Cronulla defiant under doping spotlight Defiant NRL club Cronulla will field players under a doping cloud as AFL's Essendon Bombers strive to distance themselves from the latest twist in Australian sport's drug scandal. Cronulla players met lawyers before training on Thursday but appear set to reject a plea bargain deal of a six-month ban if they admit to using banned substances, knowingly or not. Players possibly face a maximum two-year suspension if found guilty by an investigation underway by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority. ASADA is also investigating Essendon, with both clubs having sequentially employed controversial sports scientist Stephen Dank, who has denied any wrongdoing. Dank joined Essendon last year after working for Cronulla in 2011. ASADA is believed to have asked the Sharks to stand down as many as six players from their NRL season-opener against Gold Coast on Sunday. But the club is adamant the 17 players named will take the field and advice is being taken from former ASADA senior counsel Richard Redman. Redman was hired amid reports that up to 14 Sharks were implicated in ASADA's doping investigation. NRL chief David Smith conceded there was "incredible uncertainty" in league ranks, but guaranteed Cronulla would play on Sunday without specifying whether it would be the announced team. "As I have said from day one, the NRL is taking the ASADA investigation very seriously," Smith said in a statement. It is an investigation that must be allowed to run its course and it is inappropriate for us to enter into speculation about what may be taking place. The Sharks predicament attracted sympathy from Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy, who wondered how Cronulla would find players if they lost a batch from their current squad. "It's a pretty dire situation obviously," Bellamy told reporters in Melbourne. The NRL can't afford for a team to drop out of the competition and Cronulla are going to struggle if they're missing that many players. If that figure of 14 is right, that's a lot of players to find. Cronulla's plight had been noted by Essendon and their players, the AFL club's coach James Hird said. But Hird said the Cronulla controversy had little to do with his club's investigation. "We have an investigation of our own going on," Hird told reporters in Canberra. Cronulla is something that they've got to deal with and they'll deal with it. But Hird conceded Essendon players would be closely watching the Cronulla developments. "I think it would be unrealistic to say it's gone straight over (Essendon players') heads," he said. The facts will come out. The truth will come out. That is what the club and supporters want, and then we'll move on.