| Andrew Gaff | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Gaff playing for West Coast in July 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Andrew Gaff | ||
| Nicknames | Gaffy, Gaffer tape | ||
| Born | (1992-06-16)16 June 1992 (age 33) | ||
| Original team | Oakleigh Chargers (TAC Cup) | ||
| Draft | No. 4,2010 national draft | ||
| Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Weight | 85 kg (187 lb) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Playing career | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2011–2024 | West Coast | 280 (84) | |
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 2020 | Victoria | 1 (2) | |
| International team honours | |||
| 2015 | Australia | 1 (0) | |
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Andrew Gaff (born 16 June 1992) is a former professionalAustralian rules footballer who played for theWest Coast Eagles in theAustralian Football League (AFL). He played predominantly as a midfielder.
Gaff was recruited from theOakleigh Chargers with the fourth pick in the2010 National Draft. He made his debut in round one of the2011 season, and later in the year was nominated for theAFL Rising Star Award. Gaff was a regular in the West Coast line-up since his debut, andin 2015 played in the club's grand final loss toHawthorn. He won theJohn Worsfold Medal as West Coast'sbest and fairest player that year, and was also named in the2015 All-Australian team. Gaff placed equal fourth in the2016 Brownlow Medal. He was named in the2018 All-Australian team.
Gaff attended Kew East Primary School until 2004[1] andCarey Baptist Grammar School in his high school years. He starred in the Carey First XVIII football team as a hard-running midfielder who proved to be a prolific goalkicker.
Originally from the Kew Comets Junior Football Club in theYarra Junior Football League, Gaff played in theTAC Cup with theOakleigh Chargers. before being selected with the fourth pick overall in the2010 National Draft by theWest Coast Eagles. Recognised as one of the best prospects in his draft year, Gaff was renowned for his endurance, work ethic, kicking and ability to accumulate possessions.[2]
Growing up, Gaff supported theMelbourne Football Club, and attended the2000 AFL Grand Final as a spectator in which they lost toEssendon by 60 points.[3]
Gaff played his first game for the Eagles in the pool round of the2011 NAB Cup, playing againstHawthorn and gathering six possessions, before being rested in the second game againstFremantle.
He became the third player in the Eagles' history to wear the No. 3 jumper for the Eagles afterChris Mainwaring andChris Judd. The jumper was retired for three years following Mainwaring's death in October 2007 and Judd's departure from the club prior to the 2008 season.
Gaff made his AFL debut in the opening round match againstNorth Melbourne, replacingChris Masten as the Eagles' first substitute player.[4]
Gaff was rewarded for his form by being nominated for the2011 AFL Rising Star award in round 19, 2011.[5]
Gaff had an extremely consistent season in 2012, gathering a total of 591 disposals and booting 9 goals for the season.
His 2013 season wasn't as consistent as the season previous, but he still played 22 games and gathered 437 disposals.
In 2014, Gaff had further improved season, gathering 534 disposals and kicking 10 goals for the year, he also played 22 games.
2015 saw Andrew become a truly elite player in the competition, he amassed 738 disposals and kicked 11 goals for the season. Including a season highlight of 36 disposals and 3 goals againstAdelaide in Round 15. As of the end of round 18, 2015, Gaff was having a career best year. He is ranked equal fifth in the AFL Coaches Association voting,[6] and averages 29.9 touches a game, including a remarkable run of five straight games where he collected more than 30 disposals.[7]
At the conclusion of the 2015 season, he was awarded theJohn Worsfold Medal as the club's best-and-fairest player.[8] His outstanding form was recognised league-wide as he was named on the wing in the2015 All-Australian team.[9]
Gaff had another consistent year in 2016, despite being knocked unconscious in round 9 by Port Adelaide's Tom Jonas, causing him to miss a week and dip in form, albeit slightly. He rebounded strongly in the last month of the year as the Eagles found some stunning form. He had a career best 38 disposals in a clinical win over Hawthorn atSubiaco in round 22, and then set a new career-best tally with 41 disposals the next week against Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, as the Eagles entered the finals as the form team of the competition. He was rewarded with a place in the 40 person All-Australian squad, but was left out of the final 22-man team.
In 2018, Gaff was referred to theAFL Tribunal after an off-the-ball strike onFremantle playerAndrew Brayshaw which left Brayshaw with abroken jaw and three dislodged teeth.[10][11][12] He was subsequently suspended for eight AFL matches leading to him missing out on playing inWest Coast's premiership.[13] In October, Gaff, arestricted free agent, announced he would turn down a contract withNorth Melbourne, reportedly for seven years and worth around $8 million, to stay at West Coast.[14][15]
On August 7, 2024, Gaff announced that he will be playing his final two games before retiring at the conclusion of the2024 AFL season.[16]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 2011 | West Coast | 3 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 172 | 130 | 302 | 75 | 19 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 10.1 | 7.6 | 17.8 | 4.4 | 1.1 | 4 |
| 2012 | West Coast | 3 | 24 | 9 | 13 | 374 | 217 | 591 | 114 | 34 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 15.6 | 9.0 | 24.6 | 4.8 | 1.4 | 4 |
| 2013 | West Coast | 3 | 22 | 5 | 9 | 266 | 171 | 437 | 76 | 40 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 12.1 | 7.8 | 19.9 | 3.5 | 1.8 | 2 |
| 2014 | West Coast | 3 | 22 | 10 | 2 | 344 | 190 | 534 | 120 | 54 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 15.6 | 8.6 | 24.3 | 5.5 | 2.5 | 6 |
| 2015 | West Coast | 3 | 25 | 11 | 8 | 415 | 323 | 738 | 111 | 62 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 16.6 | 12.9 | 29.5 | 4.4 | 2.5 | 17 |
| 2016 | West Coast | 3 | 22 | 7 | 6 | 372 | 285 | 657 | 81 | 27 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 16.9 | 13.0 | 29.9 | 3.7 | 1.2 | 21 |
| 2017 | West Coast | 3 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 414 | 299 | 713 | 127 | 49 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 17.3 | 12.5 | 29.7 | 5.3 | 2.0 | 9 |
| 2018 | West Coast | 3 | 19 | 12 | 4 | 339 | 244 | 583 | 100 | 56 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 17.8 | 12.8 | 30.7 | 5.3 | 2.9 | 16 |
| 2019 | West Coast | 3 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 437 | 265 | 702 | 141 | 52 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 19.9 | 12.0 | 31.9 | 6.4 | 2.4 | 13 |
| 2020[a] | West Coast | 3 | 18 | 5 | 4 | 251 | 186 | 437 | 81 | 42 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 13.9 | 10.3 | 24.3 | 4.5 | 2.3 | 8 |
| 2021 | West Coast | 3 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 343 | 234 | 577 | 140 | 35 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 16.3 | 11.1 | 27.5 | 6.7 | 1.7 | 9 |
| 2022 | West Coast | 3 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 191 | 192 | 383 | 72 | 38 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 11.9 | 12.0 | 23.9 | 4.5 | 2.4 | 1 |
| 2023 | West Coast | 3 | 23 | 3 | 4 | 210 | 250 | 460 | 90 | 66 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 9.1 | 10.9 | 20.0 | 3.9 | 2.9 | 0 |
| 2024 | West Coast | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 34 | 78 | 17 | 5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 8.8 | 6.8 | 15.6 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 0 |
| 2025 | West Coast | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 |
| Career[17] | 280 | 84 | 68 | 4172 | 3020 | 7192 | 1345 | 579 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 14.9 | 10.8 | 25.7 | 4.8 | 2.1 | 110 | ||
Notes
