ESSENDON is focused on gaining confirmation its players will escape penalties for their part in the club's supplement saga, with the Bombers "desperate" for them to be cleared as soon as possible.
With the club and AFL obtaining ASADA's report last weekend, Bombers chairman Paul Little said there had been a lot of "midnight oil" burned reading its contents.
He said Essendon's attention is aimed squarely at making sure its players are spared any sanction.
"The immediate next steps for the Essendon Football Club in relation to the report is to obtain confirmation from the AFL that our players are cleared as a result of this report," Little told The Hangar on Wednesday night.
"We desperately want that confirmation because it goes to a number of things, not the least of which is the players and their families who are obviously concerned about outcomes from this report.
"We believe that our priority should be, and always has been, the players, so we're working very hard to make sure that confirmation one way or the other – we believe positive confirmation – will be received."
However, Little, who was announced as David Evans' replacement last week, would not guarantee the Bombers' preferred result.
"We remain confident that our players haven't done anything wrong in relation to performance-enhancing drugs, and our top priority has always been to get the players cleared so that they can focus on playing football and not be worried about the content of the report," Little said.
"So that will continue to be our No.1 priority, but at this stage I can't tell you unequivocally that that is what the outcome will be."
While ASADA's report was delivered to the League only days ago, it is an interim report and the anti-doping body said the investigation is "on-going".
Little said its "work in progress" status meant the uncertainty would continue to exist.
"From our point of view, part of the frustration that is now brought to the table with the interim nature of the report, is that we don’t know what other work is required, how long that may take, and of course the pain goes on for the club," he said.
Speculation continues to mount on the future of coach James Hird, but Little, who last week backed Hird to lead the club, directed the Essendon players and coaches to concentrate on on-field matters.
"I think the message is, to the players and the coaches, let's focus on the footy," Little said.
"To the administration and the management, we'll continue to work as hard as we can to ensure that our natural justice and our rights are being protected."
Callum Twomey is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_CalTwomey.
The views in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily of the AFL or its clubs
