Play Nice Was that Gaffs last game for WC?

[Belnakor]

Ranked in severity:

Hall Staker
Solomon Ling
Gaff Brayshaw
Cameron Andrews
Houli Lamb
Vickery Cox

If you are looking at damage wise

Gaff Brayshaw (eating through a straw for 4 weeks)
Cameron Andrews (brain bleeding, not immediately evident though)
Vickery Cox (I think he had 2 weeks off)
Hall Staker (he played a week later)
Solomon Ling (Played 2 weeks later)
Houli Lamb (he played 2 weeks later?)

AFL has proven time and time again that the damage determines the punishment

 

[Ghossein]

Question for the WC fans.

Say it was Tom Cole playing on Steven Hill who had his jaw broken, four teeth loosened and was going to miss the rest of the year.

What punishment would you be asking Hill to be subject to?

6-8 weeks and relentless booing in all future derby’s

 

[Jack5]

WCE players getting around Gaff after that goal, they knew what he had done, its a bad look. Coach saying he's not sure it was intentional. Cant blame the crowd if they didnt know what happened but why was no footage shown of the incident at the ground? Looks like tribalism has gotten hold and there is a loss of perspective at this club.

 

[NT.Thunder]

Wonder what Brayshaw was saying to deserve that.

Ahh - so you're one of those "She shouldn't have been wearing that" types

 

[Ghossein]

having slept on it i think the red card rule is a good idea for these situations, but the AFL is far too focused on their stupid zone shit

 

[Forward Press]

having slept on it i think the red card rule is a good idea for these situations, but the AFL is far too focused on their stupid zone shit

Umpires didn't even see it. Would need a VAR-type system for it to have applied in this case.

 

[Milanista28]

having slept on it i think the red card rule is a good idea for these situations, but the AFL is far too focused on their stupid zone shit

It's also a nightmare waiting to happen, You just know they will stuff it up.

 

[kylegee28]

These incidents will continue until the AFL starts punishing these sort of actions regardless of the extent of the injury. Too often these sorts of punches aren't even looked at or thrown out because no injury occurs.

 

[Ghossein]

Cant blame the crowd if they didnt know what happened but why was no footage shown of the incident at the ground?

No idea, wasn’t the only incident that wasn’t shown, basically every 50 and every downfield free we were in the dark.

Thanks Optus

 

[Tom_Thumb]

How do you think the kid in the hospital feels today? Bloody awesome?

With all this over the top sooking from Freo Fans I'm starting to hope Gaff gets off. Keep this shit up and any sympathy from other clubs will quickly wane, playing the victim card like I have never seen before.

 

[catters_28]

Over on the weagles board they all reckon it was all an accident and he was aiming for Brayshaw’s chest. Delusion at its finest

 

[Lynchy04]

If he gets the same as Houli the AFL should appeal that it is manifestly inadequate

 

[Doashuey]

If the AFL actually made an effort to stamp out gut and chest punches then these sort of accidents would occur a lot less.

Cotchin seemed to have free rein to punch people in the guts last year.

Banning it all might be simpler. At least it’s a black and white rule. No intentional striking with a fist - be it face, chest, guts, whatever.

Yep, the AFL have sanctioned punching, as long as there isn't a bad outcome. I think it was Tom Mitchell earlier in the year who clocked a NM player in the back of the head and only copped a fine. Sure, he probably only ended up with an egg at worst but the AFL has taken the stance of 'its ok to throw a punch, just make sure it doesn't do damage'.
So, and making no excuses here, Gaff has thrown a punch and based on the height it is thrown (below shoulder), the fact Brayshaw has slightly lowered the body to take off and the past history of Gaff, a reasonable argument could be made that the intent was not to connect with the head. However, because the AFL has not sought to stamp out all deliberate punches, he has probably thought he would be ok to swing one at the body, like many other AFL players this year, without repercussion. Unfortunately things have gone very bad and this is the result.
I'm not seeking to absolve Gaff of a very ordinary act, that in all likelihood was also probably quite unlucky for both he and Brayshaw, but I reckon this might be the wake-up call to the AFL to take a 0 tolerance approach to striking on the field. Automatic suspensions for any punching irrespective of impact (IE no insufficient force rule) with of course higher penalties for worse outcomes. If they dont take this action then unfortunately this sort of thing will happen again.

 

[Jughead77]

I think he will get minimum 8 weeks. Bugg copped 6 and mills only sat out a week. This is way worse, given the injury.

Also, gaffs previous good record is now tarnished forever. No one but him knows what he was thinking or what his intent was in throwing that punch. The fact is his reputation is now in disrepute forever and he only has himself to blame.

If Mrs Brayshaw and the family can forgive him for that hit, then hopefully the public can as well. It'll be interesting to hear their thoughts.

 

[Peel67skin]

Umpires didn't even see it. Would need a VAR-type system for it to have applied in this case.

You know why ? Gaff run off and show no emotion after he hit somebody during the games. I gave him benefits of doubt if he did not do a hit and run, but he did not .

