Watson, whose son Jobe is one of the players banned by WADA, told SEN that a mediated settlement is now the most likely outcome.

"What has been going on in the background has been a lot of meetings have been taking place, you know the AFL has been involved in some and the Essendon Football Club obviously have been involved in others," Tim Watson said.

"The insurer that is involved here is both the AFL's insurer and Essendon's insurer. There is always going to be a negotiation around these things. I think what they have tried to ascertain is what would be a fair and reasonable compensation."

Watson said the discussions were complicated by the fact that only 12 of the 34 players caught up in the supplement regime were still at Essendon.

"Every player is a little bit different because you've got some players, you know, the mental anguish, the lost earnings of some players are different obviously because some players are no longer in the system, they've gone somewhere else [and] the affect it's had on their lives," he said.

"I don't think they've got to the point now that anybody is thinking that this is going to end up in courts, which could be a great outcome ... I think that ultimately the AFL and Essendon would hope that this doesn't bleed into next season so if they could reach some sort of conclusion.

"If that means that a mediator is appointed that deals with this then maybe that would be the right outcome. Obviously there's a lot of posturing that goes on before any negotiation is complete."

Watson also said he thought that banned Bomber Michael Hurley would stay at the club.

"I wouldn't be shocked [if he left] but I would be highly surprised," he said. "I don't think that Michael is going to go anywhere. And look maybe that will change, but right now I'm pretty confident that he'll stay an Essendon player."

On Tuesday, Bomber chief executive Xavier Campbell said discussions were continuing with Hurley about getting him to commit to the club, saying he'd be "catching up with his management later this week".

"[We'll] fight hard to retain the players but we are going to do it appropriately and with a reasoned voice as well," he said.