Gaff and Shuey

[Winky]

Ridiculously harsh on Gaff - he’s turned into a bigger punching bag than Andy Brayshaw’s glass jaw this year.

Go back and watch his delivery into the forward line on the weekend - when given the opportunity to actually play in his best role, he is still a contributor and we are a better team with him out there.

Shuey has no consistent base of fitness or form due to his continual injuries. He’s harder to gauge but again, he was improved again against Richmond. That all said, he’s 32. He’s probably going to go around again next year but another mid term injury could happen at any moment and end it all.

nah…Gaff is a very average footballer at best. He is slow, not a very good kick but does add some value as a player who runs and provides an option for players under pressure. This alone does not warrant the dollars he gets and I have to say I would rather give others a go and see if they can develop as players for the future than persevere with someone that other teams don’t even try to limit as he does very little damage.

 

[kaiserchief13]

And Peter Matera hasn't played a good game in 20 years. Overrated.

Gaff's best days are well past him but he was very, very good at his best.

Was he? What were his strengths?

 

[Avalor]

And 6PR commentators were talking him up for having a great game. Couldn't watch the game, but I was convinced early days 2022 that he is done.

 

[Ochre]

Was he? What were his strengths?

Well Matera was before my time, but as I understand it, he was quick, used it well and hit the scoreboard.

 

[Winky]

I think the game has passed Gaff by.

For a wingman now you’d want someone who has more leg speed like a Langdon, or contributes more on the scoreboard.

Gaff does neither. He can hit up a lead when he has time and space, big whoop. Time to move on.

Time after time we get killed on transition, we can’t retain players who are defensive liabilities.

Not our Langdon surely

 

[kaiserchief13]

Well Matera was before my time, but as I understand it, he was quick, used it well and hit the scoreboard.

Gaff i was referring to. Gaff has always been a fit player who runs all day (fit doesn't mean fast) but even at his best what did he do?

 

[Winky]

Well Matera was before my time, but as I understand it, he was quick, used it well and hit the scoreboard.

And he got his own ball. Brilliant on picking the ball up and just running out of the packs

 

[wedgetail]

There are more than just Shuey and Gaff that are at the crossroads. At some point this club needs to realise that these guys aren't in the 5 year plan anymore and pull the bandaid off, hair and all.

We desperately need some dash and dare through the midfield but it's locked shut with 30 year olds with gammy hips who are still looking sideways for the easy out like it's 2018 and no one has worked that out already.

 

[wedgetail]

Gaff i was referring to. Gaff has always been a fit player who runs all day (fit doesn't mean fast) but even at his best what did he do?

Gaff is one of those guys that the stat sheet suggests had 35 touches but you can't remember a single one of them. Always presenting, rarely turns deadly.

 

[kaiserchief13]

Gaff is one of those guys that the stat sheet suggests had 35 touches but you can't remember a single one of them. Always presenting, rarely turns deadly.

For an outside player is that acceptable though? Surely an outside player needs to have some speed? Maybe 5-10 years ago they didn't need to be fast but the games changed

 

[WCErevival]

And Peter Matera hasn't played a good game in 20 years. Overrated.

Gaff's best days are well past him but he was very, very good at his best.

That's where I disagree. Gaff was a good player just not a great player IMO. At his best he was a durable, consistent, high accumulating wingman with little hurt factor. Kind of a rich mans Masten or Braun.

 

[HoneyBadger35]

For an outside player is that acceptable though? Surely an outside player needs to have some speed? Maybe 5-10 years ago they didn't need to be fast but the games changed

I suppose that’s the salient point of it all.

Gaff killed teams with his endless tank, and would always offer us an outlet from half back. His kicking had much more punch back in the day. He rarely had some passage of play that made you go “holy s**t”, but he added three or four passages per game that you could see had the opposition shaking their heads exhausted trying to stop him from moving the ball up field with ease.

He was never quick, but now the game has sped up and his legs are going at the same time. Shocking combination.

I think people undersell how pivotal he was to our system at his best. I’m also now firmly in the camp of unfortunately this boy is simply cooked.

 

[KERRPOW]

Gaff is one of those guys that the stat sheet suggests had 35 touches but you can't remember a single one of them. Always presenting, rarely turns deadly.

Not true. I remember 1 out on the full and 5 to teammates under pressure

 

[Cornelius Roy]

I will reserve my judgment on Gaff until seasons end as I am hoping that his days on the inside are now well and truely over.

Agree his production has declined.
Agree he looks slower.

However I have suspected that he is not a 100% right and that he has been carrying an injury all season.

I also think that the wear and tear on him and his body, the last few seasons, asking him to play the inside role have been detrimental to his game style and impacted his body in a harmful manner.

He is and always was- an outside midfielder and to have tried to turn him into an inside extractor has had a negative impact on his production.

In short IMO he has been played out of position to his detriment.

Respectfully, I somewhat disagree with this paragraph of your post.

Even attending CBD gaff has never played like an inside extractor. He was either the first tap down from Nic or, more commonly, the sweeper out the back who’s receive handball from the player who received Nics tap down to run on for the free kick. If either of these things didn’t happen he was largely a liability who didn’t really offer anything defensively in stopping the opposition ball carrier or winning the ball back so I never really saw occasions where it looked like he was accumulated injuries like say a Patrick Cripps.

I say somewhat because of course playing CBD there will be a few more knocks than playing free and loose unaccountable wing. However I think he’s got to accept that as our midfield declines the chances he’ll need to compete, wherever he plays, will increase from our glory days when he could play completely loose and be fed from our midfield. If his body isn’t up to this, which I don’t think it is now because he has lost the pace he once had, the he just isn’t up to being the elite player he is being paid to be.

