The saga was referenced almost 19,000 times across print, radio, television and online media and - in a year which has included political drama in Canberra, the birth of a future English monarch and The Ashes cricket – is on track to feature in the top 10 stories of 2013.
This week's tell-all interview with former Essendon fitness boss Dean Robinson sparked the television media into a frenzy, with almost double the mentions of the next most talked-about issue – asylum seekers.
David Evans' shock resignation and the elevation of Paul Little to Essendon's chairmanship also helped propel the issue to the top of the national agenda.
"Across the course of this year the AFL drugs in sport investigation has been among the biggest Australian media issues on several occasions, but never more so than this week," iSentia's John Chalmers told AFL.com.au.
"For the issue to outnumber that of asylum seekers in garnering media mentions probably reflects the sensational nature of the story and the continuing pressure on James Hird and his club," he said.
“Between the resignation of Evans and appointment of Little, followed by the midweek comments by Robinson and the rebuttals by Hird and the club, we are seeing incredibly high volumes of coverage nationally."
iSentia, formally Media Monitors, tracks coverage of major news events in the Australian media.
The AFL drugs issue is on track to be one of the biggest stories of the year.
“With a total of 18,861 mentions across print, TV, radio and online it is likely to sit among the 20 biggest stories of 2013 in the Australian media when measured in a one-week period, and in the top ten stories for the year in total mentions across the twelve months," Chalmers said.
Matt Thompson is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter @MattThompsonAFL
