Extraordinarily, that investigation has not yet run its course.  It has hung over two full football seasons, now spilling into a third, is still before the AFL anti-doping tribunal, and will be for at least another couple of months.

Meantime, Hird has sought through the courts to argue against the legality of the investigation he so strongly supported that day and with which he later co-operated. At trial, Hird even said he had been coerced by the club into declaring his support. At appeal, he as good as said he had been hoodwinked into co-operating with the investigation.

In September, trial judge Justice John Middleton declared the joint investigation lawful, that there was no subterfuge. On Friday, appeal court judges Susan Kenny, Tony Besanko and Richard White affirmed it."There was no practical unfairness in the way the interviews were conducted," they said. They were unanimous, and their tone was unequivocal. "Reject", "reject", "reject", says the short summary of their judgement, followed by "dismissed".

The message to Hird from the courts could not have been clearer if it was accompanied by the banging of a gavel: stop.

This column never argued that Hird should not have gone to court. Every citizen has that right, to the extent that he has the doggedness, wherewithal and strength of his own conviction. Perhaps the maddest moment in this whole saga was when intimations emerged from Essendon that the club would move against Hird if he persevered with his appeal. It was a threat the club never could have made good.

Inside the club and out, it was argued that Hird's relentless legal pursuit would distract the players and undermine the Bombers' mission. Hird's counter was that he was doing it on behalf of the players. If he won, so did they, because the whole investigation would be invalidated.

But he lost, decisively. All those keen legal minds, all that money, plus the money now owing to ASADA. And if anything, the appeals court judges were stronger even than Justice Middleton: it's over.

One avenue remains for Hird, to the High Court. He has 28 days to seek leave to take his case there. But he could not claim now that he is going on for the sake of the players. By the time a High Court appeal could be heard and judgment made, the anti-doping case against the players will be long finished, and the sentences – if any – probably served. Hird would be proceeding for his own sake.

Essendon is back on track, in all senses. The club is making a big effort in their every endeavour. Hird has stared down his many critics, internal and external, and is directing the show. Football clubs are famous for their selective memories and pragmatism. The new season is fast approaching, and the Bombers have much to do, foremost to draw up contingency plans in case of mass suspensions when the tribunal finally arrives at verdicts. The coach would have his work cut out then.

Hird is believed to be overseas. The first intimations on Friday were that he will not try to proceed to the High Court, that he will accept that this crusade is finished.

But no one should underestimate the primal force that has driven Hird these past two infamous years. It was apparent on day one, when he declared that all would see that Essendon was in a good place when all the facts were known. It was apparent as he faced up to media day after day outside his house. It was in his every utterance, in court documents, in his sworn evidence, in his body language as well as English. It is Hird's unshakeable and unwavering belief that much more than he is the wrong-doer, he is the wronged.

Surely there is a court somewhere that will see that ...