I think gaff still has a place in the team in 2023 but that’s because I accept where we are as a team. His place in the team now is to act as a barrier. He’s still a smart player who knows where to run, just gets there slower so he’ll still get his 25 possessions a game are varying impact. Here’s a perfect chance for a player to prove that they deserve his spot. Chesser, you want to play afl? Go rack up 25-30 possessions in the WAFL and put the pressure on to take his spot, if you earn it, you’ll get it.

Obviously for this to be effective we need players performing like that and also the match committee to be open to dropping gaff when/if this occurs which remains to be seen.

In 2023 I’d like to see more pressure on positions from the WAFL from our youth and more accountability for poor performances at AFL level. Hopefully we get that chance with a decent run on injuries.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

I think gaff still has a place in the team in 2023 but that’s because I accept where we are as a team. His place in the team now is to act as a barrier. He’s still a smart player who knows where to run, just gets there slower so he’ll still get his 25 possessions a game are varying impact. Here’s a perfect chance for a player to prove that they deserve his spot. Chesser, you want to play afl? Go rack up 25-30 possessions in the WAFL and put the pressure on to take his spot, if you earn it, you’ll get it.

The problem with this role for Gaff is the salary he is commanding. He’d be on big money and offers very little.

His contract should be renegotiated or he should be moved on via a cheap trade.

 

[Godfather32]

Not true. I remember 1 out on the full and 5 to teammates under pressure

That handball to Hurn because he can't kick on his right foot...

 

[Ochre]

The problem with this role for Gaff is the salary he is commanding. He’d be on big money and offers very little.

His contract should be renegotiated or he should be moved on via a cheap trade.

We can probably afford to swallow the contract at the moment though. I'd be more interested in trading him but still paying most of his salary to see if we can get a decent pick out of it, rather than dumping him for nothing.

 

[Godfather32]

The problem with this role for Gaff is the salary he is commanding. He’d be on big money and offers very little.

His contract should be renegotiated or he should be moved on via a cheap trade.

He also doesn't suit our new game plan, the exact opposite to the kind of wingmen we need

 

[Godfather32]

We can probably afford to swallow the contract at the moment though. I'd be more interested in trading him but still paying most of his salary to see if we can get a decent pick out of it, rather than dumping him for nothing.

Nah mate, salary cap is stuffed until 2025

 

[Cornelius Roy]

Gaff killed teams with his endless tank, and would always offer us an outlet from half back. His kicking had much more punch back in the day. He rarely had some passage of play that made you go “holy s**t”, but he added three or four passages per game that you could see had the opposition shaking their heads exhausted trying to stop him from moving the ball up field with ease.

He was never quick, but now the game has sped up and his legs are going at the same time. Shocking combination.

I think people undersell how pivotal he was to our system at his best. I’m also now firmly in the camp of unfortunately this boy is simply cooked.

Being SA based I don’t get a lot of chances to see him but I have been lucky enough to see him at his best a few times and it was a completely different kettle of fish watching him live to on tv.

He’d pass a ball for the half back line to a player on the wing and then gut run to the half forward line to get the next receive forward of who he just kicked it to while others were standing around pointing.

His work rate was phenomenal and he provided forward ball movement when there otherwise wouldn’t have been any.

 

[HoneyBadger35]

Being SA based I don’t get a lot of chances to see him but I have been lucky enough to see him at his best a few times and it was a completely different kettle of fish watching him live to on tv.

He’d pass a ball for the half back line to a player on the wing and then gut run to the half forward line to get the next receive forward of who he just kicked it to while others were standing around pointing.

His work rate was phenomenal and he provided forward ball movement when there otherwise wouldn’t have been.

Yep, he needed to be seen live. Not for the spectacle, like Judd at his peak, but to understand just what it was that broke the willpower and dropped the heads of his opponents (with apologies to Andrew Brayshaw there).

Nowadays watching him live you just see someone who cant get to those spots anymore, and isn’t comfortable on the ball. Blind kicks around the corner or short handballs because he can’t get onto his left outweigh the old school Gaff kicking 10-1 nowadays. It’s over. If we could eat his salary and con a late pick out of a contender who thinks they could fix him, I’d do it gladly.

 

[Cornelius Roy]

The problem with this role for Gaff is the salary he is commanding. He’d be on big money and offers very little.

His contract should be renegotiated or he should be moved on via a cheap trade.

Can’t disagree with this.

With that said we still have to pay a minimum salary cap each year and we’re not struggling to retain players on the way out or trying to attract a big fish in the next year or two.

Just need to pay him. Pay that man his myoney.

 

[Goroyals22]

The problem with this role for Gaff is the salary he is commanding. He’d be on big money and offers very little.

His contract should be renegotiated or he should be moved on via a cheap trade.

He is the exact player you say you have two options. One play wafl the full year and you will only get picked if we are injury decimated or if you believe you should be playing afl you can find a club we can move you to and we will get the trade done.. he has been paid good money the last few years for bugger all output positive.

 

[eagles rule]

Great servants of the club but obviously the form has fallen away ..

Gaff needs 4 games to reach the 250 games milestone ..
Shuey on 231 games ..

 

[Bort Cummings]

For those at games (I’m in NSW) - is Gaff actually playing more on the outside now? I think I remember reading his CBAs were down last week.

I also wonder how much of his issues are down to our bizzaro tactics earlier in the year, when we had him in the guts and the 193 cm tackling machine we drafted from the WAFL guarding space on a wing. We were setting him up to fail getting smashed on the inside. I hope it’s a confidence/fitness thing, like Yeo before we shifted him back, not something more permanent. I looked up his draft profile tonight, and he’s pretty much played his career with the exact same strengths and weaknesses he had at 17 - if his running capacity’s gone for good, we lose any net gain he gives against his lack of physical pressure.