As speculation mounts that some players would contemplate taking a deal, depending on the evidence presented againt them and the length of any suspension, Matthews said the time had come for Hird to fall on his sword to allow the Bombers to move on.

"If I was James Hird I'd be clearing the deck," Matthews told Channel 7's Game Day.

"Essendon need a fresh start, and they can't have a fresh start with James. It's not about Essendon pushing him out, I think James himself should fall on his own sword.

"It's not about guilt, or right or wrong. I was supportive of the position of the senior coach 12 months ago, but I think now it needs a fresh start."

Commission chairman Fitzpatrick used his pre-grand final speech to single out several of the AFL's big achievements and failings over the season.

"A cloud that has hung over our game - most unfairly in my view - was conclusively dispersed by a Federal Court judgment in favour of the processes employed by ASADA in the Essendon supplements case," Fitzpatrick said in a speech during the AFL's grand final lunch.

Earlier in the week former AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou said he felt personally "vindicated" by the court finding, and said any focus on his own role in the scandal had been a distraction from the real issue.

"I can't think of anyone at the AFL that has ever injected any players," Demetriou said on Monday.

"This is not about the AFL or about ASADA, it's about what took place at the Essendon Football Club."

After studying in France, Essendon coach Hird is now officially back behind the wheel at Essendon, preparing the club's list for a tilt at finals in 2015.

While Essendon's leadership has always publically maintained Hird will coach in 2015, there are 34 current and former Essendon players who have been issued show cause notices by ASADA. Mark Thompson, who coached the Bombers during Hird's 12-month suspension has already said that if any players missed games due to suspension due to the supplement's program of 2011-12, neither man could expect to remain at the club.

Essendon reportedly held a board meeting on Saturday night, to discuss Hird's future and whether the club would appeal Justic John Middleton's ruling that ASADA's joint investigation with the AFLK was legal. An announcement on whether the club would appeal that verdict, and that the Bombers should play ASADA's costs, is due this week.

According to Channel Nine's Sunday Footy Show, former Bomber and now Bulldog Stewart Crameri is considering the option of taking a plea-deal with ASADA, which would represent a splintering in the Essendon-players' previously-united stance.

Former star forward Matthew Lloyd said if the players did split and take a deal, Hird's position at the club may become untenable.

As yet however, the players have not seen the evidence against them. It is believed that the AFLPA is gathering instructions from the players affected as to how they want to handle the next phase of the situation. Of the 34 players, 20 or 21 are still at Essendon, while the others have either retired or gone to other other clubs.

ASADA says it will provide the evidence once show case notices are reissued. The anti-doping body is waiting to do this after Essendon's decision on whether to appeal.