The Giants granted McCarthy a period of indefinite leave on Friday morning to return to Perth to spend time with his family and friends, with head coach Leon Cameron suggesting the 20-year-old could not cope with the rigours of professional football.

"From my point of view, as a club and his management and with Cam, it's probably a good time just to take some time away and just check himself and understand how hard AFL football is," Cameron said.

"This game is brutal, it's a ruthless game and to be a professional AFL footballer, there are a lot of boxes you need to tick in terms of weights and training and cross training and meetings and all those sort of things.

"At times probably Cam struggled with that over the past couple of months."

McCarthy however, had publicly stated last year that he was homesick and wanted to move back to Western Australia, with Fremantle reportedly offering up their first round picks in 2015 and 2016 in a bid to secure the trade.

The Giants refused, instead offering to modify McCarthy's training regime to allow him to spend more time with his family over the summer, hoping that would appease their No.14 draft pick in 2013.

But the club could now stand to lose it all, the issue coming to a head this week with McCarthy unable to continue with the pre-season schedule.

Chief executive David Matthews refused to discuss McCarthy's homesickness, insisting they were committed to helping him overcome any issues and were never prepared to trade him last year.

"We didn't contemplate at all trading a player with the potential and talent that he's shown," Matthews said.

"He joined the club 2½ years ago, he's settled well, and he's comfortable enough to sign a contract extension to the end of 2017.

"We understand the needs and the circumstances of our players very well and there's no rush from our point of view. We just think this is an opportunity for Cam to take pressure off and just take some time away from the game.

"Our expectation would be that he gets himself in a frame of mind and feels good and wants to come back and be a professional player for the Giants."

The talented forward, who bagged 35 goals in 2015, will now have plenty of time to consider his future, with the club ready to welcome him back if he decides to see out his contract.

"From our side of things at the footy club, he's welcome back [with] open arms," Cameron said.

"The most important thing is Cam's well-being. If he can play for the Giants this year, it would be magnificent for us. He's a highly talented, respectable player of the competition. He nearly kicked 40 goals in his second year of AFL football as a key young forward. That sort of talent is pretty hard to come by."

Despite the uncertainty over McCarthy's future, Cameron was certain that the Giants were well positioned to cover his possible absence.

"Jon Patton is coming off his rehabilitation last year, James Stewart is making some really good steps in the right direction and we've also brought in a young kid called Harry Himmelberg as well as Jeremy Cameron," he said.

"We feel we're in a really good position to make sure that's not going to hold us back."

The Giants season kicks off on March 26 against the Melbourne Demons.