Andrew Gaff's date with the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night unfurled one of the heaviest bans in league history.
Round 20 may have seen five games separated by single-digit margins, but by Sunday's end, the only thing on footy minds was Gaff's sickening punch on Fremantle youngster Andrew Brayshaw.
From there, those minds turned to Gaff's tribunal hearing, with questions over how many weeks on the sidelines the former Brownlow hopeful would cop.
Such was the severity of the Gaff-Brayshaw incident, that the West Coast midfielder was thrown onto a plane at Perth Airport bound for to Melbourne to come face-to-face with the tribunal.
MORE: West Coast coach Simpson defends under-fire Gaff as tribunal waits | Ex-AFL star Shannon Grant avoids jail for assault on woman
Brayshaw - just 18 years of age - was felled by a player nearly eight years his senior, left bloodied and bruised, and was taken to hospital with a fractured jaw and four displaced teeth, where he underwent surgery.
Gaff was clearly devastated after the incident, and cut a forlorn figure as he continued on in the game, Fremantle players remonstrating at every turn.
Andrew Gaff will be under scrutiny for this incident that left Andrew Brayshaw bleeding.#AFLEaglesFreo pic.twitter.com/09aj3ET2pN
— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) August 5, 2018
Match review officer Michael Christian graded the off-the-ball strike as intentional conduct with severe impact to the head on Monday morning.
"I'm very comfortable that it was severe impact, and obviously the contact was high," Christian said.
"Certainly it’s the highest grading that you can get."
THE INCIDENT: Gaff 'feels sick' after punch that broke Brayshaw's jaw | Hall comparisons made as AFL fans call for criminal charges
According to the AFL's classifiable offences table, such gradings would refer an incident directly to the tribunal, incurring a minimum three-match ban if found guilty.
This meant, at the very least, Gaff would not feature in West Coast's three remaining regular season games - but he was certain to leave Melbourne with a much larger ban.
He was every chance to be rubbed out for the rest of the season - and maybe even the early part of next year - with calls for Gaff to be hit with a ban ranging from anywhere between six to 12 weeks.
On Tuesday night, after a lengthy tribunal hearing, the West Coast midfielder was whacked with an eight-week ban, a suspension of which sent shockwaves through the AFL world.
How does Gaff's ban stack up against recent incidents of the past decade?
STEVEN BAKER (NINE GAMES)
Round 13, 2010
Four different incidents involving Geelong's Steve Johnson - who had an injured hand - cumulated to suspensions of two, three, two and two games for the St Kilda defender.
Baker had challenged the misconduct charge for making "unreasonable and unnecessary contact with an injured player", and St Kilda considered that charge open to further appeal.
He had been charged with four offences, three for striking - but the club accepted the nine-match suspension handed down by the AFL Tribunal.
DEAN SOLOMON (EIGHT GAMES)
Round 15, 2008
Solomon was ruled out for the rest of the 2008 season after the tribunal handed him an eight-game ban for striking Geelong's Cameron Ling.
Ling suffered a compressed fracture of his cheekbone in the incident midway through the first quarter when Solomon caught him high.
"I want to apologise to Cameron Ling and the Geelong Football Club for my incident today... It's probably one of the lowest points in my career, it’s unacceptable, and I want to apologise," Solomon said after the game.
BARRY HALL (SEVEN GAMES)
Round four, 2008
One of the most extraordinary incidents of recent times, Barry Hall's knock-out punch on Brent Staker in 2008 will live long in footy infamy.
After trying to shrug off Staker, Hall lost his cool and flung a left-handed punch to the West Coast defender's chin. Staker hit the deck, and Hall copped seven weeks for it.
"Just in terms of the outcome I was prepared to cop whatever came my way... seven weeks we think's fair, as I said we were prepared to cop whatever came my way," Hall said at the time.
TOMAS BUGG (SIX GAMES)
Round 15, 2017
Last year, Bugg smoked Mills flush on the jaw. The young Swans defender hit the turf, and his Sydney teammates weren't happy with Bugg, who was consigned to a torn guernsey, among other pinches and punches.
Bugg's instant regret for his actions was on show - like Gaff - when he didn't cash in on the Swans players remonstrating around him. The incident earned the Melbourne forward six weeks on the pine.
"I saw the footage, it does look really bad. I'm a bit embarrassed... It looks really bad, my genuine intent wasn’t to hurt Callum," Bugg told Channel 7 after the game.
Tomas Bugg has been reported for this strike on Callum Mills. #AFLDeesSwans pic.twitter.com/ADWjAjpC5e
— AFL (@AFL) June 30, 2017
LONGEST AFL SUSPENSIONS
Since 2005
| BAN LENGTH | PLAYER | CLUB | GAME |
| 9 games | Steven Baker | St Kilda | R13, 2010 |
| 8 games | Andrew Gaff | West Coast | R20, 2018 |
| 8 games | Dean Solomon | Fremantle | R15, 2008 |
| 7 games | Barry Hall | Sydney | R4, 2008 |
| 6 games | Tomas Bugg | Melbourne | R15, 2017 |
| 6 games | Tom Jonas | Port Adelaide | R9, 2016 |
| 6 games | Campbell Brown | Gold Coast | R23, 2012 |
| 6 games | Ben Johnson | Collingwood | R20, 2007 |
| 6 games | Jeff Farmer | Fremantle | PS, 2007 |
| 6 games | Brodie Holland | Collingwood | EF, 2006 |
| 6 games | Byron Pickett | North Melbourne | PS, 2005 |
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OTHER NOTABLE SUSPENSIONS
NICKY WINMAR (10 GAMES)
Round 19, 1990
St Kilda's Winmar kicked Hawthorn's Dermott Brereton, and copped 10 weeks for his trouble.
TERRY DANIHER (11 GAMES)
Grand Final, 1990
Essendon forward Daniher received 11 weeks for his role in the 1990 grand final quarter-time brawl.
GREG WILLIAMS (NINE GAMES)
Round one, 1997
A brush of the hand after the final siren was all it took for Carlton midfielder Greg Williams to cop a historic nine-match suspension.
Williams and Essendon’s Sean Denham were in the thick of a verbal stoush, and as Williams reacted, others tried to intervene - including field umpire Andrew Coates. The Carlton star appeared to try to push away Coates.
While none of the umpires reported Williams, he was slapped with the monster ban - even after Coates offered an explanation why in a letter to the football operations general manager after the match.
CHRIS LEWIS (SEVEN GAMES)
Round nine, 1997
The heaviest suspension for a West Coast player is Lewis, who copped seven games for striking Essendon's Danny Morgan.
ALASTAIR LYNCH (10 GAMES)
Grand Final, 2004
Lynch received the heaviest suspension since Daniher's brawling 14 years earlier after he started his own grand final punch-up.
The Brisbane forward received a 10-week suspension and $15,000 in fines after the tribunal found he was "clearly the aggressor" in an opening term fight with Port Adelaide defender Darryl Wakelin.
However, as Lynch was retiring after the 2004 season, he never served the ban.
BACHAR HOULI (FOUR GAMES)
Round 14, 2017
Houli was reported for striking Carlton's Jed Lamb in the first quarter. His swinging arm nailed Lamb, who was concussed and spent the rest of the afternoon on the bench.
The Richmond defender was sent straight to the tribunal, but only copped two weeks following references from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and journalist Waleed Aly.
The AFL sensationally appealed and doubled the tribunal's initial suspension, with Houli rubbed out for four games.
Bachar Houli has been reported for this incident with Jed Lamb. #AFLTigersBlues pic.twitter.com/Yqafn9KxsM
— AFL (@AFL) June 25, 2017
