West Coast Eagles CEO Trevor Nisbett has opened up on the relationship shared between Andrew Gaff and Andrew Brayshaw, in the wake of the incident in yesterday’s derby.
Gaff punched Brayshaw in the third quarter of the match, an act that broke the young Docker's jaw and displaced three teeth.
Nisbett, who expressed apologies on behalf of West Coast to Fremantle and the Brayshaws, explained the set of circumstances all parties currently find themselves in.
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“I spoke to Andrew Gaff last night and he was beside himself with what happened,” Nisbett said.
“I think people saw the remorse he has under this situation but it doesn’t go to exonerate him from the action.
“He has to take responsibility, which he is taking, but he is taking it pretty tough.
“It’s a difficult situation.
“Five days ago the brothers and Andrew Gaff were on the golf course together.
“It’s an extraordinary situation that we all find ourselves in at the moment.
“We are very grateful that Andrew Brayshaw is in reasonable shape considering what happened and his parents are accepting of Andrew Gaff’s apology.
“I think it’s a genuine friendship (between Gaff and Brayshaw).”
Nisbett also said comments made by Dockers coach Ross Lyon and QC Tom Percy were “not appropriate”.
Percy, who is also a board member of the Eagles’ WAFL affiliate East Perth, wrote on Facebook “he (Gaff) doesn’t deserve to play AFL again…I’ve had people go to jail for less”.
Lyon showed his frustration over the incident after the clash yesterday.
"Andrew Brayshaw was king-hit 100m off the ball,” he said.
"I think it's self-evident (what my thoughts on the incident are).
“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 was pretty distraught. I gave him a hug. It's hard to keep the emotion back yourself. To see his mum, it's pretty tough.
"It's very distressing. My senior players certainly wanted retribution and I had to stay out on the ground longer at three-quarter time to settle a couple down and say, 'don't bring yourself into disrepute'."
"I wouldn't have liked to have seen my son like that."
Nisbett declined to describe the incident as an assault.
The CEO also provided his thoughts on the fact that some individuals are calling for criminal charges to potentially be laid.
“Some of those inflammatory comments by some people just are unwarranted,” Nisbett said.
“Everyone knows we have got 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 that the AFL Tribunal deems as deserved in this case.”
Western Australia Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said today the police would be making an “assessment” of Gaff’s punch.