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To fight or not to fight: Sharks fly, Bombers dive

Two clubs from rival football codes were thrust into turmoil during 2013 after being investigated by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA).

One, NRL side Cronulla, ‘played ball’ with authorities and have come out the other side challenging for a premiership, while the other, AFL club Essendon, fought the law.

So far, if the results are anything to go by, the law is winning.

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Both clubs were suspected of administering peptide supplements to their players under programs run by controversial sports scientist Stephen Dank.

Essendon coach James Hird and Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan were both banned for a year, missing their respective sides’ entire 2014 campaigns, and the clubs were fined heavily.

Sharks skipper Paul Gallen wasn't happy about taking his suspension, but he seems to have put the affair behind him. Photo: Getty

Sharks skipper Paul Gallen wasn’t happy about taking his suspension, but he seems to have put the affair behind him. Photo: Getty

A clutch of Sharks players accepted token suspensions towards the end of last season.

Against the odds, the Bombers reached the 2014 finals under caretaker-coach Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson as Hird and the players maintained their innocence throughout the ASADA saga, the club backing them to the hilt.

Meanwhile, the Sharks – beset by several other disruptions and instability – finished last for the first time since 1969 after the club copped the punishments sweet (although the players were reportedly upset at serving the bans, which effectively labelled them drug cheats).

Fast forward to the home stretch of 2015 in their respective leagues, and the fortunes of the Bombers and the Sharks, who approached the controversy in very different ways, have been reversed and are as disparate as they were last year.

Co-operative Cronulla rode out the short-term (albeit excruciating) pain of last year and is the NRL’s form team with four rounds remaining, with a maiden premiership in its sights.

Essendon, combative and defiant throughout the upheaval, are languishing in 15th with just five wins on the board from 18 outings.

The Sharks undoubtedly hit their lowest ebb in 2014 (and there have been many in a tumultuous, title-less 49 seasons), rocked by the sacking of star playmaker Todd Carney after yet another off-field atrocity and caretaker-coach Peter Sharp’s subsequent decision to step down.

Essendon captain Jobe Watson is still dealing with the ASADA fallout. Photo: Getty

Essendon captain Jobe Watson is still dealing with the ASADA fallout. Photo: Getty

Their 5-19 record saw them collect the wooden spoon, while the campaign finished with a group of players – headlined by captain and club legend Paul Gallen – reluctantly pleading guilty to using a banned substance and accepting a slap-on-the-wrist-with-a-feather: reduced and backdated bans.

But Cronulla’s determination to achieve a quick resolution and put the whole mess behind it has the club on the cusp of one of the great turnarounds in Australian sport.

After a poor start to 2015, the Sharks have won eight of their past nine games and are knocking on the door of the top four.

They’ve beaten hotshots Sydney Roosters and North Queensland twice each, and respected pundits are now giving them a genuine chance at winning a Grand Final – a stage Cronulla has not ventured onto since the 1997 Super League decider.

There are other factors behind the Sharks’ remarkable revival, of course.

The recruitment of veteran Canterbury hooker Michael Ennis was a masterstroke.

Wing/fullback sensation Valentine Holmes, who became the first Cronulla player to rack up a double-figure season try tally since 2008, and Dally M Rookie of the Year favourite Jack Bird, have added a new dimension to a traditionally gritty, dour and defence-oriented line-up.

Cronulla look as though they are enjoying their footy in season 2015. Photo: Getty

Cronulla look as though they are enjoying their footy in season 2015. Photo: Getty

But the role in the renaissance of the club’s attitude towards ASADA, and Flanagan’s resolve in getting on with the job, should not be understated.

In contrast, the scandal continues to hang over Essendon.

Hird’s Federal Court appeal against the legality of the AFL-ASADA joint investigation dragged throughout last summer (the appeal was eventually dismissed).

The 34 past and present Bombers players in question were handed show-cause notices by ASADA and infraction notices by the AFL.

Six weeks after being found not guilty of using a banned supplement by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal in March, the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) announced an appeal of that ruling.

Legal meetings are taking up as much headspace as training runs, and the results on the paddock are indicative of the conflict the club and its players are still living through.

After a good start, the Bombers have now won just one of their past 10, with a 110-point defeat to fellow cellar dwellers St Kilda – the seventh-worst loss and a glaring low point in the club’s proud 118-year narrative.

Thompson, who steered the club to a brave seventh-place finish in Hird’s absence last year, stoked the fire further last week by declaring Essendon was “just treading water, going backwards – it’s drowning”.

It’s difficult to disagree with Thompson’s assessment.

The club, Hird and the players had every right to fight against the allegations to the bitter end, but the question has to be asked as to whether the Bombers as a whole would have been better off taking the Sharks’ tact.

Would the Bombers have been out the other side by now, like the Sharks are?

The revered rugby league coach Jack Gibson famously said waiting for Cronulla to win the premiership is like leaving the porch light on for Harold Holt.

But it’s Essendon that is still feeling the pain from the ‘The Darkest Day in Australian Sport’.

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