Gaff not under investigation, but police would act on complaint
Western Australian police say they will listen to any complaints regarding Andrew Gaff's swinging left hook on Andrew Brayshaw in the West Coast-Fremantle derby on Sunday, should anyone connected with the incident come forward, but that they had not launched an investigation into the punch.
Gaff had been one of the favourites to claim the Brownlow Medal before a moment of madness in Sunday's derby at Perth Stadium almost certainly ended his season and hopes of being awarded the sport's highest individual honour.
Brayshaw, 18, had surgery to repair his broken jaw on Sunday night. He also had three displaced lower teeth put back into place and splinted. He will miss the rest of the AFL season.
“Club medical staff have advised that the surgery went well and Brayshaw is now recovering at home with his parents. He cannot eat solid food for four weeks and will not play again this season," a Fremantle statement read.
The Eagles' free agent Gaff, who has been weighing up whether to head home to a Victorian club next season, was devastated by his actions and has apologised. He will likely be sent straight to the AFL Tribunal and will receive a lengthy ban.
WA Police Force Commissioner Chris Dawson said that, while it was rare for police to lay criminal charges from an incident in professional sport, and acknowledged that the AFL had its own processes, police would assess the incident. WA Police would not clarify what "assessing the incident" meant but said they had received no complaints and therefore were not investigating.
“We will make an assessment on this incident as we would with other matters of public interest, and we would encourage any parties directly connected and concerned with this matter to contact WA Police Force," Mr Dawson said.
Fremantle have been contacted to find out if they will pursue charges. Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett said suggestions of police action were "inflammatory".
"I am not prepared to go there. Some of those inflammatory comments by some people just are unwarranted because everyone knows we have a process in the AFL and the club will take the process to the tribunal. The AFL will deal with it, the player will get the penalty the AFL tribunal deems as deserved in this case," he said.
The Eagles boss said the Eagles had not contacted the police about the possibility of charges.
"I would be very hopeful that we let the process go through the AFL like all other processes do," he said.
Nisbett also apologised to Brayshaw's father Mark Brayshaw over the phone, who is head of the AFL Coaches Association. Brayshaw's brother Hamish plays for the Eagles and is friends with Gaff.
“I think five days ago the (Brayshaw) brothers and Andrew Gaff were on the golf course together so it’s an extraordinary situation we all find ourselves in,” Nisbett said in Perth.
“It may not have been intentional but we’ll have to get that from Andrew. It’s totally out of character when a player who has never been reported at any level, through juniors, through all his senior 174 games, and it just came out of the blue."
“I spoke to Andrew Gaff last night and he was beside himself with what happened. I think people saw the remorse he had, but it doesn’t exonerate him and he has to take responsibility — which he’s taken, but he’s taking it pretty tough.”
David Galbally, QC, one of Melbourne's most respected legal authorities, said Western Australian police could get involved for what he said was an "appalling" incident that sent Brayshaw immediately to hospital.
"Looking at it, it's a very serious assault. If you were just on the street and committed something like that, a judge would look at putting you in [jail]. You would really run the risk of either getting a suspended sentence or getting a small stint," he told Fairfax Media.
"He would be very hard-pushed to get a penalty that didn't have a record for an assault like that - unprovoked."
Galbally said police could "easily" get involved but Brayshaw would eventually need to co-operate.
"Police could certainly lay charges for assault. It's been done before - Leigh Matthews, [Neville] Bruns incident [in 1985] - because it clearly is an assault and it's an assault occasioning actual bodily harm," he said.
"He [Brayshaw] could lodge a complaint with the police but they could initiate it of their free will. They could [do] it themselves but they would need his co-operation. If he said to them: 'I don't want you to do it' then it would be unlikely they would do it. But they don't need him to complain initially."
AFL match review officer Michael Christian is expected to grade the incident as intentional conduct with severe impact to the head. This means it would be sent directly to the AFL tribunal, with Gaff receiving a minimum three-match ban if found guilty. However, his punishment will almost certainly be far greater, perhaps ruling him out for the rest of the season and finals.
Former Swan Barry Hall was suspended for seven matches for punching Brent Staker in 2008, while Melbourne's Tom Bugg was handed a six-match ban for a punch on Callum Mills which left the Swan concussed. The Giants' Jeremy Cameron was suspended for five matches earlier this season for his hit on young Brisbane Lions star Harris Andrews.