Noah Balta - Welcome to Tigerland

[Dyer'ere]

Phil Matera. Aaron James. James Hird. Anthony Koutifides. Adam Goodes. Fraser Gehrig.

Players who didn't know if they were small or tall. (That, in itself, doesn't guarantee success.) All were late bloomers. Matera was tall. James was not as good. Hird was both. Kouta was small. Goodes was small. Gehrig was tall. Who could know?

One other I'd bring into the conversation for Balta - Paul Bulluss. He didn't watch football. (Unlike our own Bulluss.)

 

[Ian4]

I have a theory as to why we drafted 2 defenders last night (plus Tarrant). Dimma plans on using Noah Balta up the ground in 2022. Maybe even as a key forward.

 

[ceehook2]

we lost Astbury & Houli off the list

Garth & Miller haven't come on

Biggie is a long term project

Grimmes could be only a year or two from retirement

Balta - could well be looked at as a swingman

Vals & Broad - medium defenders are in their later 20's and had a few injuries

good forward planning

we have smaller defence options seemingly covered
Short, Mansell, Dan Rioli , Baker , Stack , Edwards

you do tend to build around top flight tall defenders

Lions - Harris Andrews
WC - McGovern
Us - Rance/Astbury
Geelong - Scarlett
Dogs - Brian Lake
Hawks - Josh Gibson

so using pick7/9 on someone like Gibcus seems pretty sound

 

[achillesjones]

The key one here is Grimesy. He may be close to the end with his winery interests. Astute drafting I reckon.

 

[Jason King]

Garth & Miller haven't come on

Miller looked the goods in his one game against the Dawks. Might not be the most athletic but he is the perfect Astbury replacement.

 

[FitenFitenWin]

Miller looked the goods in his one game against the Dawks. Might not be the most athletic but he is the perfect Astbury replacement.

I'm a Miller fan. I think you're selling him short as an athlete. Weren't his speed and jump records pretty good - especially for a big fella?

 

[Jason King]

I'm a Miller fan. I think you're selling him short as an athlete. Weren't his speed and jump records pretty good - especially for a big fella?

Yeah I was his leap and speed as a jnr were great, but Im a huge fan as well. He just got to the right places and was smart with his movement. Cant wait to see more of him.

 

[UKTiger]

Yeah I was his leap and speed as a jnr were great, but Im a huge fan as well. He just got to the right places and was smart with his movement. Cant wait to see more of him.

To quote an often used slogan, 'It could be Miller time' next season especially if Tarrant gets injured. We also have a need to find Jack's replacement up forward in the near future and Miller has been trialled as a ruck and forward option. From our draft picks, we may be looking at long term Jack replacement from within our current team. Who knows

 

[Brodders17]

I'm a bit worried about Balta this year. I reckon he has shown he is a very good KPD, and has potential to be great. But he is also our 3rd best KPF option, and probably our 3rd best ruck option, and our best 3rd tall forward/back up ruck. He may get moved around a bit, which may be for the best in the long term.

 

[Tigers of Old]

I too am a little worried how he'll go coming back from injury. Yes he's capable of the freakish & he's a super talent but Noah's great challenge now as a snr player is to deliver consistent performances both in games & week to week. As he's been told many times he just needs to do the simple things well.

 

[eZyT]

he just needs to do the simple things well.

I reckon to win premiership medals,

you need to do the really complex and difficult things well also

 

[Bullarto Tiger]

Balta has, in my opinion, the potential to be one of the most dynamic bigger men in the competition.
Whether it be in defence or as a forward or even occasionally in the ruck, I see a player capable of really impacting and influencing games throughout his career.
Backlines or forward lines can be built around Balta.
But I'll always think that he will prove to be a great forward.

 

[Tigers of Old]

Was doing extra conditioning work with Steve Morris yesterday at training.

Edit: maybe slightly affected by his recent bought of Covid?

 

[caesar]

Noah said he had done boxing and bulked up and now had to lose some of it. That would explain my early training reports where i said he appeared to have come back heavy and then my latest report saying he is starting to hit his straps.

He also said he feels this year might be the year Biggie comes of age, (my last training report I said Biggie was looking more confident out there and would be interested in other people's views when they see him as i wanted some confirmation, (Noah's observations will do me ). PS. I also said the Biggie had beaten Noah in 3 one on one contests and wondered whether Noah was taking it easy, maybe he wasn't

'I feel like my family is slowly taking over Tigerland' - Balta

Noah Balta chats to Richmond Media after returning to training for season 2022.

www.richmondfc.com.au

 

[Billy24]

Noah said he had done boxing and bulked up and now had to lose some of it. That would explain my early training reports where i said he appeared to have come back heavy and then my latest report saying he is starting to hit his straps.

'I feel like my family is slowly taking over Tigerland' - Balta

Noah Balta chats to Richmond Media after returning to training for season 2022.

www.richmondfc.com.au

Which explains exactly why you are in the role of PRE Training Correspondent Caesar.

 

[Willo]

Which explains exactly why you are in the role of PRE Training Correspondent Caesar.

So he should be…for the money we’re paying him for his reports

 

[Harry]

Seems to have bulked up too much

 

[Sintiger]

Noah said he had done boxing and bulked up and now had to lose some of it. That would explain my early training reports where i said he appeared to have come back heavy and then my latest report saying he is starting to hit his straps.

He also said he feels this year might be the year Biggie comes of age, (my last training report I said Biggie was looking more confident out there and would be interested in other people's views when they see him as i wanted some confirmation, (Noah's observations will do me ). PS. I also said the Biggie had beaten Noah in 3 one on one contests and wondered whether Noah was taking it easy, maybe he wasn't

'I feel like my family is slowly taking over Tigerland' - Balta

Noah Balta chats to Richmond Media after returning to training for season 2022.

www.richmondfc.com.au

I think the hidden advantage of Biggie coming on (if he does) is that if he can step up and hopefully also with Gibcus coming through whilst Tarrant is on the list we can use Balta as a swingman and potentially a key forward. I have no doubt he can play forward, the only question is whether he is more value to us as a back.

 

[123cups]

It's a testament to Noah's character and our culture to see one young player sincerely pumping up another young player fighting for a similar role in the team.

We now think of this as the norm, but it's rare, and special.

Noah is already showing signs of wanting to make the players around him better, which makes him an important long-term leader for a club seeking rolling eras of success. Let's go!

 

[Spirit of Jack]

Wow, what an interview - how far has this kid come in a few short years. He's 22 but sounds so mature.

It's progression like this in our players maturity and outlook that reinforces that our club really has come of age - we truly are an elite club now.

Non Richmond people laughed at us for so long - quite justifiably. Then that turned to pity. With our recent premierships, the oppo hate has been returned...but I reckon that hate is going to be coupled with grudging respect over the coming years.