Richmond coach Adem Yze has continued to defend the club's decision-making behind Noah Balta's off-field saga following the 25-year-old utility's sentencing on Tuesday.
Balta copped an unusual sanction for his assault charge, with a $3,000 fine, plus a reported $45,000 payout to the victim, as well as a three-month curfew from 10pm-6am each night.
The curfew means Balta will be unavailable for multiple night and interstate games for Richmond this season, one of which will be Thursday night's Anzac Day Eve clash against Melbourne.
Yze quickly faced a barrage of questions from journalists attempting to determine further details on Balta and how the club will handle his most recent penalties.
The Tigers coach gave an update on Balta's selection status, saying that he won't play in the VFL side this weekend despite it falling outside of curfew hours. Yze said the draining past 24 hours and days to follow, as well as his interrupted week, gave Richmond reason to rest Balta for the Round 7 weekend.
"(Tuesday) was a big day for him, a long day," Yze said.
"A three-hour drive to Albury and back.
"We're coming off a five-day break, so we've got to look after him, look after his body, and he'll look forward to playing against Hawthorn next week."
Yze also confirmed why Richmond had not chosen to challenge the curfew decision made by the magistrates, citing it would be a distraction for the club and its players, and it was best to cop the sentencing and begin moving on.
"We went through those discussions yesterday. To go through an appeal process would be almost giving him the license to get back in, and (suggest) footy was more relevant than the sanction," Yze said.
"He knew he did wrong and that he was going to be punished, so to go through that for another six weeks would not only be hard on him, but also our footy club and playing group.
"We accept the decision and move on."
Yze also addressed why Balta hadn't spoken to media or the public beyond a press release statement on Tuesday, which Yze again defended.
"There's a fair few players that don't like speaking in front of the media... Going through what he went through yesterday, obviously we were a little bit worried about what he could say," Yze said.
"He's obviously disappointed, he's flat, he's emotional, so we've just got to protect him with that.
"He'll speak when it's his right time to speak and you will sense how remorseful he is."
Following over four minutes of consecutive questions about the embroiled star, Richmond's head of communications stepped in to force journalists to change the subject and turn their attention to the Tigers' special marquee game.
Richmond, coming off another extraordinary win over Gold Coast, have the opportunity to seal back-to-back wins against a Melbourne side beginning to turn the corner after their wretched 0-5 start to the season.
"They've still got some quality KPIs around contest, clearance, their defence is pretty strong and last week they played against a really strong team and put up a terrific performance," Yze said.
Melbourne could welcome Steven May back into the mix, while Richmond will debut 2024 mid-season draftee Campbell Gray.
"Rhyan Mansell will most likely come back in this week," Yze confirmed.
Full teams will be announced at 6:20pm on Wednesday.
