Cronulla and Essendon were the focus of a two-year investigation by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority into the alleged use of banned substances during periods when they were each associated with controversial sports scientist Stephen Dank. But despite the close parallels between the two cases, the outcome was very different for the 12 members of the 2011 Sharks squad who accepted backdated 12-month bans just before the end of last season.

While criticism has been levelled at the leniency of what was effectively a three-match suspension for the majority of the Cronulla players, Fairfax Media was told they feel let down by the Sharks and the NRL after the verdict of the AFL tribunal.

"If they were better resourced and had greater support they would have fought like the Essendon players did," one player agent said. "But they were advised to take a deal that was effectively too good to refuse and told that they would be on their own if they didn't. Cronulla didn't back the players like Essendon did and that is disappointing for those players after what has now happened in the AFL."

Most of the Sharks players were represented by Melbourne lawyer Richard Redman, who told them he was of the view the case against them was very weak from an anti-doping point of view.

Redman said the outcome of the Essendon case had reaffirmed his belief that the Sharks would have won, but they did not have the same resources available to them to continue fighting.

"The [Essendon] result supports our advice: fight it and you'll win," Redman said. "But they couldn't afford it, financially, administratively or stress-wise."

However, the scenario outlined to the Sharks players at meetings in Sydney on August 20 left many feeling they had little choice but to accept the bans, which were backdated to November 2013.

"The players were sat in a room by the NRL and ASADA, and the NRL said there would be no more legal support and ASADA told them it could be 18 months to two years before the process was finalised," the agent said. "There was no support from Cronulla, so if the players wanted to keep going it could have been another 18 months with no guarantees they would win, and they would have to fund the case themselves."

The players involved were Paul Gallen, Anthony Tupou, Wade Graham, Nathan Gardner, John Morris, Jeremy Smith, Kade Snowden, Luke Douglas, Albert Kelly, Matthew Wright, Josh Cordoba and Broderick Wright.

Fairfax Media was told Gallen, who was ruled out of playing for Australia in the Four Nations, and Douglas were the last two to reluctantly agree to the deal, while Matthew Wright was shattered after being unable to play for North Queensland in his first finals series.

The players maintained they had never knowingly taken the banned substances CJC-1295 and GHRP-6, but pleaded guilty to "unknowingly and unwittingly" doing so during a four-week period in 2011.

Essendon players also insisted they had not knowingly taken any illegal substances as part of the supplements program at the club in 2012, and the AFL tribunal "was not comfortably satisfied that any player was administered Thymosin Beta-4".

Sports lawyer Darren Kane wrote in a column for Fairfax Media last year it would be difficult for ASADA to prove the players were guilty of taking banned substances.

"In each case, ASADA must prove, to the comfortable satisfaction of a tribunal, that a player utilised, injected or otherwise consumed a specific prohibited substance," he wrote. "Fault and intent are irrelevant, but using and intending tend to fit hand in glove. Proof can be via any reliable evidence, including witness testimony or emails, texts and other documents. But serious contests might arise regarding ASADA's ability to use much of what it has."

A lawyer familiar with both cases said the Sharks players were entitled to believe they would have received the same outcome if they had continued to fight.

"If they had fought they would have won, but Essendon threw millions at supporting their players and the Sharks couldn't afford to do the same," the lawyer said.

Dank, who was involved with the Sharks at the start of the 2011 season, said he believed the players at both clubs had done nothing wrong.

"I think they'd be very disappointed that they gave up so easily," Dank told Nine News.

CORRECTION: This article was amended to remove an error in regards to the AFL Tribunal comments about the use of Thymosin Beta-4.