Will Schofield: The Andrew Gaff training session that stunned me

As West Coast Eagle Andrew Gaff runs on for his 250th game this weekend, former teammate WILL SCHOFIELD recalls the day he knew he was made of the right stuff.

Andrew Gaff plays his 250th game for the Eagles on Sunday, but the legacy he has developed at the club counts for more than just games played. Picture: Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images

I played under some great captains in my time at West Coast. Shannon Hurn, Chris Judd and Luke Shuey all influenced me in different ways.

But one message in particular stayed with me throughout my whole career. It shaped how I played, trained and handled myself as a man. Very early in my career, while giving me a lift home from training, my captain at the time Darren Glass offered some words of wisdom. He said at the end of your career as a player you can be one of two things – liked or respected. Sometimes you can be both, but it’s rare.

So what do you want to be? Liked or respected?

Obviously everyone wants to be liked as a person and in a football club environment, being liked is important. You want to fit in. It’s sometimes hard to be yourself, especially as a young player. You can be liked, the class clown. Or you can just get to work.

I made the decision very early on that I wanted to be respected by my teammates. Someone who players wanted to run out with. Someone who could be relied on.

I didn’t always achieve this, but that’s what I strove for.

Darren Glass gave Schofield some of the most important advice of his AFL career. Picture: Hamish Blair/Getty Images

The question of being liked or respected has always stuck with me and I reflect on it often. Especially when players end their careers or reach big milestones.

Andrew Gaff plays his 250th game for the West Coast Eagles this weekend.

Moving to Perth as an 18-year-old, Gaffy would be the first to admit being on his own was an eye-opener for him.

I remember one of the first training sessions he showed up for, he looked half asleep. A mop of hair, daggy clothes, skinny as a rake and sleep still in his eyes. I thought, what have we got here?

Not much has changed, to be honest.

Gaff was selected by West Coast with the fourth pick of the 2010 AFL draft. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

I always liked to keep an eye out for fellow Victorians, to make sure they felt at home, but more importantly to see if they were any good. I watched him closely as he got himself ready for training that day. Not much impressed me.

Out on the track we went. I thought he may get blown away by the strong wind blowing across the field that day.

But as the first whistle sounded and the footy came out, that’s when things started to change. He could run and he could kick. Off to a good start. But then the contested work began, still watching him closely, I was a little worried for his safety.

Into the midfield he ran. A hard ball was there to be won, he put his head over the footy, took it cleanly and then proceeded to get smashed by one of our inside midfielders. Shaking my head I said to myself, ‘I knew it, physicality would be the end of him’. I ran over to collect his scattered remains. Poor kid.

As I got to the bottom of the pack, I feared the worst. What would I tell his parents? He’d only been at the club for one week. As I braced myself for the worst, the last player got up, with Gaffy nowhere to be seen. I looked around to see a cheeky grin ready for the next contest. He’d bounced right up.

Gaff has grown from a scrawny 19-year-old to one of the Eagles most important playmakers in over a decade at the club. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

The training session concluded with a running session, Gaffy lead every rep and although he had a slightly laboured-looking running style, he was barely puffing at the end of it.

I knew pretty quickly Andrew Gaff was made of the right stuff.

As the years have gone on, I’ve played a lot of footy together with him. I have grown to respect him (and like him) for numerous things that only teammates would understand.

I feel at times Gaff is misunderstood. Outside player, wins a lot of the footy, skirting around the outside of packs, kick isn’t damaging and always looks laboured. Something along those lines perhaps?

Let me tell you what sort of player Andrew Gaff is.

He is the most consistent performer I have ever played with. In terms of knowing what you will get from a teammate, he is the gold standard. He rarely has a bad game.

Schofield sees Gaff as one of the most consistent performers for West Coast, and in the league. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

He is hard and tough. So many times have there been moments like the first training session I saw with him, that I feared he would be snapped in two. Times when he needed to go as a player and put himself in harm‘s way. He does it every time and always gets up.

He is an unrelenting game day runner. Not many in the game can run like Gaffy. Don’t let his awkward gait fool you, he has serious wheels. The role he has played on a wing and as an inside midfielder across his career has been so pivotal to the Eagles’ prolonged success.

The year 2018 was big for Gaff. It was one of his best seasons in terms of performance. Averaging 30 touches, he was named All-Australian and finished fifth in the clubs best-and-fairest, despite missing six games.

It was those six games he will remember though, as one of them was a grand final and premiership-win for the club.

Gaff was involved in an incident with Fremantle’s Andrew Brayshaw in Round 20 of 2018. A young Brayshaw had been sent to Gaff as a defensive tag, to quell his growing influence on the game. As the two battled for position down the far wing of Optus Stadium, they tangled and Gaff struck Brayshaw in the face, breaking his jaw.

A true moment of madness.

Despite an outstanding 2018 on the field, Gaff’s year was marred by the scrap that broke Andrew Brayshaw’s jaw. Picture: Will Russell/AFL Media/Getty Images

I was on the bench that day, as I had done my hamstring earlier in the match. Gaff came to the bench shortly after the incident and was inconsolable. I’d never seen a player like that on a football field. He was like a ghost, speaking in tongues of apology. He kept saying he was going to be sick.

I can’t speak on behalf of Gaff over that incident, but I can speak to his character and reaction.

I hold him in the highest regard of personal character, his behaviour on and off the field for the time I have known him tells me that was a moment in time he would take back 100 out of 100 times.

No one, player or not, should be defined by one moment in their lives. And Gaff will not be defined by this one.

He received eight weeks at the tribunal and paid the ultimate price as a player, missing out on a premiership with his mates.

Gaff was inconsolable on the bench following the altercation with Brayshaw. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Circulating at the time were contract negotiations and rumours he was headed to North Melbourne. His father Paul was also dealing with serious health issues. It was an extremely turbulent time for Gaff personally. He returned home to be with his family over this period.

Quite close to Gaff and his family, I stayed in regular contact throughout his time away. There was an offer on the table from North Melbourne. And it was a good one. Honestly, the easiest thing for Gaff to do at the time would have been to take the money, pack his bags and never come back to Western Australia.

But that’s not who Andrew Gaff is. He doesn’t like things the easy way, he wants to forge his own path, he wants to be his own man.

Gaff signed a contract extension with West Coast that year and here we are today.

He deserved a premiership in 2018, but so did many others. That’s just how life goes and he’s content with that.

Gaff’s legacy with the club after 250 games is the respect he’s garnered from teammates. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

I hope for his sake he finishes his career as a one-club player. Playing out his days with West Coast would mean he would likely surpass games record holders and could potentially continue to play into his mid-30s.

There is a funny thing about the question of being liked or respected that Darren Glass asked me that day. You only truly understand this when you have earnt the respect of others.

Usually people who are respected are well-liked.

Andrew Gaff has had a great career so far but most importantly, is respected by his teammates.

Originally published as Will Schofield: The Andrew Gaff training session that stunned me