Ex-AFL player Daniel Harford has criticised commentary centred on Andrew Gaff across the last few days, saying the West Coast midfielder has 'disgracefully' copped a "character assassination" by the media and the community.
On Tuesday night, Gaff was whacked with a whopping eight-game ban for punching Fremantle youngster Andrew Brayshaw during Sunday's game in Perth.
The fallout has been wide-reaching and conflicting - yesterday, Brayshaw's older brother and Melbourne player Angus said Gaff would have been arrested had the incident occured on the street, while father Mark called for Gaff to be forgiven by the AFL community.
Mark Brayshaw - who is also the president of the AFL Coaches' Association - met with footy bosses and also had a chat with Gaff's father Paul at Tuesday night’s tribunal hearing about the incident with their sons.
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"There’s no question of the sincerity and remorse (of Gaff)... I want his father and mother to realise we're thinking of them and we look forward to the next Eagles dinner," Brayshaw told the Herald Sun.
"(Paul) was very apologetic and I just said to him, 'Look mate, don't worry about it, stuff happens and my bloke's going to be fine. I was more worried about you guys.
"If I could shake your hand, buy you a beer and deal with it, and I hope your young bloke's okay."
However, talking on RSN927 on Wednesday morning, Harford said Brayshaw senior's plea to the community and the media reflected a response to the shameful treatment of Gaff.
"It says a bit about the commentary and the level of animosity and the level of anger and emotion attached to all the commentary, as opposed to be able to sit back and dissect the situation and talk about it, as opposed to character assassination on top," Harford said.
"I think it’s been shameful the way it’s been handled, to be honest with you. I was so annoyed, frustrated."
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When Gaff arrived in Melbourne on Tuesday, the Eagles star stepped off the plane onto the tarmac and was picked up in a private ute, avoiding the impending media scrum if he went through the airport terminal.
Harford said the reaction to that alone was "madness", and that the "alleged entitlement" to tee off on Gaff was 'disgraceful'.
"(The punch) was absolutely unacceptable with horrific outcomes but the character assassination & the way that this young man has been dealt with by the media and the community has been nothing short of shameful."
— RSN Breakfast Club (@RSNBreakfast) August 7, 2018
Daniel Harford on the treatment of Andrew Gaff #RSNBreakfastClub pic.twitter.com/ucpeLC3utO
"I just sat there and thought, 'this is an absolute madness'," Harford said.
"The system will deal with Andrew Gaff, as it did (on Tuesday night) and quite rightly from the incident that occurred on the weekend. But the level of alleged entitlement from people to be able to have such aggressive views towards him, as opposed to the action.
"(Fremantle coach) Ross Lyon's been interesting in all this too, because one of his great sayings in footy as a coach is, 'condemn the behaviour, not the person'. And when players at Fremantle have transgressed at the time, at any time, he’s talked about 'condemning the behaviour, look after the person.
"There's been none of that with Andrew Gaff... at no stage, and by no means, has anyone sat in conversation about this incident and said 'what happened was acceptable'.
"It is absolutely unacceptable with horrific outcomes and we all understand that.
"But the character assassination and the way that this young man has been dealt with by the media and the community - and you go to social media and it’s been an absolute disgrace - has been nothing short of shameful."
