WATCH: CCTV footage of Balta's brutal assault

Richmond premiership player Noah Balta is facing up to five years in jail after CCTV footage of him allegedly assaulting a man in Mulwala was played in court.

Vision played in court shows Balta run towards victim Thomas Washbrook, knock him to the ground before delivering repeated blows to his head on December 30 last year.

Prosecutor Jason Tozer told a court that the 27-year-old victim was lucky to be alive after being repeatedly punched and thrown during the alleged incident.

“Your Honour can see he becomes fully airborne and travels a metre or a metre-and-a-half,” Tozer said.

“It is only sheer luck that his head did not make contact with that concrete.”

Balta will be sentenced on April 22.

The 25-year-old defender pleaded guilty to a single count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm which carries a maximum sentence of five years in NSW.

He was suspended by Richmond for the opening four matches of the 2025 season with Tom Morris reporting that he could return for the club’s Round 5 and 6 clashes against Freo and the Suns before he is sentenced.

The club’s reaction was slammed by Tozer.

“The action taken by the club is so minimal as to be irrelevant,” he said.

“The court must send a message to the community that this type of conduct is unacceptable no matter who you are.”