Noah Balta arrived at Punt Road when Richmond had barely finished the afterparty of their famous 2017 breakthrough premiership.
Three years later, he experienced that dizzying high himself.
Now, Balta, 24, wants to help lead Richmond out of the AFL doldrums and back to the top.
“I’m in a stage of my career now where it starts with a down (moment) and nobody really listens to your story,” Balta told AAP ahead of his 100th game.
“Hopefully we come back and we make it back to the top and then everyone talks about how you were at the bottom.
“But this is the part of the story and the journey that’s important to me and how I grow through it and develop through it.
“This 100 games is just me reflecting on how I’ve been going.”
Balta’s career has been defined by swapping between defence and attack on a needs basis.
Coach Adem Yze, who the defender has built a close relationship with, often jokes he’d like two Baltas.
“I just see it as an opportunity,” Balta said.
“Sometimes when you play one position for a long time, you can get into just going through the motions a little bit.
“Switching it up keeps me honest.”
The Tigers can strike another hammer blow to Collingwood’s flailing premiership defence with a victory at the MCG on Sunday.
Balta isn’t thinking beyond what it would mean to Richmond.
“It’s always nice to get a win and it doesn’t matter who it’s against, really, when you’re in our position at the moment,” he said.
“I feel like when you’re on top, you take those little wins for granted.
“But I was speaking to Dustin (Martin) the other day and he just spoke about ‘remember this feeling now’ because when he first came to the club, this is how it was.
“We have a lot of young boys that were in his exact same position. So for them to now grow and see this part of us will make the highs so much more worth it and better.”
Balta is out of contract at the end of 2025, but doesn’t see himself anywhere else.
“I like to think of myself as a loyal guy,” he said.
“I’ve won one (premiership) where I was the younger fella and I had Dylan Grimes and Dave Astbury pushing me.
“Now I’m that guy to step up and teach those younger boys what they taught me.
“Dylan Grimes, David Astbury and Alex Rance, what they did for me – it’s almost like they put their game aside to make sure that I was growing as a player and that’s when they played their best footy as well.
“I’m just starting to understand that now.”
