Some, though, should be wary about taking any moral high ground. They lay low. Because they've dodged a bullet.

That's the galling part of this two-year clusterf--k that has been the ASADA investigation into alleged peptide use – the wild inconsistency in the penalties meted out to those involved.

In an interview with Fairfax Media last year, former Sharks strength and conditioning coach Trent Elkin made it very clear that some players had maintained a strong relationship with biochemist Stephen Dank's offsider Darren Hibbert.

Elkin revealed a current Sharks coaching staff member alerted him to the fact that some players maintained the relationship with Hibbert.

"Later on, I became aware of that," Elkin said. "It was in 2012. I remember hearing that Hibbert was referred to as 'The Mechanic'. The way I heard that was through a fellow staff member: 'Yeah the boys were talking about The Mechanic'. It's ironic to think that some players have said, 'We trusted Elkin. We didn't know'. Yet they continued to associate with Hibbert well after Dank was gone from the club. That's disappointing."

Yes, Sharks players were pushed into what amounted to a three-week ban last year. They 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.

Coach Shane Flanagan was suspended for 11 months, but is back at the helm.

Elkin, though, remains exiled, with his reputation in tatters, and won't be able to apply to be involved with rugby league again until December. If you're looking for the scapegoat of this episode, look no further than Elkin.

Meanwhile, those senior players who allegedly went "off reservation" have received the same penalty as the young, naive Sharks player who has simply taken what he was told.

Call that fair?

Channel Seven reporter Josh Massoud has a book on what happened at the Sharks hitting shelves in late June, and there is much talk around the game that the revelations about some players will be damning. (Chip Le Grand, from The Australian, has a similar book about Essendon due for release this year).

Meanwhile, don't expect Flanagan or captain Paul Gallen to make any detailed public comments about Essendon players being cleared. Sharks chief executive Lyall Gorman hasn't gagged anyone, but the feeling from the coaching staff and playing group is they want to move on, publicly at least. With the Sharkies winless after four rounds, we can understand why.

What ales us

This country is stuffed.

The tide of righteous indignation about Shane Warne's post-match interviews after Australia won the World Cup shows how we've lost the ability to laugh at ourselves. So, too, the anger about inebriated Australian cricketers posting social media images as they marinated themselves in the sponsor's product.

That said, coach Darren Lehmann could possibly set a better example. Our spies tell us he was giving it a good nudge at the Coogee Pavilion in Sydney two weeks ago.

The man who would be Kim

In other alcohol-related news just to hand, a Kim Jong-un impersonator at last weekend's infamous Hong Kong Sevens said he made out with "30 to 40" girls, but couldn't recall much more because he was "hammered".

According to those who were there, the North Korean dictatorial doppelganger was charging HKD$10 for fans to take a photo with him.

Every man has his price

Another week, another headline race meeting. Fabulous stuff.

The first day of The Championships will be held at Royal Randwick this Saturday, and the perennial question is already being asked about the crowd figure.

With the Doncaster Handicap celebrating 150 years, the punters should be hanging from the rafters – or at least filling all of the lawn out the front of the new $150 million grandstand. Instead, a figure of 20,000 appears most likely.

Unpredictable Sydney weather at this time of the year never helps, but neither does general admission ticket prices of $50. That is absurd for a sport wondering how it can get people to the track.

Two-for-one promotions have been run this week, which has annoyed those who have already paid full freight. For those who do turn up, there will be some outstanding racing to watch.

One of racing's better ideas of late has been the country championships, which has seen horses around NSW attempting to qualify for the $300,000 final at headquarters. Coffs Harbour trainer Paul Smith wants to repeat history with his three-year-old Kareem's Edge.

In the 1960s, his grandfather, Ernie, won the time-honoured Country Cup at Randwick with a horse called Shinzan.

"It's a good feeling to be racing at Randwick – I've never had a runner there before," Smith said. "The country championships have been a great idea, although it's been a bit stressful."

The horse will be ridden by superstar jockey Zac Purton, who now rides in Hong Kong but did his apprenticeship in Coffs Harbour.

