FREMANTLE skipper Nat Fyfe is holding on to hope that Harley Bennell can revive his fading AFL career but admits the troubled star is fighting for his Dockers future after another off-field indiscretion.
Bennell was last week ordered to train at WAFL alignment club Peel Thunder for at least eight weeks and fined $15,000 (with $5000 suspended) for being involved in a nightclub scuffle and drinking an excessive amount of alcohol the day before a training session, which he missed.
It was the latest in a string of controversial incidents littering the injury-plagued 25-year-old's chequered football career, and Fyfe declared that Bennell – entering the final season of his three-year contract – had his future in his hands.
"Initially, it's disappointing for Harley, it's disappointing for our club, and as a player and leader's standpoint we're here to support Harley," Fyfe said.
"We want to see him back playing for our footy club, but he's acted his way out at the moment and he'll go away and really fight for his career."
Fyfe spoke briefly to Bennell before he was banished but has had no communication with him since.
Speaking on Wednesday, he stopped short of declaring the former Sun was on his last chance.
"I think it's been outlined already that he just needs to get himself physically and mentally in a space to be able to come back and perform," Fyfe said.
"He's got some challenges with his body and the guys here at the club are here to support him.
"We hopefully want to see him back playing in Fremantle colours."
Bennell, who has only played two matches for Fremantle since he was traded by Gold Coast at the end of 2015, must consistently meet the club's expectations over the next two months before rejoining the Dockers' training program.
The earliest the talented midfielder could return to the club is the week leading up to Fremantle's second JLT Community Series clash against West Coast on March 11.
Bennell aside, the Dockers have dealt with several other off-field issues over the past 12 months, and handed club suspensions to youngsters Connor Blakely, Luke Ryan and Brennan Cox last year.
However, second-year captain Fyfe denied Fremantle has a culture problem or that he was getting fed up with the incidents.
"Not really frustrated. We're a young group, and compared to the rest of the society the indiscretions of some of the players are extremely minor," he said.
"All of the guys that have had small indiscretions have really gone on and learnt and we want them to become leaders at our footy club.
"Not frustrating, just part and parcel of the process."