Frustrated Cronulla players are questioning why they didn't receive the same support and advice from the Sharks to fight doping allegations as their Essendon AFL counterparts after 34 current and former Bombers were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Cronulla and Essendon were the focus of a two-year investigation by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority into the alleged use of banned substances during periods when they were each associated with controversial sports scientist Stephen Dank. But despite the close parallels between the two cases, the outcome was very different for the 12 members of the 2011 Sharks squad who accepted backdated 12-month bans just before the end of last season.

While criticism has been levelled at the leniency of what was effectively a three-match suspension for the majority of the Cronulla players, Fairfax Media was told they feel let down by the Sharks and the NRL after the verdict of the AFL tribunal.

"If they were better resourced and had greater support they would have fought like the Essendon players did," one player agent said. "But they were advised to take a deal that was effectively too good to refuse and told that they would be on their own if they didn't. Cronulla didn't back the players like Essendon did and that is disappointing for those players after what has now happened in the AFL."