4 hours ago, Jjrogan said:

Serious question. Would you jail connor nash? (The victim im the Balta case didnt get a concussion and had a 3 cm stitch i believe as a point of comparison). Do the rules of the land stop once you cross the white land. Should Miers have reasonably expected that contact? What about off the ball incident. Genuinely asking how we think about the difference in crime and punishment. I dunno.

3 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

You sign up for a violent game you have to accept there will be incidents where players get it wrong in the context of the game.

Miers' injury looked shocking but in reality to me is more like akin to Bolton kneeing Disco in the head in a marking contest than an assault.

Barry Hall on Staker off the ball - now that's entirely different. If Staker went to the police they would've been duty bound to investigate it as an assault.

Matthews as I recall was referred to police, principally because the (then) VFL refused to take action.

(Please correct me if my memory has failed).

5 hours ago, Jjrogan said:

How do you feel he was lucky to avoid jail? According to the nsw bureau of crime brief (2011), first time assault offenders on an assault occasioning actual bodily harm were jailed 6.9 percent of the time. He would have been un lucky to get jail. Maybe a suspended sentence may have been more appropriate being a public case (whatever that means) but i doubt even that would appease the blood bayers.

Thanks I am a little surprised by this. I'm not expert and assumed that if you are on assault charges that you have to justify why you should spend some time in prison. Its no wonder we have so many problems with violent crimes

4 hours ago, monoccular said:

Sentence him to full time ankle shackles but allow him to play and train?

I agree with many here - punch anyone in the head, particularly from behind or if they are down, and jail time should be mandatory. Far too many deaths and maimings for this to be allowed to continue.

I'm of the view that jail shouldn't be mandatory but that the defendants position in court is effectively having to justify why they should not spend time in jail.

Just now, picket fence said:

Cant play, but Ghosty there are wider issues Damien Hardwick has gone in to bat for him, and shame, as an AFL Coach.. he needed to but out, but could'nt heip himself offering his opinion!

I saw that in his presser. What annoyed me most is he bagged the VIc. Premier for saying she questioned the message Balta’s selection sent to kids, and for describing the assault as a "sickening attack".

Hardwick said, “… we've got a premier who put her nose in someone else's business. She should just concentrate on getting the state running well. Absolute mockery of her making comments with regard to that.”

Pot/kettle much?

Regardless of how anyone feels about the Premier, she has more of a right to comment on this matter than him…

IN MY OH SO HUMBLE OPINION.

Edited April 22Apr 22 by Ghostwriter

20 minutes ago, Superunknown said:

She was pretty direct - “too bad”

It wasn’t just a punch though was it

Missing the piont!

Edited April 22Apr 22 by picket fence

5 hours ago, Jjrogan said:

He would have been un lucky to get jail. Maybe a suspended sentence may have been more appropriate being a public case (whatever that means) but i doubt even that would appease the blood bayers.

The blood bayers, huh? Tell this to Pat Cronin’s mum and dad.

11 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Missing the piont.. one punch CAN KILL!

I think Super was confirming this same point. He was replying to a poster who was asserting that first time offenders who throw one punch would be unlucky to end up jailed.

This is the funniest outcome from a horrible situation. Makes the AFL and their lack of leadership look ridiculous as well, which I'm fine with.

24 minutes ago, DutchDemons said:

This is the funniest outcome from a horrible situation. Makes the AFL and their lack of leadership look ridiculous as well, which I'm fine with.

1 hour ago, Ghostwriter said:

I saw that in his presser. What annoyed me most is he bagged the VIc. Premier for saying she questioned the message Balta’s selection sent to kids, and for describing the assault as a "sickening attack".

Hardwick said, “… we've got a premier who put her nose in someone else's business. She should just concentrate on getting the state running well. Absolute mockery of her making comments with regard to that.”

Pot/kettle much?

Regardless of how anyone feels about the Premier, she has more of a right to comment on this matter than him…

IN MY OH SO HUMBLE OPINION.

1 hour ago, Ghostwriter said:

I saw that in his presser. What annoyed me most is he bagged the VIc. Premier for saying she questioned the message Balta’s selection sent to kids, and for describing the assault as a "sickening attack".

Hardwick said, “… we've got a premier who put her nose in someone else's business. She should just concentrate on getting the state running well. Absolute mockery of her making comments with regard to that.”

Pot/kettle much?

