We currently have disgraced coach James Hird in Federal Court with Essendon arguing about whether it was legal for the AFL and the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority to conduct a joint investigation.

There is claim and counter-claim about whether AFL bosses tipped off Essendon in advance, which led to the club self-reporting.

We have even heard that the Gillard government was involved because it might hurt the re-election campaign.

What seems to have been forgotten in this whole sorry saga is that 34 young men were injected with some mysterious cocktail of drugs that was expected to enhance their performance.

The fact that Essendon doesn't have records and cannot really say what was in those syringes is the biggest crime.

These young men would have blindly trusted their coaches, club doctors and mentors. Likewise, the parents of these young men entrusted their sons to what was trumpeted as a professionally administered sport.

However, every player is responsible for what goes into their body. The players are not to blame but equally they are not blameless as professional athletes seeking a performance advantage.

As a result Essendon was fined $2 million, lost its place in the 2013 finals, lost draft picks, Hird was suspended for a year and assistant coach Mark Thompson was fined $30,000 but then promoted to coach while Hird was suspended.

Does anyone else think it is strange that the head coach and his deputy can oversee such a breach of trust to these young men and somehow still stay at the club?

Hird and Essendon can argue as long and as hard as they like about the legalities and technicalities of the ASADA-AFL investigation but when are we ever going to hear them say sorry to the players and the supporters and to the wider football community for the stain they brought on our great game.