The AFL comeback of prized Dockers recruit Harley Bennell in 2018 is in serious doubt after the 25-year-old suffered another calf strain at a training session with Peel Thunder.
Bennell had a scan yesterday with a subsequent report confirming a grade one tear in an area of his left calf, leaving him in serious doubt for Fremantle's opening stanza of the new football season.
Fremantle said Bennell's latest setback was unrelated to previous calf injuries the troubled midfielder has struggled to overcome since debuting for the Gold Coast in 2011.
Bennell will undertake a 21-day recovery program and continue to train with Peel while carrying the minor calf strain.
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The Dockers signed the high-profile recruit to much fanfare, despite his recurring issues, during the 2015 trade period, before Bennell injured his calf in Peel's first match of 2016 and subsequently missed the entire season for Fremantle.
He made a long-awaited return to AFL action for the Dockers in round 22 last year against eventual premiers Richmond, thrilling Freo fans with two first-term goals.
But the WA product, who was recruited from Peel by the Gold Coast, was recently banished to his original WAFL club after an incident at a Fremantle bar last month, one of many indiscretions off the field that have also hindered his career.
In April, he was ejected from a Gold Coast-bound flight before it departed because he was intoxicated.
The club also ordered him to undergo counselling and fined him $10,000 - half of which was suspended - after bizarre behaviour while watching a WAFL game in 2017.
Bennell interrupted the three-quarter-time huddle of a match involving the Dockers' WAFL-affiliate Peel Thunder to speak to his cousin Traye Bennell.
In May 2015, the Suns dropped Bennell from their team after he drank alcohol after a game, breaking a team rule.
And in July 2015, pictures of Bennell allegedly preparing to snort an illicit substance were published.
The Suns traded Bennell after he was involved in a drunken altercation in September 2015 on the Gold Coast.