 

[blckcaviar]

With all this over the top sooking from Freo Fans I'm starting to hope Gaff gets off. Keep this shit up and any sympathy from other clubs will quickly wane, playing the victim card like I have never seen before.

I'm not a Freo fan. And that reply of mine you're quoting was in response to someone saying that he loved seeing biffo at the footy and it was bloody awesome

 

[Carl Spackler]

NSW case law but indicative.

https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/violence-in-sport-what-does-the-law-say/

“in an organized game of rugby league the players consent to acts of violence and acts of substantial violence, and the risks of injury, from the minor to the serious, flowing therefrom, provided that those acts occurred during the course of play in accordance with the rules and usages of the game.

Players are not to be taken as consenting to the malicious use of violence intended or recklessly to cause grievous bodily injury.

The policy of the law will not permit the mere occasion of a rugby league match to render innocent or otherwise excuse conduct which can discretely be found, beyond reasonable doubt, to constitute a criminal offence.”

A number of important principles stem from the above passage:

1. When participating in physical or inherently violent sports, players are taken to impliedly consent to physical violence and the associated injuries that might flow from that violence;

2. As long as the violence is within the rules and parameters of the sport, no illegal act is perpetrated when another player is injured as a result of the opponent’s conduct; and

3. When the level or nature of violence goes beyond the rules and parameters of the game, it is potentially rendered illegal, and is not to be excused just because it was perpetrated in the context of a physical sport.

In other words, each time a footy player decides to break the rules by participating in a fist fight, or by intentionally or recklessly performing a ‘head high’ tackle, they are potentially committing a criminal offence.

 

[Forward Press]

WCE players getting around Gaff after that goal, they knew what he had done, its a bad look. Coach saying he's not sure it was intentional. Cant blame the crowd if they didnt know what happened but why was no footage shown of the incident at the ground? Looks like tribalism has gotten hold and there is a loss of perspective at this club.

If you accept that the crowd didn't know what happened why do you hold the players to a different standard? The other 21 players would have been preoccupied with where the ball was at the moment (same as the crowd), this incident was off the ball.

 

[big bootaaaaah]

When watching this event on live TV, when it first happened every body was taken by surprise. Which is why Freo players didn't go and immediately respond against Gaff. But that was short lived. Once Brayshaw left the field with a bloody mouth and Freo started going at Gaff, anybody with half an ounce of logic understood that Gaff was responsible.

Even without knowing the extent of the damage to Brayshaw, applauding Gaff so strongly for his goal, after seeing Brayshaw leave the ground was sickening.
The only thing worse was watching the Slime players celebrating like they had just won a Grand Final after Gaff kicked the goal.
Slime supporters were wrong and so were their players. You can try to make excuses but just like Gaff's hit it was poor judgement and something that should carry shame, not excuses.

Sadly, I think it is indicative of the Slime supporters and their home crowds. It is why they join in the all too familiar eagles "booooo!" so often for Free Kicks and against players when often many of those in the crowd don't even no why they are doing it. They have a very poor crowd mentality and once again they feel justified in their actions, irrelevant of the morals, because they were acting as part of their crowd supporting their team.

Was at the game knew nothing of the Brayshaw incident, applauded Gaff for coming back and kicking a goal after a the collision with your defenders.
Been said by many here as well
But by all means keep trolling that idea for your own agenda flog.

 

[Doashuey]

Over on the weagles board they all reckon it was all an accident and he was aiming for Brayshaw’s chest. Delusion at its finest

There is reasonable evidence to suggest that was the case- but none of us will probably ever know for sure unless Gaff inexplicably confesses to aiming for his head. Although there are a lot of fans who would like to discount this because they are baying for Gaff's blood.

 

[Michaels]

mellowyellow posted this in one of our threads, without having seen the incident of that local footy game in link, the outcome is still the same for both, will be interesting to see if the club takes any further action.


https://thewest.com.au/news/australia/rid-amateur-footy-of-thugs-nisbett-ng-ya-120561

"An amateur WA footballer has a broken jaw after an alleged behind-the-play strike that prompted West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett to call for thugs to be marched out of the game."

"Mr Nisbett, whose two sons play in the WAAFL, said the Eagles sponsored the competition and expected games to be in the “right spirit”. Anyone who engaged in extreme violence should be deregistered."

“Guys don’t sign up for this and if you’re going to go outside the laws of the game, you should be punished with the maximum penalty.

“Enough is enough. This has been creeping in for a number of years. It’s not so much the number of incidents but their severity.”

 

[big_e]

I agree that Gaff should and will cop his whack (I think 8)

Certain irony in all those saying Gaff will "cop his whack"....

 

[Ghossein]

You know why ? Gaff run off and show no emotion after he hit somebody during the games.

sobbing on the bench is probably more emotion i’ve seen from any other player who’s been in that situation but okay

 

[Golden_6]

Gaff stuffed up, he's not a malicious player. People questioning his character are morons, it was a split second decision that will cost him dearly.

6 weeks.

 

[Peel67skin]

sobbing on the bench is probably more emotion i’ve seen from any other player who’s been in that situation but okay

That is after he been caught on camera of his act . I doubt he will sobbing if he did not get caught on camera of the incident .