RICHMOND is set to be without Noah Balta for the next two games with the key defender’s court-enforced curfew likely to prevent him from playing in rounds 11 and 12.  

Instead, he is likely to undergo a two-week training block while his Tigers teammates prepare to face Essendon at the MCG and Greater Western Sydney at Engie Stadium in successive weeks.

He is also expected to miss the following week’s game against GWS, slated for 4.15pm AEST in Sydney. A tight turnaround with flights makes the logistics near-impossible for him to be selected, with the first viable post-match flight scheduled at 9.40pm AEST.

The Tigers then have a day match at the MCG against Sydney on June 7.

But complicating matters is the VFL fixturing, which is a chance to restrict Balta to training only for the next fortnight.

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With the Swinburne Centre no longer hosting VFL games for the remainder of the season, the Tigers’ twos have a home game in Frankston, starting at 7.10pm AEST against Essendon this Saturday night.

Theoretically, Balta may be able to play the VFL game the following weekend, a curtain-raiser against the Giants at Engie Stadium, but a 12.30pm start and a flight back to Melbourne (with the potential for delays) may make things difficult.

Speaking after Richmond’s close loss to North Melbourne, coach Adem Yze was somewhat philosophical about the situation.

“Whether he is playing VFL or training, his attitude and just being a good teammate – he’s helping a lot of our younger defenders at training.

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“He’ll do that [and] if it’s the next two games that he’s missing, he’ll go into a training block and be ready to play when he’s next available.”

Jacob Blight is likely to come into the mix as a replacement key back, as will Campbell Gray for his second AFL match. If the Tigers choose to go smaller, defender/winger James Trezise was an emergency over the weekend, while Jayden Short missed with a knee issue.

Richmond will be forced to make a second change after it was confirmed spearhead Tom Lynch suffered a delayed concussion following Sunday’s match.