For two years headlines and editorials were full of shock and awe about doping in sport. Despite ASADA's press conference this morning, the question remains: what was it all about? Tracey Holmes writes.

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Yesterday's finding by the AFL anti-doping tribunal - that not a single one of the 34 players charged for taking a banned substance was guilty - was supposed to bring to an end the two-year saga stemming from the "blackest day in Australian sport".

It hasn't. It's blown open the biggest sports doping case this country has seen and revealed it to be a shell built on rumour, innuendo and bullying.

The Essendon players are justifiably relieved. The coach is so worn down he just wants to coach. The chairman wants to get the show back on the straight-and-narrow.

When the dust settles, each party has the right to be aggrieved and seek recompense.

For its part, the AFL is unapologetic. ASADA, though, is mad as hell. They look to have been bluffing and blundering for two years.

Anti-doping chief, and former cop, Ben McDevitt tried to tell the world this morning that this hasn't all been one big April Fool's joke, announcing the agency is considering appealing the verdict.

On February 7, 2013, ASADA was on stage with a number of CEOs from Australia's most powerful sports; all standing in line like laughing clowns at the fair. At this one though, no one wins a prize.

The "we know who you are" and "we will catch you" lines by two senior Labor government ministers on the day, Kate Lundy (who retired from parliament last week) and Jason Clare (who's now in opposition), are ringing a little hollow right now. Not much more than a "roll up, roll up" call to passers-by who long ago lost interest.

For some, Essendon will always be known as the cheats who got off. ( Getty Images: Michael Dodge )

And what of the ACC report that was at the heart of it all? The promises of a thriller complete with crime gangs, match-fixing and rampant drug use? The only thing missing from the mix was a brothel. Headlines rang out, editorials were full of it, program after program echoed the shock and awe. What happened to that?

It's not just ASADA that woke up this morning with a cracking headache and a shocking hangover. What about all those journos that had the Essendon coach and 34 players hung, drawn and quartered for unspeakable crimes? Crimes of which we now know, and a few suspected all along, there was very little evidence.

The viciousness with which some sections of the media went after the Essendon team, and its coach, is unprecedented in Australian sports history. Players have been living their lives by Braille - trying to feel their way through a darkness they thought they'd never emerge from.

Captain Jobe Watson spoke for every man in the team when he said:

Together the players, our families, and supporters, have experienced first hand the heartbreaking frustration of these past two years. As a group of professional athletes we found ourselves in a situation we could never have imagined; it's a position and experience none of us should have been a part of.

Mark McVeigh, a former player, now assistant coach at the Greater Western Sydney Giants, put it more bluntly:

We were never going to get rolled by untruths.

No doubt though there are those who will refuse to see the Essendon players as innocent, Ben McDevitt among them. For that clique, Essendon will always be known as the cheats who got off.

When that realisation dawns on the players, some of yesterday's relief will turn to rage. Players, like treasurers, are entitled to sue for defamation. Unlike the Treasurer, though, it won't be about a single headline - it will be about two years of headlines in multiple papers on multiple pages.

And don't be fooled by the AFL's attempt to suggest it is now on the side of the players. It's a little hard to swallow after a two-year joint investigation with ASADA, where the only leaked information played into its own hands. CEO Gillon McLachlan tried his luck though, announcing the AFL was suddenly interested in full and frank transparency, calling for a public release of the tribunal's summary.

And to suggest, as he did, that the tribunal's verdict exonerates the players, not the club, reveals the chasm that still exists between head office and one of its most supported franchises. It is this rift that is going to continue to make life difficult for the coach, James Hird.

He is a man torn. Once a player, but not anymore. Yesterday he sat with his president, Paul Little, both wearing the club suit and tie. They addressed the media from the club's training facilities with a busy sponsors board behind them and an empty ground ahead of them. The players were on the other side of Melbourne. They were wearing casual jeans and shirts, and there was not an Essendon logo in sight when they briefed the media outside club confines. Yesterday Hird was a leader without his men. Despite having Little by his side, he appeared very much alone.

The players have each other; they are unified. But they clearly feel cut adrift from management whom they suspect may have let them down; may not have always acted in the players' best interests. Their suspicions may prove to be correct. Victoria's WorkCover Authority must now complete its OHS investigation into Essendon and the AFL.

Like a bickering couple, the warring parties have agreed to stay together - for the sake of the kids. They are all putting on a brave face.

Now it's back to ASADA. Despite this morning's press conference, the question remains: what were the past two years all about?

Tracey Holmes has focussed her career in journalism on sport and its wider implications.