Regardless of how anyone feels about the Premier, she has more of a right to comment on this matter than him…

IN MY OH SO HUMBLE OPINION.

This was appropriately dealt with by the Club & the AFL in the pre season and most people were ok with it.

Surprised you would support a grubby politician who sticks their nose in a court matter because they think they can get political benefit out of it.

I thought lynch mobs went out of favour in the 1930's but some Demonlanders sound like they want them back.

27 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

The blood bayers, huh? Tell this to Pat Cronin’s mum and dad.

And that coward was jailed. Was that a deterrent here? Do we keep locking up people until it stops? Surely not, there has to be level of degrees. Blood bayers was a strong term, I didnt mean it directly at anyone on the forum. The question is why do people want him jailed? For being a threat to society? (Dont think anyone is suggesting this). Do folks want to lock him up as a punishment (I do agree his fine was utterly pathetic, should have be an extra zero). Or is it as a deterrent? Ok, i get that argument but then we have to be ready to extend it out to 10,000s of assaults nationally. Singling him out is the opposite of fair justice according to me.

OUT: Balta (Curfew)

5 minutes ago, Cranky Franky said:

This was appropriately dealt with by the Club & the AFL in the pre season and most people were ok with it.

Surprised you would support a grubby politician who sticks their nose in a court matter because they think they can get political benefit out of it.

I thought lynch mobs went out of favour in the 1930's but some Demonlanders sound like they want them back.

Agreed. This is exactly like lynch mobs in the 1930’s. I remember all those AFL lynchings that happened in the 30’s.

I’m just really glad a guy like Damian Hardwick, coach of a Queensland team, a state in which the assault didn’t occur in and a team in which Noah Balta doesn’t play for, isn’t sticking his nose into an issue that doesn’t involve him.

That’d be pretty inappropriate.

You’d be furious at Hardwick if that happened yeah?

7 hours ago, Jjrogan said:

And that coward was jailed. Was that a deterrent here? Do we keep locking up people until it stops? Surely not, there has to be level of degrees. Blood bayers was a strong term, I didnt mean it directly at anyone on the forum. The question is why do people want him jailed? For being a threat to society? (Dont think anyone is suggesting this). Do folks want to lock him up as a punishment (I do agree his fine was utterly pathetic, should have be an extra zero). Or is it as a deterrent? Ok, i get that argument but then we have to be ready to extend it out to 10,000s of assaults nationally. Singling him out is the opposite of fair justice according to me.

He’s been singled out because along with being a top-level AFL footballer (including the hefty pay-packet) comes a higher level of responsibility in matters such as this. He’s in the public eye, kids look up to him, he signed up for this.

FWIW, I also believe jail isn’t necessarily the answer in this case. But a paltry fine and a 3-month curfew is grossly inadequate. That said, I think the judge made a very clever ruling by imposing the curfew since him missing an extra however many matches is effective and much deserved.

10 hours ago, Cranky Franky said:

That's the spirit. Build more jails & put everyone in jail. Especially any young thugs. Just follow the US system. What could go wrong ?

I’ve no idea of the breakup of types of crimes that end up in jail. What I do is these violent attacks are all too common in Australian society. Maybe if we gave these guys 3 months in prison things would change. I’m not pretending to know the answer but whatever we’re doing atm isn’t working. Just say Balta was jailed for 3 months, a reasonably high profile sportsman, does that save others from being king hit and then repeatedly smashed in the face??

9 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

Regardless of how anyone feels about the Premier

8 hours ago, Cranky Franky said:

Surprised you would support a grubby politician who sticks their nose in a court matter because they think they can get political benefit out of it.

What part of my quote (above) do you not understand???

Let me make it even clearer:

It doesn’t matter who the current Premier is, hence not mentioning her name. The point is - IN MY OPINION - a Premier (any presiding Premier) has more of a right to comment publicly about this matter than a coach, especially the coach of a club other than Balta’s.

Also, you assume I support the current Premier, and you base this assumption on what? On the fact that I opined the Premier has more of a right to speak on this than Hardwick? I didn’t even say whether I agreed with her, which btw on this matter I do, but that doesn’t mean I support her. Remember, the mods would sooner we don’t speak politics.

12 hours ago, Cranky Franky said:

That's the spirit. Build more jails & put everyone in jail. Especially any young thugs. Just follow the US system. What could go wrong ?

