I was looking at it in terms of legal ramifications. If the best small forward in the AFL says punching (off-the-ball) is part of the game, then no one could argue in court that punching your opponent off the ball is not. He even provides a defence for Gaff - that he never intended to hit Brayshaw in the head, it was a "normal" behind play punch gone wrong.
You are right that other players take this sort of risk when they hit with a clenched fist. I'd like to see any contact with a clenched fist off-the-ball banned. It would save other players from having to put themselves in Gaff's place and also mean the next Gaff couldn't argue that it's part of the game.
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