With a wealth of experience unavailable, many thought when the rampaging Suns hit the lead in the last quarter, after trailing by 35 points at three-quarter time, that the young Eagles side would buckle under the pressure and relinquish the four points to the visitors.
But two late contested marks to Jeremy McGovern and Scott Lycett in the dying minutes saved the Eagles from a crushing defeat.
Gaff told Eagle Eye TV after the game he was impressed by the resilience shown by the young players.
“It shows the growth in the squad,” said Gaff.
“Those guys probably wouldn’t have done that last year, and it shows you how far they’ve come as individuals and players and that makes us a better team.
“It just happened so quickly, normally when you’re six goals up at three quarter time you just bank those points.
“They got away from us very quickly and that cut the deficit and got in front half way through the quarter.
“Credit to the boys, we coughed one up against Carlton, and we’ve been working on those type of situations at training and we were able to eventually scrape over the line which was pleasing.”
VIDEO: Watch the full match highlights here.
