Inexplicable Gaff rocks West Coast's roll to September glory
How long the fallout from Andrew Gaff's unfathomable attack on Andrew Brayshaw rolls on for is unknown, but it has rocked the Eagles to the core as they roll into September without two of their superstars and injury concerns over a host of others.
As their premiership rivals ripened their assault on the flag over the weekend, the most thrilling round of football in seasons ended with West Coast wondering how the well-mannered and widely-lauded Brownlow Medal hope rotted their run to an unlikely 2018 premiership with his own attack.
How much ruin Gaff's moment of madness, which occurred late in the third quarter on Brayshaw - the no.2 pick in last year's national draft - inflicts on West Coast in their run home to September remains to be seen.
But the split-second decision to whack the unsuspecting youngster, who was playing on Gaff at the time, has definitely ruined the unsuspecting 18-year-old's face, with Brayshaw immediately transported to hospital after the incident for emergency surgery to repair his face; a broken jaw, three displaced teeth and no solid foods for four weeks as he recovers at home with his parents.
The seriousness of the assault means Gaff will be sent straight to the AFL Tribunal, which will likely suspend him for five weeks, meaning he'll miss the rest of 2018 unless the Eagles make the grand final.
The 26-year-old was inconsolable on the bench after the incident, with coach Adam Simpson comforting his creative weapon after he wept head in hands, a rare moment of raw humanity and harrowing emotion in the AFL arena.
The midfielder seemed as shocked as everyone else after the match about what happened, apologising and showing geniune concern and remorse for Brayshaw.
The out-of-character act by the out-of-contract Victorian free agent, a target of the big Melbourne clubs, may be a blessing in disguise for Eagles fans in the long run.
If West Coast finish fourth or lower when their finals campaign ends - after sitting 2nd three games out from September - the gaffe will be blamed, and rightly so to a degree.
It could make the mild-mannered Gaff want to atone for his own massive mistake.
The fallout from the incident began immediately on the field, a wild, sustained brawl followed by another, before the siren sounded for three quarter time. In the fourth, Gaff returned and was immediately set upon, Dockers Johnson and Ryan inflicting a fierce double bump instantanously on the shaken midfielder, sparking more square-ups and spotfires and prompting both coaches to glance and gesturing to each other as if to ask, what is going on?
It was the surprise of the Gaff attack that shocked most broadcasters covering the 48th Derby more than the maliciousness of it.
But West Coast coach Adam Simpson in his post-match press conference alluded to something other than a brain fade to be behind Gaffe's extraordinary hit.
"As much as it is going to look like it was intentional, I'm not quite sure it was," Simpson said.
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon was as furious as we've seen in his post-match conference, even revealing he stayed on the ground longer than normal at last break to calm certain players who wanted to exact revenge.
“I've 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. It's not very palatable,” he said.
Lyon's aggressive tone was heartfelt if unlikely, and it was fresh to hear a coach under pressure all year showing fight and revealing his players still had some.
It was hard not to feel like Fremantle somehow got more out of this most bizarre derby clash than West Coast on Sunday.
The first Western Derby at the new Optus Stadium was overshadowed by a petty sponsorship fight that generated considerable spite not seen in some time between the two WA clubs.
That resentment is now real, as evidenced by the reaction of Dockers players and the coach in the aftermath.
By the way, Elliot Yeo was the inaugural Glendinning-Allan Medallist after a game of 26 posessionas and two goals, his perforemance completely overshadowed by a derby that rivalled the infamous demolition derby in 2000.