Jeff Farmer's AFL career is hanging by a thread after the Fremantle goalsneak missed a club session last week and was stood down for this Sunday's clash with Essendon.

Farmer was a no-show at the Dockers' compulsory recovery session in Melbourne last Saturday following the club's eight-point loss to St Kilda the night before.

It is unclear why Farmer missed the session.

A club spokesman said that as it stands, Farmer's penalty is just the one-match ban.

The latest indiscretion could not come at a worse time for Farmer, who turned 31 on Tuesday.

He is in the final year of his contract and fighting to prove he is worth retaining beyond this season.

Just three weeks ago Fremantle coach Mark Harvey publicly warned the mercurial forward that he must prove his value to the team in the second half of the season for a new deal to be penned.

But Farmer's latest stunt could prove to be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Last year Farmer was suspended and fined $5,000 by the club after he punched a security guard at a Perth nightclub.

Later that year he was charged with and pleaded guilty to criminal damage for smashing a car's side mirror after being ejected from Perth's Burswood Casino.

Farmer has played 242 games and booted 479 goals since making his debut for Melbourne in 1995.

He has played all 13 games this year for the struggling Dockers, who have won just two games.

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