Richmond have been questioned over their decision to “naively” have head coach Adem Yze face the media alone, just 24 hours after his player Noah Balta was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order and criminal conviction for his assault of a man last December.
Speaking at Punt Road on Wednesday morning, Yze was relentlessly asked about the court’s finding on Balta, before eventually pleading for reporters to speak instead on his side’s Anzac Day Eve clash with Melbourne at the MCG.
At the time of Yze’s press conference, Balta had not spoken publicly on sentencing, however has since commented and apologised for his actions via a video.
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Speaking on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 later that night, Melbourne great Garry Lyon and show host Gerard Whateley dissected the Tigers’ move to leave avenues of questioning around Balta’s legal matter to the club head coach, instead of the Tigers’ off-field leaders.
“The football coach has answered his share of questions about this incident over the past two or three days — how do they find themselves in that ‘unedifying’ situation again?” Lyon began by questioning.
“Today’s the day that you front up and answer every question; and it’s not with the senior coach. There’s a level of questioning that’s inappropriate for the senior coach to deal with, that’s for the chief executive or the president,” Whateley said.
“It’s not the footy media that’s assembled, it’s the news media. You have to have an awareness that this is leading the news, not just the sports bulletins at the moment.
“There are questions around process, decision making, reaction, hindsight and what happens next which belong with he management of the club. So, come and field all of those in the suit … it should be the chief executive, but it could just as easily be the president.
“You can’t naively front up, you choose who the spokesman for the club is. They chose the coach … you then can’t complain when the questions from the news media are directed at the story of the day.”
Yze & Tigers fed up with Balta questions | 04:39
Due to the unique nature of Balta’s punishment, the 25-year-old must follow a curfew for the first three months of his sentence which restricts him to his place of residence between the hours of 10pm-6am.
It makes the 2020 premiership player ineligible for selection across all night games, including the Anzac Day Eve fixture this Thursday night.
The influx of questions towards Yze that extended beyond the footballing realm left him rightly unwilling to comment more, but just as fairly, journalists and the greater population wanting to ask more.
“Six questions? Six is not the end of it, you answer the questions until they’re fully (satisfied),” Whateley stated.
Lyon then added: “I’m looking at it from the footy (angle)… he’s answered 10 (questions) yesterday, he answered another seven there, he’s justified in saying: ‘Enough! Let me get on with it’.
“Your point is, that should’ve been enough, but then let’s get in to it with the CEO. It’s not that hard, is it?”
How Tigers made Balta situation worse | 04:08
Whateley continued: “The questions around who settled the civil case, who paid the $45,000, Adem Yze was asked those questions — because he was the lone spokesman from the club.”
“This is what senior management is for … and Adem Yze, as a new coach, has been left to answer for them at every step of the way.
Including his initial four games missed as the start of the home-and-away season through suspension, Balta could miss as many as 11 games this season, pending the reveal of a floating fixture at the back half of this season.
In Balta’s apology video released on Wednesday evening, he apologised for his actions before reflecting on changes to his lifestyle he looks to implement
“I just want to take this opportunity to the victim and their family (and) also the harm I’ve caused to my family and friends,” the 25-year-old said.
“I was under the influence, and made a judgement call which was stupid of myself … (I need to) control what I can control really, stop drinking — and this is going to go for another 18 months.
“I’m trying to get myself better (and) become better off-field to help myself.”
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