FREMANTLE midfielder Andrew Brayshaw will not play again this season and will not be able to eat solid food for a month following surgery on his jaw as a result of the off-the-ball punch delivered by Eagle Andrew Gaff.

The Dockers have been left seething by the Gaff hit, with Brayshaw – pick No.2 in last year's NAB AFL Draft – having an operation to repair his broken jaw and have three displaced lower teeth put back in place and splinted.

Brayshaw is now recovering at home with his parents Debra and Mark, Fremantle said in a statement.

I’d just like to thank everyone so much for their ongoing support over the last 24 hours. I truly appreciate each and every message that I’ve received and it’s helping keep a smile on my dial

A post shared by Andy Brayshaw (@andy.brayshaw) on Aug 5, 2018 at 11:05pm PDT

Dockers coach Ross Lyon was emotional during his post-match press conference on Sunday, describing the scenes in the rooms as Brayshaw's mother broke down in tears.

Gaff's off-the-ball strike will almost certainly see match review officer Michael Christian refer the incident straight to the Tribunal.

In an interview with host broadcaster Fox Footy after the match, the star Eagle said he "felt sick" at what he had done to Brayshaw.

ANALYSIS Tribunal could end Gaff's season

Melbourne co-captain Nathan Jones said teammate Angus Brayshaw, Andrew's older brother, was left "rattled" by the hit.

"I think (Angus is) a little bit rattled. He's going to pop over today and do some recovery and I'll have a chat to him," Jones said on SEN on Monday.

"I think obviously he felt like his hands were tied. I think all of his family was over there in Perth and it's a little bit of a weird situation with (brother) Hamish (Brayshaw) playing at West Coast as well and I think being close friends with Gaff as well.

"It's not something you want to see and obviously Angus is just feeling for his younger brother and hoping he's going to be OK, but it's definitely not something we want to see too often."

SIMMO UNSURE Coach not certain strike was intentional

Demon Tomas Bugg received a six-game sanction for knocking out Swan Callum Mills when the teams met at the MCG in round 15 last season.

Lyon compared Gaff's strike to Barry Hall's hit on West Coast's Brent Staker in round four, 2008, which saw the Swans forward given a seven-match ban.

Christian will hand out his verdict when the MRO findings are released later on Monday.