THE man at the centre of the Essendon supplement saga is emphatic Essendon players won’t receive infraction notices for using banned drugs.

Former sports scientist Stephen Dank yesterday would not reveal what drugs were injected in the players, but said there was detailed list of what was given to every player.

TAKE YOUR CASH AND SHUT UP, HIRDY

‘’I certainly know the list of players who were involved in the program, and certainly the clubs has a list of both players and all substances which were used,’’ he said.

‘’My view is the players do know (what they took) ... and I’m very strong in my mind of what they took over the course of 12 months.’’

The players are being investigated for the possible use of Thymosin Beta-4, AOD-9604 and other substances not approved for human use.

‘’It’s certainly not about doping,’’ Dank said, highlighting the physical requirements on AFL players. ‘’This was certainly about preserving the tissues of these athletes.’’

He said senior officials in the football department were aware and supportive of the drugs program and that club doctor Bruce Reid knew what was being injected into the players.

On AOD-9604, which skipper Jobe Watson admitted that he believed he took it, Dank said he had approval.

HIRD WON’T BE SACKED

‘’We have the documentation we deem necessary to validate AOD,’’ he said. ‘’We certainly would not have used it if we believed it was illegal.’’

Dank, who appeared at sportsman’s lunch at Crown Casino yesterday, has not spoken to ASADA or the AFL and said the next ‘’discussion with them will be in the Federal Court’’.

He said he accepted responsibility for the program.

‘’Obviously there is a degree of responsibility,’’ he said. ‘’You can’t be in the middle of it and manage the program and not have a vague degree of responsibility, but I don’t take responsibility for the fall-out and I don’t take responsbility for how people have conducted themselves throughout this investigation.

‘’Some people have been absolutely disgraceful.

‘’One thing I’ve become a little bit cynical of is whether or not this whole thing is part of a constructed outcome, a managed outcome and I think that has influenced some of the of leaking, some of the information and some of the literature by some of the journalists.’’

He expects more officials to lose their job and not necessarily at Essendon.

The toll at Essendon was high. Chief executive Ian Robson resigned, head of fitness Dean Robinson was stood down, coach James Hird was suspended for a year, football boss Danny Corcoran was suspended and ultimately lost his job, former football manager Paul Hamilton departed at the end of 2012, current coach Mark Thompson was fined $30,000.

‘’There’s certainly been a body count and I think there will be further bodies, and I’m not certainly talking about the Essendon side of things,’’ Dank said.

‘’The body count will come further up the chain.’’

He said he was aware of other clubs using supplements.

‘’If the AFL is completely serious about this whole saga, I think they could’ve investigated a lot harder, possibly a lot deeper into a couple of clubs in particular,’’ he said.

‘’My only issue is the saga I’m involved in, but for what reasons the AFL has decided not to look harder at other clubs and you probably need to put that to the AFL CEO (Andrew Demetriou).

‘’My view is there is a quite a deal of irregularity about how this whole thing has been managed.’’

Dank said court action would include alleged leaks to media.

‘’There are serious repercussions for those people responsible,’’ he said.