Prominent human rights lawyer Julian Burnside QC accused the league of bullying tactics in the Essendon supplements scandal.
It is clear that Hird and Essendon on one side, and the AFL on the other, have backed down substantially from last Wednesday, when the two sides appeared to be at loggerheads.
But the Supreme Court writ that Hird filed against the League on Thursday remains alive.
And Burnside made it clear on Sunday that whatever comes out of the Commission meeting, he has been unimpressed with the League's conduct.
"The AFL's bullying tactics seem to be the standard in Australia now," Burnside told reporters in Adelaide.
"The AFL seems to think it's OK to bully a bunch of individuals and a club without letting them have a fair hearing.
"I think the AFL's conduct has been scandalous."
It remains to be seen whether Hird's writ will delay the resolution of the AFL charges, with backroom negotiations continuing throughout the weekend.
But following comments by Hird and Essendon chairman Paul Little at Saturday night's win over Carlton, there is widespread speculation the matter will come to a head at the Commission meeting on Monday.
It has been widely reported that Essendon could be stripped of its premiership points - the first time in AFL history that a team has been barred from the finals.
It would mean next Saturday night's game against Richmond becomes a dead rubber.
It has also been reported the AFL could ban Hird for up to one year, dock the club draft picks and slap the Bombers with a massive fine.
Essendon and Hird now concede they face punishment, but the main sticking point has been their refusal to accept any suggestion that they are drug cheats.
The Bombers have been under Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) and AFL investigation since February 5 over the club's 2011-12 supplements program.
The ASADA investigation is ongoing and earlier this month they provided the AFL with a 400-page interim report.
Acting on that report, the League charged Essendon, Hird, club doctor Bruce Reid, Bombers football manager Danny Corcoran and senior assistant coach Mark Thompson with offences relating to conduct unbecoming and bringing the game into disrepute.
After negotiations to avoid court action effectively broke down last week, the League released a 34-page document on Wednesday that went into the charges in much greater detail.
A couple of hours later, Little and Hird made strongly-worded statements to the media that made it clear they would defend the charges vigorously.
But by Saturday night, Little was saying before the Carlton game that the club wanted Hird to return as coach if the AFL suspended him.
Soon after the stirring six-point win over the Blues, Hird made one of the most significant gestures of the whole saga at his post-match media conference.
When a club media spokesman tried to end the media conference, Hird said he was prepared to keep answering questions.
Asked if he would accept a suspension, Hird said: "First of all I want to prove I'm innocent of a lot, or 99 per cent, of those charges.
"I look at those charges and they make me sick that they're out there and that people would believe that is the truth about me.
"I'm determined to clear that up.
"Then we'll go from there about suspension or not suspension."
