Jones will have to decide whether the cases for the players are heard as one or whether Crameri and Prismall are heard separately. Players are expected to front the AFL's anti-doping tribunal early next month, having been charged with the alleged use of thymosin beta-4 between January 2012 and September 2012. However, it may not be until next year before suspensions, if any, are officially delivered. AFL Players Association chief Paul Marsh welcomed the AFL's move to distribute infraction notices. "The decision by the AFL to issue infraction notices keeps this process moving and we look forward to this issue being resolved as soon as possible," Marsh said on Saturday. The AFLPA wants the tribunal process to be closed to the public to protect the confidentiality of the players. The case involving former Saint Ahmed Saad was closed. It's expected Jones will also rule on this on Tuesday.

The players have now been provisionally suspended but can still train with teammates at the club. As it's out of season, the provisional suspension does not have major consequences. It was still unclear on Saturday night whether Jobe Watson and Dustin Fletcher would, should they be part of the 34-man group, be allowed to play in the International Rules series against Ireland next weekend. If the anti-doping tribunal does find to a "comfortable satisfaction" there has been an anti-doping breach, and suspensions do eventuate, prominent player agent Peter Jess says players will have to seriously consider launching legal action for potential loss of earnings. Jess, who manages former Bomber Nathan Lovett-Murray, understood to be one of the 34 players given an infraction notice, says player agents and players will seriously consider taking action against "whoever is responsible". "I would like to see the players get off - make no bones about that. That is the priority, to ensure there are no penalties," he said on Saturday.

"But, if in the unfortunate case that something does evolve from this, then, obviously, one has got to look at every outcome and assess what the next action will be. "Every player and every player manager has to take a considered view if there is any loss or damage, then they have to quantify it. "In this case, there would be high-profile players who would have suffered significant loss and damage. "It is then encumbent upon all the agents and the AFLPA to work together to actually pinpoint who was responsible for that loss and damage." Jess said potential targets for a lawsuit could be Essendon, the club's officials and coaches and even the AFL.

The players maintain they are of the belief they did nothing wrong during the Bombers' supplements program and were administered a permitted form of thymosin. They could argue a no significant fault and no significant negligence defence, meaning any suspension could ultimately be cut to six months. There are about 18 current Essendon players who have received infraction notices. ASADA could call biochemist Shane Charter, a convicted drug trafficker, compound pharmacist Nima Alavi and even the Bombers' former fitness chief Dean Robinson, who recently settled his unfair dismissal case against the club for $1 million, to give evidence. Charter and Alavi have provided witness statements in relation to their dealings with Stephen Dank, who ran the injecting program.