Fremantle coach Ross Lyon says out-of-favour veteran Danyle Pearce was left somewhat scarred after becoming a "whipping boy" amongst football fans.
Pearce will be delisted by Fremantle at season's end, and wasn't selected for an AFL farewell in Saturday's clash with Collingwood at Optus Stadium.
The 32-year-old enjoyed a strong start to his Dockers career after crossing from Port Adelaide at the end of 2012.
But Fremantle fans have turned on the 258-game veteran in recent years, with his unreliable kicking drawing the biggest criticism.
Pearce has played only three games this year - the last of which was in the round 10 loss to North Melbourne when he tallied just 13 disposals.
He played just seven games last year after falling victim to the club's rebuild.
Lyon is a fan of giving farewell games to veteran players, with retiring defender Michael Johnson afforded the chance to play against the Magpies.
But Pearce hasn't been given the same opportunity.
Lyon said rumours that Pearce was unhappy were off the mark.
"Some people are a bit more embarrassed by it (a farewell game)," Lyon said.
"What happens is when he played, he became a whipping boy pretty quick. There's no doubt that hurt him. They are human, the players.
"He heard all the criticism. I'm sort of impervious to it because I've been in the game for 30 years.
"But when you've got kids, and they go to school, and you've got a lot of pride and you've been at a high level, you're not impervious to it.
"There's no doubt he's been scarred by that. He's balanced that up, 'Do I need all that headache, or do I just keep enjoying myself (at Peel Thunder)'.
"I've heard all the rumours (like) he's disgusted. It's all garbage."
Fremantle lost to Geelong by 133 points last week, but have been boosted by the returns of Stephen Hill and Joel Hamling.
However, star forward Michael Walters was ruled out through injury.
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