West Coast Eagles midfielder Andrew Gaff has been banned for eight weeks for punching Fremantle youngster Andrew Brayshaw last weekend.
The punch left Brayshaw with a broken jaw which will end his season and mean he can only eat through a straw for the next month.
Gaff has an unblemished record but was referred straight to the tribunal.
The 26-year-old flew to Melbourne on Tuesday afternoon and was escorted away from the airport.
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Gaff will miss the rest of the season after the marathon hearing. A jury consisting of Wayne Henwood, David Neitz and Shane Wakelin took just 14 minutes to deliver their verdict after Gaff had pleaded guilty.
At the hearing, Gaff claimed he was attempting to hit Brayshaw in the chest, but missed.
AFL counsel requested a penalty of eight to 12 weeks, with Grace wanting a lower suspension.
WHEN WILL ANDREW GAFF PLAY AFL AGAIN?
Gaff won't return in 2018, that much we know for sure.
As for his return, it depends on how far the Eagles advance in this year's finals series. West Coast are well entrenched inside the top four, but Gaff's suspension will seriously impact their run into the back end of the year.
If they continue playing well and play in three finals matches, he will be available to return to the field in round three next year.
If the Eagles only play two finals matches, Gaff can come back in round four, 2019.
In the unlikely scenario that West Coast lose all three of their remaining matches by wide margins, the Eagles could even see themselves in fifth to eighth position on the ladder. If that happened, it's conceivable that the Eagles get knocked out in week one of the finals, and Gaff is ineligible to return until round five next season.
West Coast are currently second on 56 points, while fourth to eighth are all on 48 points. The Eagles play seventh placed Port Adelaide, fourth placed Melbourne and last placed Brisbane in the final three weeks of the season.
INSIDE ANDREW GAFF'S AFL TRIBUNAL HEARING
According to Fremantle's club doctor, Ken Withers, Brayshaw's teeth were pushed back about 2cm in his mouth, and the fracture is a couple of centimetres long.
Gaff spoke at the hearing saying he had received "close attention" during the game. Gaff's defence played footage of him allegedly being checked.
The Eagles player said he was being impeded on many of his runs, with opponents targeting him and not looking at the ball.
The tribunal was also shown footage of the moments leading up to the punch, with Brayshaw sticking close to Gaff. "I'm being impeded and not being able to get a free run," Gaff said of the footage.
Grace is showing a passage just before the incident.
— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) August 7, 2018
Gaff says he is “being impeded and not being able to get a free run towards the contest” by Brayshaw.
When shown vision of the hit, Gaff says he intended to hit Brayshaw in the chest.
"I feel sick I hit Andrew in the face," he said.
"Absolutely no intention to hit him where I hit him. I felt sick, I was shattered.
"Mentally I didn't want to keep playing. Physically I kept playing, but mentally I felt shattered."
Gaff said he was heartbroken and "rattled" after the hit, and said it had been a tough 48-hours since the game.
Despite his lawyer showing several clips of him being hit off the ball, Gaff said he wasn't lashing out in frustration. He claims he was aiming for Brayshaw's chest, and didn't swing as hard as he could.
After Gaff spoke, his lawyer, David Grace QC gave character references on his behalf from Matt Priddis, Shannon Hurn and John Worsfold.
AFL counsel said an appropriate ban for Gaff would be between eight and 12 weeks.
AFL recommending 8-12 weeks for Gaff. "An historically significant penalty, but this is an historically significant offence. It was unrestrained in its execution, ferocious in its impact and grave in its consequence. A full-blooded punch." Live: https://t.co/P7juNpPjSf pic.twitter.com/EGVXjoFheW
— Lauren Wood (@LaurenHeraldSun) August 7, 2018
Grace responded, saying eight to 12 weeks is "manifestly excessive" and said the suspension should be at the lower end of the scale.
The jury took less than quarter of an hour to return the verdict.
gaff emerges.. @superfooty pic.twitter.com/S2zCFTQom1
— Mark Robinson (@Robbo_heraldsun) August 7, 2018
Earlier in the week, West Coast CEO Trevor Nisbett claimed that Gaff and Brayshaw had played golf together just days before the incident, but former Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich hit back via Twitter, saying that couldn't be further from the truth.
If you’re going to be critical of getting the facts right, you’d want to be sure that your’s are accurate also. Particularly if they’ve never actually met....🏌🏽♂️🤔
— Matthew Pavlich (@mattpav29) August 7, 2018
Brayshaw's brother, Angus, also had some questions about the alleged round of golf.
"I heard it after people were asking me about it and it seemed weird that Hamish hadn’t mentioned it [playing golf with brother Andrew and Andrew Gaff] to me," Brayshaw said on The AFL Exchange Podcast .
"I messaged him this morning and he said he's not sure where they’ve got it from but they never play golf together."
He also said Gaff would be in jail if the same incident happened in public.
"If this happened at a nightclub or on the streets, it's assault," he said .
"I’m not a lawyer or anything so I don’t know what it (the sentence) is but you’re probably getting jail for something like this I’d imagine.
‘’The one-punch thing has been a huge campaign and I just honestly can’t believe that it’s happened."
