TROUBLED Fremantle youngster Josh Simpson will take an indefinite leave of absence from football, effective immediately.
The Dockers announced on their website on Wednesday afternoon that Simpson is set to undertake a personal development program designed to address both personal and professional matters outside of football.
The program outlined for the 20-year-old includes guidelines and protocols that he must strictly adhere to. It will be overseen by the club with input from the AFL Players' Association and Simpson's management, as well as external counsellors and experts.
Simpson will not train or play at any level while undertaking the program, and there is no timeframe given for his leave of absence.
The decision comes after the club has twice fined Simpson undisclosed amounts in 2014 for failing to meet club requirements. One of those incidents was made public in round five when Simpson decided not to fly to Sydney with the Dockers team despite being initially picked as the travelling emergency.
Fremantle's general manager of football operations Chris Bond outlined the reasons for Simpson's indefinite leave of absence on the club's website.
"Although Josh has been endeavouring to deal with some personal and professional matters, he has not been able to consistently demonstrate the behaviour required of a player at this club," Bond said.
"We believe that it is in Josh's best interests – both personal and professional – that his strong focus be on undertaking and successfully completing the program rather than meeting playing or training commitments during this time.
"Consequently, Josh will not train or play with the club during his leave of absence but instead focus on his personal development program and benefit from the structure, supervision and support it is designed to provide."
Simpson has played just two matches in his short career at Fremantle since being selected with pick No. 17 in the 2012 NAB AFL Draft.
