Richmond star Noah Balta will not play in Gather Round despite his AFL suspension ending in Round 4, while the club has announced a debutant will make their way into the side to take on Fremantle.

Balta has been embroiled in an off-field legal saga after pleading guilty to the assault of a man in Mulwala, with the 25-year-old's sentencing still yet to be heard.

The Richmond utility appeared in court on March 27th but his hearing was adjourned until April 22, given the magistrates needed more time to determine his penalty.

As the Tigers star faces potentially serious ramifications for his involvement in the pub brawl, Richmond were placed in an intriguing position as to whether they named Balta for their upcoming matches before his next court date, with the Gather Round clash against Fremantle the first game following his four-game AFL suspension.

Despite reports during the week that Balta was set to be named, it appears Richmond will take a conservative approach to his selection and wait for his trial to conclude, with Balta not picked for the Dockers match, per 9News' Tom Morris.

"Noah Balta won't be playing AFL football this weekend as he awaits sentencing for those assault charges," Morris said.

"The match committee at Richmond met this afternoon. They decided that his conditioning, the fact he hasn't played yet this season means he won't be facing Fremantle on Sunday afternoon.

"The plan was for him to play VFL this weekend on his comeback given he hasn't played any senior matches so far, but there's no VFL game this weekend."

Richmond have named a debutant to be included into the side however, with 2024 Pick 14 Jonty Faull to make his debut for the club.

Faull's selection comes after draft class teammates Sam Lalor, Luke Trainor and Harry Armstrong all debuted earlier this season, as well as Liam Fawcett.

The key forward kicked two goals last week in the VFL in an effort to warrant his selection.

Richmond's full team selection will be announced at 6:20pm (AEST) on Thursday, with the final 23 to be concluded an hour before the Dockers clash on Sunday.