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Star West Coast midfielder Andrew Gaff says he misses Willie Rioli and is holding out hope of playing with the premiership goalsneak again. Rioli is facing a ban of up to four years for alleged urine substitution during a regulation doping test in 2019. The matter was finally heard in December, with a decision expected to arrive later this month. A ban of 18 months or less would mean Rioli could play from round one this season given he has been provisionally suspended since September, 2019. But a suspension of three or four years could spell the end of what was building to be a splendid career. "Hopefully the result comes pretty quickly," Gaff said. "We don't know how long - if at all - we'll have Willie. We miss him as a player and love him as a person. "I might take a little bit of the slack with those guys so they can have maybe one or two rotations a quarter. "But I still need to go off as well, especially when you've got a 30-degree day in Perth on a Saturday afternoon. It's not the easiest thing in the world. "It might vary from week to week. I found the night games you can stay out there a little bit longer." Gaff said Yeo (osteitis pubis) was making good progress, but the star midfielder is no certainty to be fit for round one.
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