I don’t believe he said put everyone in jail

2 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

He’s been singled out because along with being a top-level AFL footballer (including the hefty pay-packet) comes a higher level of responsibility in matters such as this. He’s in the public eye, kids look up to him, he signed up for this.

FWIW, I also believe jail isn’t necessarily the answer in this case. But a paltry fine and a 3-month curfew is grossly inadequate. That said, I think the judge made a very clever ruling by imposing the curfew since him missing an extra however many matches is effective and much deserved.

A week in jail or longer under house arrest might have been appropriate. Or a much longer curfew.

The bigger issue it seems is blokes getting out on the drink. Taking alcohol out of the equation entirely ir considerably would be interesting

My partner isn't really into footy, but tolerates it and enjoys the frocks on brownlow night. However, she saw the Balta footage and was visibly shaken. She thought it was disgusting that he was not only allowed to walk around and still play footy, but that any team would select him to play and that the AFL would allow it.

This is not an isolated opinion that exists in the community.

The AFL needs to do better, not simply because of optics but because its the right thing to do.

They are supposed to be a community group (they dont pay tax), so they need to act like one.

2 hours ago, Roost it far said:

I’ve no idea of the breakup of types of crimes that end up in jail. What I do is these violent attacks are all too common in Australian society. Maybe if we gave these guys 3 months in prison things would change. I’m not pretending to know the answer but whatever we’re doing atm isn’t working. Just say Balta was jailed for 3 months, a reasonably high profile sportsman, does that save others from being king hit and then repeatedly smashed in the face??

Reasons why some offenders do not end up in gaol include cost. The community has to pay for every person incarcerated. If we as a society want to imprison more people we would have to agree to pay for it. That includes capital expenditure to build more gaols (because the ones we have are already full) plus the daily costs associated with keeping them there (ie, paying prison officers, food, etc).

So, for anyone who wants more people to be gaoled, be prepared for your taxes to be increased. Someone has to pay for it.

A government who has provided substantial financial assistance to a club has every right to comment on the conduct of that club.

13 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Reasons why some offenders do not end up in gaol include cost. The community has to pay for every person incarcerated. If we as a society want to imprison more people we would have to agree to pay for it. That includes capital expenditure to build more gaols (because the ones we have are already full) plus the daily costs associated with keeping them there (ie, paying prison officers, food, etc).

So, for anyone who wants more people to be gaoled, be prepared for your taxes to be increased. Someone has to pay for it.

That’s likely the worst argument I’ve ever heard for not putting someone in jail

14 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

That’s likely the worst argument I’ve ever heard for not putting someone in jail

Really?

I could also have added that some people come out of gaol more hardened (as in "hardened criminal") than when they went in. Is that a better argument?

24 minutes ago, D Rev said:

My partner isn't really into footy, but tolerates it and enjoys the frocks on brownlow night. However, she saw the Balta footage and was visibly shaken. She thought it was disgusting that he was not only allowed to walk around and still play footy, but that any team would select him to play and that the AFL would allow it.

This is not an isolated opinion that exists in the community.

The AFL needs to do better, not simply because of optics but because its the right thing to do.

They are supposed to be a community group (they dont pay tax), so they need to act like one.

100%

Willie Rioli got an immediate and indefinite suspension from the AFL for 18 months until his urine tampering investigation concluded. Ended up being a 2 year backdated ban. So Rioli was out from September 2019 until August 2021.

Effectively banned for about 40ish games.

Noah Balta got a 6 game ban from the club and signed off by the AFL (2 of those pre-season games) and was eligible to play before he had even been sentenced.

40ish in season games out VS 4 in season games out.

So what Rioli did was 10 times worse than what Balt did.

LOL.

Edited April 23Apr 23 by BoBo

I think he’s probably got a fair whack considering it was his first offence. I assume he was told he’s somebody was fighting with his brother and he’s rung out and completely over reacted.

Think the judge did well enforcing the curfew as it affects him for the next 3 months. The fact that he has a public profile means much more attention and shame brought to him and his family.

If similar footage of Steven May came out would people be as quick to be calling for him to be jailed?!

My problem is with Richmond and the AFL. They both should have been much harder on him. 4 game ban- Kossie got 3 for a bump that was a fraction late and a fraction high. Doesn’t seem to add up, the two things aren’t in the same league and doesn’t set a good example for kids.

I guess players getting concussion might cost them money. Kids having their lives ruined by a coward punch not so much.

Edited April 23Apr 23 by Colm