Andrew Brayshaw's surgery on a broken jaw has gone successfully, and the young Dockers player is now recovering at home with his parents after an incident involving West Coast Eagles' Andrew Gaff.
Brayshaw needed an operation to repair his broken jaw and three displaced lower teeth, which have been put back into place and splinted.
The 18-year-old is not allowed to eat solid food for four weeks and has been ruled out for the remainder of the season.
Sunday's Western Australian Derby was cruising its way to a fairly uneventful West Coast win until a little Andrew-on-Andrew violence saw it explode into life in the third quarter.
Eagles star Andrew Gaff connected with an off-the-ball left hook on the chin of Docker Andrew Brayshaw, leaving the youngster bleeding heavily from the mouth.
Check out the video below.
Gaff had been among the favourites for the Brownlow Medal after a strong season to date, but he looks set for a holiday after this incident.
Fremantle players were quickly alerted to the hit and tensions boiled over once play restarted.
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Tempers flared in the third quarter of the Derby.#AFLEaglesFreo pic.twitter.com/KGDaj44qT1
— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) August 5, 2018
Gaff came to the bench later in the quarter and was visibly upset, with coach Adam Simpson offering some words of support to the 26-year-old.
Fox Footy commentator David King reported during that final term that Brayshaw had been taken to hospital, and it was later confirmed he had suffered a broken jaw and will require surgery.
The feeling in the game remained for the final term, with Freo's chief antagonist Hayden Ballantyne taking on all comers.
Gaff found himself in the middle of a Docker sandwich as commentators called for him to be taken from the field for his own protection.
Michael Johnson and Andrew Gaff were involved in an incident in the fourth quarter.#AFLEaglesFreo pic.twitter.com/GoTLH8c5kc
— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) August 5, 2018
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon was disgusted over the incident and revealed he had to calm down his players on the sideline.
“Andrew Brayshaw was king hit 100m off the ball,” Lyon said post-game.
“He has got a fractured jaw and four displaced teeth that are caved in and he will be undergoing surgery tonight.
“I think it’s self-evident. I have got an 18-year-old kid that I saw in a real mess when I came down to the rooms, and his mum in tears as I was walking in. So it’s not very palatable.
“It is very distressing. My senior players certainly wanted retribution and I had to stay out on the ground longer at three-quarter time to settle a couple down and say: ‘don’t bring yourself into disrepute.’''
The score seemed to pale into insignificance amid all the drama, though the 58-point win helped the Eagles shore up second place on the ladder.
What can only be described as a brain explosion could have serious ramifications on the rest of the season.
He will almost certainly have to front up to the tribunal on Tuesday night and he's staring down the very real possibility of not playing again for the rest of the season.
Melbourne's Tom Bugg got six weeks for a similar incident last season.
Should Gaff, who has never been suspended in 175 games, get the same penalty, West Coast would need to play four finals for him to feature again in 2018.
For those keeping score, if the Eagles finish in the top four, that would mean losing the qualifying final and winning the next two to play in the grand final.
Gaff is off-contract at the end of the year and is attracting significant interest from his native Victoria, meaning Sunday's dramatic Derby could be his last game for the club.
