few contests, then spent the rest of the match absolutely cooked. There is a reason rucks are very tall.

Balta is fine as a 2ruck. His goal kicking is fine. 41.23 over his career demonstrates that. He can be moved to defence in game as required. I would love to see him develop a more efficient running technique, I think that would really help his footy.

He should play like that tall Geelong dude, Blivcat, however you spell it, but not sure he has the mentality for it.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

He should play like that tall Geelong dude, Blivcat, however you spell it, but not sure he has the mentality for it.

Blicspud I believe is how you spell it correctly. Got AA selected for playing on ball and averaging 17 disposals per game.

 

[Grockadoc]

Great game for Noah last night. Under the pump early because of our defensive pressure but he kept McKay quiet after the onslaught and neutralised everything that went his way in the second half. Also, his decision making and disposal were good all night.

That is the player we signed to a long term deal and goes a long way to repaying the faith and restoring trust.

Personally thought he was our best player.

 

[Truetiger]

Great game for Noah last night. Under the pump early because of our defensive pressure but he kept McKay quiet after the onslaught and neutralised everything that went his way in the second half. Also, his decision making and disposal were good all night.

That is the player we signed to a long term deal and goes a long way to repaying the faith and restoring trust.

Personally thought he was our best player.

He played well and all the talk about delisting him last season was simply laughable.

 

[tunksy]

Great game for Noah last night. Under the pump early because of our defensive pressure but he kept McKay quiet after the onslaught and neutralised everything that went his way in the second half. Also, his decision making and disposal were good all night.

That is the player we signed to a long term deal and goes a long way to repaying the faith and restoring trust.

Personally thought he was our best player.

Huge game last night where he played to his potential. Would love to see him put a season like that together. AA level

 

[tiger_tough]

He was good.

 

[JustTheTonic]

very good. great to have him back and hopefully behaving and performing well for many years to come.

 

[k31th]

Had a few customary brain-farts, but otherwise quite good.

 

[THE_GUN]

He was traded for a bag of chips just 48 hours ago

 

[Trucker Tiger]

Play him on a wing and let him roam.

 

[RJK Tiger]

To all the supporters who wanted to move Balta forward - congratulations. This is what happens.

Before the move Noah was looking to be a Elite Full Back - but due to inept list management, we signed him to a massive 7 year contract & moved our Full Back to Full Forward for 2 years. We now have a sub standard Full Back with 5 years left on his massive contract, which will could end up looking like the worst contract in the AFL by the end of the season.

The ****-ups we have made and the many supporters who were happy to golf clap those decisions can now live with the results.

 

[Dr Tigris]

Looks like he hasn't got his head right ... again.

Last game looked great.

This game

Not sure we have a winner here. He now has a history of having major brain fades and not a great ability to lead.

 

["The Roar Is Back"]

To all the supporters who wanted to move Balta forward - congratulations. This is what happens.

Before the move Noah was looking to be a Elite Full Back - but due to inept list management, we signed him to a massive 7 year contract & moved our Full Back to Full Forward for 2 years. We now have a sub standard Full Back with 5 years left on his massive contract, which will could end up looking like the worst contract in the AFL by the end of the season.

The ****-ups we have made and the many supporters who were happy to golf clap those decisions can now live with the results.

He looked good in an elite experienced backline . As they’ve retired or aged , balta has been exposed .

 

[RJK Tiger]

He should play like that tall Geelong dude, Blivcat, however you spell it, but not sure he has the mentality for it.

It's worth trying at his point. The Miller-Balta combo has never looked great. We all saw a better result with Miller-Young last year, which was the reason many were not keen to see him leave. For all the proposed "depth" we had down back, it was all flakey, at best.

With the ruck issues, they might as well commit to Balta in the ruck. I fear we have already messed up his trajectory as a backman. We need to find a way to make his extremely long contract not seem like a nightmare. It ends in 2032. I can't even imagine what the world would look like in 2032, let alone Noah Balta's AFL career. Noah has had a massive on-field chip on his shoulders since 2021, often the guy at the end of the horrendous umpiring farce we all saw. He would often "break character" and give away a 50, or get damn close to it. I didn't really blame him -was a joke of a period for the club (the umpire farce). He has also looked unimpressed with all his mates leaving. He also got arrested for assault.

Wanna be the angry, tough guy Noah - then welcome to the position that allows you to - Richmonds #1 Ruck. Play like 2017 Toby. You can tackle like a mother****er. Run like a mother****er. Crash packs and hurt the opponent all over the ground. Drop forward and maybe get a goal. And sometimes dropback and be "Benny Gale" in the early 2000s. Yze, come up with a structure where if he gives away 6 Free's a game for throwing a knee into the opponents ruckman in the center and at least we have a gameplan around it - a zone defennce a bit like we had in 2017 to lock the ball down from a stoppage.

It's not the worst idea to move him into a full time ruck -certainly more appealing than him going forward again with Lynch out.

 

[Frustrated Tiger]

Trade him to Tassie for one of their firsts. Over him.

 

[RJK Tiger]

He looked good in an elite experienced backline . As they’ve retired or aged , balta has been exposed .

And to be honest, its fair enough. Most of the best backman ever have always had extremely good teamates. Silvagni. Rance. Scarlett. Langford. Dean. Archer. Mal Michael. The ones who stand out that did it alone more are probably Danny Frawley & Paul Roo's. Frawley had some dirty days though, he was on some extremely bad StKilda teams. Dustin Fletcher had such a long career he split his career in both situations - which meant he had a full career doing both - and looked excellent both times.I always had Silvagni at the top of that list, but became pretty torn on him and Scarlett.

