Champion West Coast Eagles wingman Andrew Gaff today informed teammates that he will not continue his distinguished career into a 15th season.

Gaff, a veteran of 278 senior matches, has been an outstanding servant of the club since being drafted with selection No.4 in the 2010 draft.

While he has featured in just three senior games in 2024, he has played a selfless role in guiding the next generation of youngsters who will take the club forward.

The 2015 Club Champion, 2016 player of the finals and two-time All-Australian (2015, 2018) was a remarkably consistent contributor across his career with a minute variance between his best and anything short of that benchmark.

He is the all-time leading disposal winner for the club (7158) and his work rate and ability to link up the play at both Subiaco and Optus Stadium was a feature of his game.

Gaff is currently sitting on 298 AFL games as under the qualification guidelines official AFL pre-season matches are taken into account, along with representative games. Gaff played 18 pre-season games, one game for Victoria and one International Rules game against Ireland.

The club intends for Gaff to play against North Melbourne in Hobart on Saturday and to then play a farewell game in front of the Eagles faithful against Carlton at Optus Stadium in round 23 (Sunday, August 18) to enable him to reach and become eligible for AFL life membership, where the requirement is to play a total of 300 matches. It is a feat Jack Darling achieved earlier this season.

That will mean the curtain will fall on Gaff’s career after 280 games for the West Coast Eagles, placing him fourth on the all-time games played list behind Shannon Hurn (333), Jack Darling (*295) and Dean Cox (290).

Gaff said he had forged lasting relationships within the club and that he hoped fans saw him as player who gave everything of himself to the cause.

“Friendships, relationships are going to stick with me, not just now but for many years beyond and for the rest of my life,“ he said.

“I hope fans saw someone that gave their absolute all when out there. I definitely walked off the ground pretty tired and pretty sore.

“I prided myself on how hard I worked and how much effort I gave. Hopefully the fans could see something similar.

“It hasn’t been an amazing year but I have learnt a lot about myself as a person away from Andrew Gaff the footballer. A bit of perspective with my little boy arriving in the world in the middle of the year.

“That has been amazing for me and I’m looking forward to my priorities shifting to dedicating all my time, effort, energy and love into my young family.”

Gavin Bell, General Manager Football, acknowledged the broad impact the 32-year-old has had across the whole club throughout his stellar career. 

"Andrew has been an amazing contributor to our club for a decade and a half and we will take the opportunity to appropriately acknowledge him in the next two weeks," Bell said.

"It will be sad to see one of our great players end his career, but Andrew leaves a lasting legacy. He is highly respected across the football club, not just within the playing group and the football department.

"Importantly our members and fans on both the east coast and in Perth will get the opportunity to farewell him in the next two weeks. There will be a large contingent of Melbourne-based members and supporters in Hobart and we’re hoping for close to a full house for our last home against Carlton." 

When Gaff arrived in 2010 he was presented with the No.3 guernsey – worn with distinction by two club greats before him, Chris Mainwaring and Chris Judd. He maintained those remarkable standards throughout his career, adding significantly to the history of the jumper.