Andrew Gaff will face the AFL Tribunal for tomorrow night for striking Fremantle tyro Andrew Brayshaw in the mouth. The hit which occurred far off the ball left Brayshaw with a broken jaw and four displaced teeth. Brayshaw was taken immediately to hospital for surgery that night. Today it was announced that last year’s #2 draft pick will not play again this year.

Fremantle coach Ross Lyon called Gaff’s action a king hit and likened it to Barry Hall’s infamous strike on West Coast’s Brent Staker. Hall received a seven week ban for the action that left Staker similarly with a broken jaw.

That was ten years ago and the game has not seen an on-field action as close to Hall’s punch until yesterday. Recent hits that have given players long stints on the sideline like Tom Bugg’s punch on Callum Mills and, ironically, Tom Jonas’s elbow on Gaff’s both earned six week bans. Gaff’s ban could extend past that number. How ever long it is he is very unlikely to play again this year.

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