A SPORTS scientist who joined the Bombers in 2012 after previous involvement with NRL club Manly – where his work was universally hailed – to oversee the club's supplements program. Lasted less than a season and was officially dismissed by the club over alleged financial improprieties. Concerns over his work at Essendon and the supplements given to the players triggered the club's decision to turn to ASADA and the AFL for assistance.

 

The former rodeo rider was headhunted by the Bombers from Gold Coast as fitness coach in late 2011. Robinson was responsible for bringing Dank to the club. Known as 'The Weapon', he had the Bombers looking super-fit early in his tenure courtesy of his rigorous fitness regimen, but by the end of 2012 more than half the playing list had suffered soft-tissue injuries. Several players broke down repeatedly. Was stood down by the club earlier this year because of his links to Dank once the ASADA investigation was announced. Gave a paid interview to Channel Seven in July, slamming Hird.

 

The highest profile casualty of the Bombers' supplements scandal, the Essendon president stood down from his position on July 27 for business and personal reasons. It was Evans who back in February paved the way for both the ASADA investigation and the report by former Telstra chief Ziggy Switkowski, which was released in May and painted a "disturbing picture of a pharmacologically experimental environment" at the Bombers. Evans admitted there had been "institutional failings" at the Bombers and that there had been no clarity over roles in the football department.

 

The first big fall guy. The Essendon chief executive resigned in May, carrying the can for the lack of accountability and failure of the club's structures as highlighted in the Switkowski report. "At its most fundamental, Ziggy (Switkowski) accepted that I didn't know ... but he also made clear that I should have known," Robson said. Robson joined the Bombers in 2009, after a successful stint in the same role at Hawthorn and has just begun work as the new chief executive of the A League's Melbourne Victory.

 

Identified Essendon's need to get bigger and stronger at the end of 2011 and green-lighted the hiring of Robinson, which led to the appointment of Dank to the club. "As a coach I take full responsibility for what happens in our footy department," he said in February when the Bombers announced the ASADA investigation. Maintained ever since that the Bombers would come out well once the full investigation was completed. Charged with bringing the game into disrepute.

 

Senior assistant coach of the Bombers and a mentor to Hird, he played a large part in bringing Robinson to Essendon after their work together at Geelong. Like Hird, Thompson identified that the Bombers needed to fast-track their physical development. Has spoken several times on his weekly appearance on AFL 360 of the toll the affair has had on everyone at Essendon. Also charge with bringing the game into disrepute.

 

Another key football staffer charged. Has a background in athletics and sports science. Always a keen ally of Hird, Corcoran returned to the club once the Bomber champion was appointed coach.

 

Essendon's club doctor since 1982. He moved to the club with Kevin Sheedy after working as club doctor at Richmond between 1976-79. The highly respected doctor voiced his concern at the supplements regime in a letter to Hird and then-football operations boss Paul Hamilton in 2012. Charged for his part in the saga. Said to be on the verge of quitting the club.

 

Like his teammates, the Essendon skipper had kept quiet on the supplements issue until his explosive revelation in a TV interview in June that he had taken the anti-obesity drug AOD964 drug in 2012 – his Brownlow year - although he added that he understood that it was WADA compliant when he did so. 

 

The former Telstra CEO's report into the practices and governance at Essendon made for uncomfortable reading as it detailed where the Bombers had got things wrong. It listed 12 recommendations for the club going forward including "pioneering work with supplements and exotic treatments should be left to the Australian Sports Commission."

 

The former Bomber told The Footy Show of his concerns that the club last year requested players to sign waivers taking responsibility for supplements taken as part of the Bombers' fitness program. He said the players were told that the supplements were on the edge of what was considered legal.

 

Like Reimers, McVeigh finished with Essendon at the end of last year and initially slammed Reimers' revelations, saying the Bombers were administered with nothing more than vitamins. He didn't change his tune entirely after a four-hour grilling from ASADA in June, but did admit to be being "furious" as a result of what he was told in his interview. He said there was now a "huge doubt" over what the players were given.

 

A biomechanist and convicted drug seller with ties to Hird and Dank. There have been allegations he sold peptides to the Bombers. Gave evidence to ASADA as part of the investigation. Also known as Dr Ageless.

 

The former chairman of Toll Holdings, he assumed the presidency of the Bombers in late July following the departure of David Evans. Immediately he offered his full support of James Hird and the players and the early signs are that he will be less conciliatory than Evans in his dealings with the AFL and ASADA.