As time goes on I think Dustin is maybe the guy who deserves it. 400 games over 22 years. 2 Flags but seriously could have had 5 or 6. The 2000 team could have 3-peated & that "Baby Bombers" flag was worth pretty special & again, under-achieved. He was around in the "Gaelic Footy" era and he was incredible as the awkward Goalkeeper position - was legit possibly the best either side had. He never had a bad year, ever. When Rance peaked i thought he was the best, but his peak and pre peak form was fairly drastic - Rance definitely had bad years. His peak was 2014-18 & is not enough years to make an argument for "GOAT". Rance should have been the #1

 

[Charlie Pannam]

Not sure Im fully onboard with what I’m about to say but with Lynch and Nank missing for multiple weeks do we use him as a kpf/2nd ruck.
Faull/Armstrong/ Fawcett need a big body down forward, they’re not ready to match it physically with experienced AFL defenders this early in their career.
Balta has also shown previously that he goes ok in the 2nd ruck role.

 

[RJK Tiger]

Not sure Im fully onboard with what I’m about to say but with Lynch and Nank missing for multiple weeks do we use him as a kpf/2nd ruck.
Faull/Armstrong/ Fawcett need a big body down forward, they’re not ready to match it physically with experienced AFL defenders this early in their career.
Balta has also shown previously that he goes ok in the 2nd ruck role.

As above, I think they tell him to be the #1 ruck and encourage him to be as physical as possible. To run like a maniac, constantly dropping forward and back. I think I like the idea too, which is a bit nuts after spending 5 years screaming about him being a defender. I fear though that his best defending days are already behind him - he has not been able to sustain any great form now for 3-4 years. Thats longer than his peak period. If they decide to keep him down back a while longer to see if he can come good, fair enough - but LeFau as a ruckman has to stop immediately. It was not working & looks desperate.

If ever there was a extremely low bar for Samson Ryan to win back some demerit points, its this year. Surely.

 

[Punt Road Feral]

To all the supporters who wanted to move Balta forward - congratulations. This is what happens.

Before the move Noah was looking to be a Elite Full Back - but due to inept list management, we signed him to a massive 7 year contract & moved our Full Back to Full Forward for 2 years. We now have a sub standard Full Back with 5 years left on his massive contract, which will could end up looking like the worst contract in the AFL by the end of the season.

The ****-ups we have made and the many supporters who were happy to golf clap those decisions can now live with the results.

You don’t just forget to be a backman because he played a bit up forward.

He’s always been prone to a brain fade and it’s now just more evident that we don’t have a quality back 6 to cover it up.

His form is 100% on him.

 

[The Mighty]

Looks like he hasn't got his head right ... again.

Last game looked great.

This game

Not sure we have a winner here. He now has a history of having major brain fades and not a great ability to lead.

He is used to only playing every second week and sometines every 3rd

 

[Groupie_]

Trade him to Tassie for one of their firsts. Over him.

you assume theyd be that stupid ?

 

[RJK Tiger]

You don’t just forget to be a backman because he played a bit up forward.

He’s always been prone to a brain fade and it’s now just more evident that we don’t have a quality back 6 to cover it up.

His form is 100% on him.

I remember another young backman very prone to brainfarts. Alex Rance. He had massive ones & Hardwick considered a trade for a pick in the 30s for him at one point. But, he stayed and worked on it and those brainfarts became a non factor (except for the 2018 prelim). Balta improved massively in that area by 2020. He was excellent in the GF against Hawkins/Cameron. Agree after that its been very checkered, outside 2023. That was the stupid thing - Balta was coming off a good return to form year in 2024, before Adem came over. He needed to stay down back to build on that. Adem showed zero awareness to Noahs formline, it was really very obvious at the time & lots of ppl questioned it.

You never **** with something that is working. Never. If its working, then let it keep working. Especially in regards to people development. Only **** with it once the growth slows down, or stops. Balta was evolving fine as a Backman at the end of 2023.

His B & F votes show a pretty tough inconsistent career.

2020 - 40pt (8th)
2021 - Struggled and missed 8 games.
2022- Played 18 games, didn't poll in the Top 20. Was behind Cumberland, Castagna, Tarrant & MRJ
2023 - 43pts (7th)
2024 - 23pts (T11-14) / 19 Games. Finished behind Miller, Mansell & Tied with KMac & Campbell
2025 - Unranked from 13 games.

Considering the club is the one who gives out B&F points, you have to wonder what data they were looking at when they offered him a 7 year extension. Bonkers

 

[loser 81 2 16]

Can't help but feel that if Noah didn't have such a big rooster, then maybe he'd be able to engage the other required head for longer periods of time.
Reckon he's probably the one who's suffered most with the club letting our present momentist go.
Not surprising with these corporate types running the joint though...usually have no idea when it comes to getting the best out of human beings.
Although Gary March who engineering all this was apparently a property developer. And they're usually not much higher on my sh!t list.

 

[GhostofJimJess]

Just couldn't cope going solo with the height advantage he conceded to both King and Read.

In better times, and better teams, we'd have another defender (Grimes, Astbury etc) providing a double team in those high balls.

Unfortunately in our current predicament our defenders seem unable to give each other that chop out.

Wasn't our worst player, even though he was soundly beaten.