 Fish out of water

Grant Hackett's return to the pool at the national titles in Sydney this weekend has again raised talk about what swimmers do post-career.

While Hackett says his personal life was the issue, the likes of Ian Thorpe, Geoff Huegill and Scott Miller have crashed after hanging up the togs.

With this in mind, Australian Swimmers' Association general manager Daniel Kowalski has decided to address the issue. The association will hold a "career progression forum" on April 10 to prepare swimmers for life beyond the black line.

ASA president Brenton Rickard said: "We want to remove the taboo of thinking about retirement until you have retired."

Fool's gold

BREAKING: The Sydney Roosters have just announced the signing of Sam Burgess for the remainder of the 2015 season after the star forward decided to pull the plug on his rugby union switch.

You might not have fallen for the April Fool's prank from rugby league website zerotackle.com, but this column/idiot did.

Happy Easter.

Q & A: Josh Reynolds

We spoke to the Bulldogs five-eighth ahead of the grand final rematch at ANZ Stadium on Good Friday.

You were supposed to be sidelined for two months with a broken arm, but you're back within three weeks. Are you the Terminator?

Definitely not the Terminator. I would say more like Wolverine because he heals quickly, but then again he is as tough as anything and is a machine and I am far from those two traits.

Why the quick recovery?

For me I think it comes down to being positive about the healing process the whole time. I knew the injury would put me out for a little while, but I didn't let it get to me. I always had a date set in my head and it started feeling good pretty quickly. The staff at the Bulldogs are excellent at what they do and they are happy with it, so I just wanted to get back on that field and be out there with the boys. There is nothing worse than sitting on the sideline watching, so that gave me extra motivation to rehab as well, so I could come back ASAP.

Are you concerned about Danny Weidler revealing in his Sun-Herald column that you met your girlfriend at a Rihanna concert? Rihanna? I thought I knew you better.

OK, let's get this straight, it was not a Rihanna concert. He has his mail mixed up there. It was actually at the Nelly concert, which is not a whole lot better, but I'll run with that. I've got no idea why she's even with me considering the terrible dance moves that were on display by me that night. But on a serious note, Chloe [Matterson] is great for me and she takes my mind off a lot of things, which helps a lot of the time.

I've read your comments about last year's grand final and how devastated you were. How are you feeling heading into this match against Souths?

I would be lying if I said it didn't hurt me. It kills me, but that's the past and something I'm trying to work on is not playing on emotion.

Origin is already something people are talking about. Mitchell Pearce and James Maloney have started strongly, but I'm assuming you and Trent Hodkinson are ready to do the job for NSW again.

The Roosters boys are a great combination. They have really stepped it up and are guiding the Chooks around really well. But for myself and Trent, it's more just doing what we have to do week in week out for the Dogs, and then if we are lucky enough to have that honour again we would love it. But first things first for myself – I need to just get back on the field. 

The week

THE QUOTE

"One of the players said in his interview that Mr Dank acted as if he was God. It seems that he was treated as if he was God in relation to the supplements program." - A disturbing line from the AFL's anti-doping tribunal report that cleared 34 Essendon players of using banned substances.

THUMBS UP

When Shane Warne bagged Mitchell Starc's body language as "soft" early in the summer, it clearly lit something within the lanky fast bowler. He was the player of the World Cup and is officially the world's best bowler in jimmy jams. Now let's see him do it in his creams.

THUMBS DOWN

Where has all the love gone? And the NRL crowds? The game has the lowest average crowd figures for the first four rounds of the competition in 15 years. That's 15,766 a match. Not. Good. Enough. The league has pumped millions into marketing and lavish media departments in the last three years. Money well spent?

It's a big weekend for … the Swans, who meet Essendon in their AFL season opener at ANZ Stadium on Saturday. The Bombers have "moved on", according to coach James Hird, who has decided he wants to also "move on" now the players have been found not guilty of using prohibited substances.

It's an even bigger weekend for … James Cummings, the grandson of the legendary Bart Cummings, as Hallowed Crown lines up as the favourite in the 150th instalment of the Doncaster Handicap on day one of The Championships at Royal Randwick. The horse has drawn wide but loves a heavy track.