Man in the middle: ASADA boss Ben McDevitt. What does that mean in the bigger picture? Well, like much of this saga, that depends on which narrative you've chosen to follow. Except for this one, indisputable point. That out of the entire grubby episode, there will be no winners, just an extraordinary trail of damage touching virtually every party, and person, involved. It's quite a body count. ASADA, for example, has had its reputation and competence trashed. Who knows whether it will even continue to exist in its present form should the federal government launch what should be an inevitable review of its operations? The AFL won't emerge covered in glory regardless of the eventual outcome, having placed expedience ahead of process in a rush to have a controversy-free 2013 finals series and, under its former chief executive Andrew Demetriou, participating in a continued running commentary on the case despite pledging not to do so. Not to mention the still unresolved matter of "that" phone call between Demetriou and former Essendon chairman David Evans. Essendon, obviously, has taken the biggest hit in terms of reputation and, clearly, regardless of whether players end up suspended or not, in terms of personnel. Evans, former chief executive Ian Robson, football manager Paul Hamilton, football operations head Danny Corcoran, fitness man Dean Robinson and sports scientist Stephen Dank are all long gone from the club.

A large media pack looks on during Essendon chairman Paul Little's media conference in March. Credit:Getty Images Coach James Hird was gone but is back again after serving a one-year suspension, the irony of that not lost on many who have seen the senior coach as the biggest villain in the saga. Whether that remains the case should ASADA still gain convictions against the Essendon players is unknown, but regardless of your view about his culpability, it's difficult to remember any sporting figure in this country who's taken a bigger hit to his or her standing. The media? Well, again, depending on your stance, they've been either villains or heroes, and sometimes both. Certainly, no journalist or commentator who has weighed into the story hasn't been accused at one point or another of pushing an agenda. Much like this piece will doubtless be construed by some as doing the same. The football public? For a long time it lapped up every sordid detail of the saga. Now, like everyone else involved, it, too, is fatigued. Which means that views formed early on (and that's now just short of two years ago) haven't changed a lot despite any evidence to the contrary.

The staunch supporters of Hird's position, who appear a healthy majority but not necessarily all Essendon supporters, were never likely to change their mind given the strength of that emotional attachment. But nor were those who wanted a head on a spike. Scan the ongoing public debate about the saga in readers' comments or internet forums and you'll see the same arguments on both sides that you were reading in February 2013. There are complete denials of any fault of club, coach or personnel even from a moral standpoint, difficult to sustain given Essendon has long since conceded and been sanctioned for their poor governance. There are diatribes on the other side also long discredited. Ongoing references to the once incessantly referenced, now irrelevant AOD-9604. Or continued screeds about the morality of "injecting young men", which, whether you considered the penalties appropriate or inadequate, was dealt with in the formal sanctions dealt Essendon by the AFL now 15 months ago. You can rest assured those at least will continue indefinitely, whether or not the ASADA case against the Essendon players collapses for good on December 15. Reflective, perhaps of another inestimable casualty of this story – community faith in both the integrity and administration of sport.

Those who want an absolute truth about what took place at Essendon during 2012 seem destined never to have it. Those who want the club and their people's reputations fully restored are unlikely to be granted that satisfaction. And those who just want blood don't look like they're going to have their thirst sated, either. To coin the darkest possible adaptation of a popular song by Hot Chocolate, "everyone's a loser, baby". And, really, given the sort of subject matter, and the tangled web it weaved, was there ever going to be an outcome any different?