Richmond’s third pick (No. 25 overall) in the 2017 AFL national draft, athletic, tall utility, Noah Balta, tells ‘Roar Vision’ about his transition to Tigerland.
Draft night
“I was at home. My parents called a couple of people over . . . I was lying down on the couch watching it and I hear Noah Bal.., and that’s all I heard. I just chucked my fist in the air and then family jumped on me. I was rapt.”
Congratulatory messages from new Tiger teammates
“All these legends playing the game, like ‘Cotch’ (Trent Cotchin), sending me a message. I’ve even got his number. It’s weird. It’s still hardly kicked in that I’m actually playing at the Tigers.”
What he can provide on-field
“Excitement . . . a lot of X-factor. That’s what I get told a lot, so I’m going to say that.”
Playing attributes
“Probably marking . . . love a good mark.”
His pre-season training group
“I got told the forward line. So I’m just working on that because my whole last season other clubs wanted me to play in the backline. At all the (Richmond player) meetings, they’ve been saying I’m in the forward line.”
Football role model as a youngster
“Usually Glenn Archer, because of how he went about it . . . he gave it 100 percent. I watched him growing up and once he retired I then stopped watching footy and concentrated on my own thing.”
Familiar faces at Richmond
“It’s good to know a couple of people and have them come in with me . . . CJ (Callum-Jones), Jack Higgins, Patrick Naish. I played with Patrick and Jack at Vic Metro. I’ve done that from under 16s to the try-outs going up. I’ve known them since then. And CJ was through the (AFL) Academy.”
Early stages of his Tigerland journey
“It’s very exciting. The first day I was all rapt to get out on the track . . . We ended up going out, but just watched everyone else train. It was a bit of a letdown, but I’m sure there’s a lot of training to come.”
Goals for 2018
“Maybe just get some experience from the boys that are playing – Jack Riewoldt, Alex Rance – people that play similar positions to me and size and shape. I’m just learning the positives in their games and taking it into my own game.”
