Durable wingman Andrew Gaff moved within reach of exalted West Coast Eagles company when he finished runner-up to Nic Naitanui in the 2020 John Worsfold Medal.

While he might have been disappointed to run second, beaten at the post by the imposing and athletic Naitanui, the midfield running machine further enhanced his reputation as one of the highest achievers in the 34-year history of the club.

Gaff led the count at the end of the qualifying rounds by thee votes – 182-179 – but Naitanui catapulted to his first Club Champion Award victory when he polled a maximum 15 votes in the agonising one-point elimination final loss to Collingwood.

Under the voting system in the fairest and best, five members of the coaching staff – Adam Simpson, Daniel Pratt, Jaymie Graham, Nathan van Berlo and Luke Webster – rate the performance of each player on a scale of 0-3 – meaning an outstanding effort would net a maximum of 15 votes.

Gaff was also a strong contributor in the Magpies heart-breaker, polling 10 votes to fall two points short of adding a second Worsfold Medal to the one he collected in 2015.

The  major  prize  may  have  eluded  him,  but the consistency of his game by game performances has also been reflected in his season ratings over the last decade, building a resume that puts him in the highest echelon of West Coast players.

By earning runner-up status, he has finished in the top five in the award seven times in the last nine years and nine times in succession he has placed in the top 10 – his lowest finish in that period was eighth in 2013.

To put that into context only three players have finished more often in the top five – champion defender Guy McKenna (Club Champion in 1989 and 1999) and Brownlow medallists Ben Cousins (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005) and Matt Priddis (2013). They all achieved the distinction eight times.

Remarkably, Priddis finished in the top 10 on 11 successive occasions between 2007 and 2017.

Gaff drew level with highly decorated ruckman Dean Cox (2008 Club Champion), who also boasted seven appearances in the top five, and went past Glen Jakovich (1993, 1994, 1995, 2000), Darren Glass (2007, 2009, 2011) and premiership captain Shannon Hurn, who all have six finishes within the top five.

Having signed a four-year contract extension towards the end of the 2020 season, it would be a brave punter to bet against the indefatigable Gaff enhancing both his record and standing amongst that elite group.

As his position would indicate, Gaff was again outstanding despite revised playing conditions that could have eroded his greatest strength.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recognition from the outset from the law makers that there was the potential to cram games into a tighter time frame, matches were reduced to 16 minutes of playing time in each quarter, plus time on.

Gaff is a player whose unparalleled running capacity is his biggest asset and those who try to shadow him generally fall away deep into a term when their legs go to jelly and their lungs burn. Shorter quarters had the potential to diminish his influence. They didn’t.

Neither did a compressed fixture that saw the Eagles play five games in 19 days in their second stint in the hub.

It was in that period, between rounds 13 and 17, that West Coast faced an unprecedented test of their resilience and unsurprisingly injuries to key players hit regularly – and hard.

The midfield was particularly decimated, losing Elliot Yeo to a groin injury for the last eight rounds, while Luke Shuey was twice sidelined by  hamstring  injuries,   Dom   Sheed   missed a game with a similar injury, Jack Redden needed thumb surgery and Mark Hutchings also succumbed to a soft tissue problem.

But Gaff was the glue that held the midfield together. In the round 17 win against St  Kilda, he and Tim Kelly were the only senior midfielders in the line-up, but the Eagles endured in a remarkable victory.

That was one of several games when Gaff played 100 per cent of game time.

“I was relatively consistent,” Gaff appraised modestly.

“It was difficult playing off four and five day breaks, but I was happy to play all of those games and to play at a reasonable level was pleasing. It was just good to see the young guys stand up in some games, particularly the St Kilda game.

“The Bulldogs game, we ended up losing, but that period was beneficial for those guys, and also for me. You  take  a  few  leaders  out of the team and you take on a bit more responsibility and that’s going to hold me in good stead.

“But also guys like Liam Duggan who played a bit through the midfield and Jake Waterman, it’s going to work wonders for them moving into 2021.”

While Gaff did all that he could to propel the Eagles deep into finals, driving standards with Naitanui and Brad Sheppard, who also missed out on the 2018 flag, the overriding emotion when reviewing the year was disappointment.

Even taking into account the compressed fixture, relocating to a Queensland hub  twice – including a four-day turnaround between a Sunday victory over GWS in Perth and a showdown with Richmond at Metricon Stadium – he felt it was an opportunity missed.

“It’s been tough,” he said in the days after the one-point loss to the Magpies.

“There has been a lot of think time (because of quarantine regulations).

“It probably hurts a little more, just percentage out of the top four and then all of a sudden we’re out in the first week of finals and I feel we are a lot better than that.
 
“We need to focus on a few things, improve in a few areas as individuals and as a team and we’ll come back bigger and better.

“On paper we have one of the strongest teams running around in the comp.  We’ve got a really good blend of older guys, mid-tier guys and younger guys who are forging their own paths, so we have plenty of scope for improvement.

“But you need your leaders to be playing well and that’s the same at every club. We will go in with plenty of confidence in 2021, we just need to tinker with a few things.

“We have missed the top four by percentage in the last two years and in other seasons things can fall your way and it’s a lot different. But to compete with the best teams you always need to adapt.”