Western Bulldogs star Bailey Smith had been granted a period of indefinite leave away from the AFL.
The 21-year-old's decision to stay away from the club and train remotely was confirmed by Western Bulldogs head of football Chris Grant on Friday, via the Herald Sun.
Grant revealed the club were supporting of Smith's decision and would allow him as much as he needs before the midfielder returned to Whitten Oval.
"We remain in close contact with Bailey, and we respect and understand his need to spend some time away from the club at the moment," Grant told the Herald Sun.
"With such a short training block before the Christmas break for the AFL squad; we are comfortable to afford Bailey the time he needs.
"We’ll support him throughout, and he’ll return when he is ready.
"Bailey has maintained an extremely high level of physical conditioning throughout his entire career, and we’re looking forward to reintegrating him into the program at the appropriate time."
Smith was selected by the Bulldogs with pick seven in the 2018 AFL draft and has become a star of the competition in his 66 games since.
The midfielder was a key driver for the Bulldogs through the recent AFL finals series, with two match-winning performances against Brisbane and Port Adelaide helping his team into the 2021 grand final.
Following defeat to Melbourne in the season decider, Smith was subject to a police investigation after an incident at a Gold Coast pub in early October.
Police confirmed a 22-year-old man had lodged a formal complaint after an alleged altercation with Smith in Burleigh Heads on October 4.
It was alleged that Smith pushed the man outside of the Burleigh Pavilion, with the man attending hospital for treatment after.
However, nothing eventuated from the allegations.
Smith has become the most followed AFL footballer on Instagram with more than 355,000 followers.
