Some senior Essendon players tried to persuade James Hird not to go through with his plan to appeal to the Federal Court verdict against him and the club, after the club hierarchy briefed the leadership group on the crisis on Wednesday.
The club intends to offer the coaching position to Mark Thompson in the event that Hird is sacked. It is understood that Thompson met with skipper Jobe Watson on Wednesday and indicated that he would not stay at Essendon next year - unless he was senior coach.
Essendon is well aware that Thompson is interested in coaching the Gold Coast Suns, following the sacking of Guy McKenna.
As of Wednesday night, it was unclear how the club would deal with the uncertainty surrounding Thompson, who had been offered a role in the football department and indicated he would like to stay but did not sign on.
Thompson was non-committal about his future with the club when asked about it on Monday.
Essendon's players, on the whole, do not want the club to appeal the Federal Court decision - putting them at odds with Hird, who maintains that the process of the ASADA investigation was unlawful and a denial of natural justice.
Dyson Heppell confirmed he had been at the meeting with Hird but refused to go into detail.
Speaking to Channel Seven before the best and fairest count, Heppell said he wanted Thompson to remain at the club next year in some capacity.
"Bomber [Thompson] has been fantastic for the group this year, so we would hope to keep him," Heppell said.
Asked about the drama surrounding Hird, Heppell said the situation was out of the players' control. "As a playing group we are still really close-knit so we will just let that play out over the next few days," he said.
Chairman Paul Little maintained that it was the club's belief that the players had not taken any illegal substances during the club's disastrous supplements program.
"Our priority remains the welfare of our players and protecting their rights," he said. "Through no fault of their own, the players and their families continue to live with the uncertainty of this investigation.
"Based on two years of extensive internal investigation plus re-examination of all the evidence and information available, we maintain our confidence, that neither harmful nor banned substances were given to our players."
