James Hird had every right to launch Federal Court action in August. His legal team established what appeared to be sound arguments over the validity of the probe into the club's supplements program, only for Justice John Middleton to tear the case down.
It was then that Hird had to think of others, namely the players who had been issued with 34 show-cause notices, and now face having those re-issued with greater evidence by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority. That process can only begin once Hird and Essendon abandon any thought of an appeal.
The Bombers have, Hird hadn't - as of Wednesday night.
Hird is standing on principle, or wants to become "a martyr" as one onlooker suggested on Wednesday, still believing he did nothing wrong during the implementation of the club's peptides program that has engulfed the club for 21 months.
However, those at the heart of the saga - the unfortunate players - want this next stage brought to a head, and it's before an official tribunal where their best hope lay to clear their names. Leading sports lawyer Darren Kane pointed this out last weekend.
"There's no 'Deep Throat' or smoking gun. Unlike when Lance Armstrong was put to the sword, the Essendon players aren't staring down a tsunami of affidavits sworn by other athletes, who nail their own colours to the mast in order to slay the serpent," he wrote in his Fairfax Media column.
"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. 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, text messages and other documents. But serious contests might arise regarding ASADA's ability to use much of what it has.
"The Australian Crime Commission can share with ASADA information gained through its coercive powers, but ASADA can't use it as evidence. Once inside the hearing room, what ASADA might know doesn't matter. What does matter is what it can prove, with admissible material."
If Hird seeks - and is successful - an injunction against ASADA, he is again denying the players of this chance to prove they were not given the banned peptide, thymosin beta 4. If he does not seek an injunction, ASADA's process can continue.
Any appeal, of course, is no guarantee of succeeding. Hird and his high-priced lawyers must be thorough in finding errors of law in Middleton's decision.
"Appeals can be curious beasts," said one lawyer on Wednesday.
"The full Federal Court could just direct it back to the judge. It could be a complete waste of time."
Or it could somehow find a way of having the show-causes notices, as he had wanted in the first place, halted.
"A long shot," said another lawyer.
Hird would know the risks, but perhaps feels it's his last roll of the proverbial dice. He may yet abandon an appeal should the Bombers, once the directors meet in an emergency board meeting on Thursday, threaten him with the sack. In his heart, he may even know his time is up, regardless of the board meeting. Perhaps being sacked is the best way to ensure a full pay out.
With Paddy Ryder already wanting out, scarred by the events of the scandal, it remains to be seen whether Hird can still get the best out of those players remaining at the club next season.
And that's discounting what would happen once the show-cause process accelerates. If it leads to infraction notices, and suspensions, Hird would know he is finished.
When news broke on Wednesday of Hird's decision to appeal, one observer noted: "This whole purpose is to deny the hearing of the key question - were players given prohibited substances in 2012?"
Many would say it's time for Hird to play the team game.
Hird's time at Essendon
2010
September: Appointed coach on four-year contract.
November: Two-time premiership coach Mark Thompson quits Geelong to be Hird's senior assistant.
December: Businessman Paul Little appointed as a director.
2011
June: Encouraging start to coaching tenure interrupted by mid-season losing streak of five matches.
July: Inflicts eventual premier Geelong's first defeat of the season, in round 15, and then won six of last nine matches to reach finals.
August: Appointed Dean Robinson as high-performance coach.
September: Appointed Stephen Dank as its head of sports science.
2012
July: After finishing round 16 just one win off top spot, the club, besieged by soft-tissue injuries, loses its final seven home-and-away matches.
September: General manager of football operations Paul Hamilton resigns.
2013
February: Club self reports to ASADA possibility its players had been administered banned substances. Chairman David Evans commissions an independent review of its medical arrangements by Dr Ziggy Switkowski. Robinson and Dank are both stood down by the club.
May: Switkowski delivers a report damning of the club's supplements program, particularly about the lack of oversight of it. Chief executive Ian Robson quits and is replaced by Ray Gunston, whose interim role lasted until October.
June: Another six-match winning streak, beginning in round 11, lifts it to second position, one win behind eventual premier Hawthorn.
July: Another late-season capitulation sees the club lose five of its last six matches, as speculation mounted the club's position in the finals was in jeopardy. Chairman David Evans resigns (above), amid health concerns after a bitter public rift with Hird. Little replaces him. Sidelined fitness boss Robinson is scathing of the club in a paid television interview.
August: ASADA delivers its interim report. In the week before its final home-and-away match the club agrees to the following penalties expulsion from the 2013 finals, $2 million fine, loss of draft picks in next two drafts, 12-month suspension for James Hird, four-month suspension for general manager of football operations Danny Corcoran, $30,000 fine for Thompson. Hird is concurrently given a two-year contract extension.
October: Thompson promoted to acting senior coach during Hird's suspension.
December: Essendon confirms it has paid Hird in advance for 2014 to avoid contravening the terms of the ban, which enrages then AFL boss Andrew Demetriou. Corcoran resigns.
2014
March: Hird departs Australia for a four-month management training course in France.
May: Hird's wife, Tania (below), declares in a television interview Demetriou warned Evans to self-report to ASADA because of impending action, an allegation denied by both parties.
June: A total of 34 past and current issued show-cause notices by ASADA. Essendon then launches Federal Court action to have the joint ASADA-AFL investigation, and any action arising from it, ruled invalid.
July: Hird returns to Australia. Essendon reiterates it wants Hird to coach in 2015, but sidelines him — against his wishes — from resuming a coaching role under Thompson once his ban lapsed, instead directing him to concentrate on planning for the following season.
August: Hird is the most high-profile figure to give evidence in the ASADA Federal Court action, declaring he only admitted responsibility for the supplements program, at a joint press conference with the AFL, under sufferance, and disagreed with the club's co-operation with ASADA.
September: Essendon loses its Federal Court action against ASADA. Paddy Ryder's plans to force a move from the club, possibly by having his contract annulled on player-welfare grounds, is revealed.
October 1: Essendon declines to appeal loss to ASADA, but Hird to appeal — against the club's wishes. Emergency board meeting called for Thursday.
