Essendon supplements saga: CAS concern over why Bombers omitted to mention Thymosin injections

Essendon players have struggled to explain why they omitted to mention they had been injected with substances including Thymosin when they were questioned by drug testers during the 2012 season.

Several of the seven past and present Bombers players summoned last month to appear before the Court of Arbitration for Sport were cross-examined as to why — if they believed they were taking legitimate drugs — they neglected to mention those drugs and the injections.

Banned Essendon captain Jobe Watson was among the players to meet.Credit: Getty Images

The matter was also referred to in the closing arguments with CAS panel chairman, the British Queen's Counsel Michael Beloff, referring to the omission on a number of occasions. The three-man panel of independent arbitrators indicated they found the omissions troubling.

A number of Essendon players were asked to give urine samples by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority testers during under the AFL's drug-testing regime. While most of those players detailed other drugs they had taken such as various pain killers and other supplements, the so-called "good Thymosin'' or Thymomodulin was not mentioned — nor the repeated injections — by some players who have since stressed they believed those drugs to be legal under the rules of international sport.

Of the seven players questioned only one, Essendon captain Jobe Watson, remains at the club. The other former Bombers called to give evidence were David Hille, Mark McVeigh, Ricky Dyson, Brent Prismall, Scott Gumbleton and Corey Dell'Olio. Watson remained in Sydney after being cross-examined to follow the appeal hearing.

Uncertainty and in some cases blatant pessimism followed the hearing with several player managers confirming the 34 Essendon players charged would certainly mount legal action against the club and potentially the AFL if found guilty and suspended. Essendon, however, have repeatedly stated their confidence the players will not be suspended. All AFL parties involved remained hopeful of an outcome before Christmas.

While none of the above who gave evidence — apart from Watson — is playing at an AFL club, most remain involved and employed within the football industry and therefore still face the temporary loss of livelihoods should they be suspended. McVeigh, for example, is an assistant coach at Greater Western Sydney while Prismall has worked for the Western Bulldogs and played for their VFL affiliate Footscray.

Twelve of the 34 players facing bans remain at Essendon with the AFL currently reviewing its options should that club be hit with suspensions. The league last year made "top-up" players from second-tier competitions available to the Bombers during the pre-season competition and is expected to repeat that move if required in 2016.

Two Essendon players whose names have not been made public returned elevated levels of Thymosin Beta 4 in frozen urine samples which were retested by WADA in Germany.

While those test results were regarded as the only new evidence in the WADA appeal, the nuances surrounding the hearing in Sydney left the players significantly more pessimistic than they had been after last year's AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal hearing.

The past and present Essendon players and the AFL had remained hopeful that even if found guilty of doping violations they were unlikely to miss football games. This followed submissions from the AFL and ASADA.

However all parties remain less optimistic following the CAS hearing.