James Hird has hailed the AFL anti-doping tribunal's decision as a vindication of Essendon's position that their players were never given any banned substances.

An emotional Hird also issued an unreserved apology for any damage that had been caused to the club's reputation after the "mistakes around governance" that were made in 2012.

"I am so sorry for anything that's happened, for anything that's been done wrong to our players or been done wrong to our football club," Hird said on Tuesday.

"I, and we, would never do anything intentionally to harm this football club ... to harm the game of AFL football that's given me so much and given so many people so much.

"I love the game, I love the club and I just can't wait for the rest of the year to coach football and just get back into it again."

Hird said he had come close to losing his position as senior coach over the past two years, but paid tribute to the strength of the club throughout the affair.

While he admitted he still had reservations about the way the AFL-ASADA investigation was handled, he expressed his desire to move on.

However, an unrepentant Stephen Dank , the sports scientist at the heart of the club's controversial supplements program, has foreshadowed further legal action after the AFL anti-doping tribunal absolved 34 Essendon 2012-listed players of doping violations.

Dank fingered ASADA for blundering its investigation and the AFL for "stage managing" the process since first announced in February 2013.

While other key figures in the controversy say they are keen to move on, Dank remains furious.

"I've understood from the very early days how this thing was stage-managed," he said.

"I think we know the script was written from day one ... by the Australian Football League.

"There are still things that I need to do going forward that I will do and my legal team will do."

Not surprisingly, Dank's sharpest barb was for ASADA.

"They've been very, very poor in their conduct, execution and understanding of this whole investigation," he said.

"The players never took anything that was illegal or anything that was against the WADA-prohibited list.

"The players were not guilty of anything. I'm very happy for the players."

Dank also revealed a depth of support for coach James Hird, who he said was fully behind the supplements program.

"He showed a lot of faith in the program in 2012, he showed a lot of support, he believed in the program," he said.

"We had a very, very good relationship, never one cross word."

Jobe Watson says the vindicated Essendon players are champing at the bit to take on Sydney on Saturday.

Up to 18 Bombers had been forced to sit out the pre-season while serving provisional suspensions due to the supplements scandal.

The bans were lifted on Tuesday when an AFL anti-doping tribunal found they had no case to answer, freeing them up to play against last year's runners-up at ANZ Stadium.

"I got hit a few times by my teammates [at training] the other day and they were real punches, so I know they're getting angry," Watson said.

"They don't want to play against each other any more. They're ready to play someone else." - AAP