AFL charge sheets condemn Essendon's lack of diligence in the hiring of Stephen Dank Diligence ... Stephen Dank is at the heart of Essendon's drug saga. THE simplest breach of good governance in the Essendon doping saga was the lack of due diligence in the appointment of sports scientist Stephen Dank. The damning 34-page charge sheet released by the AFL on Wednesday alleges that coach James Hird, football boss Danny Corcoran and senior assistant coach Mark Thompson failed to check Dank's work history and fitness for the role before hiring him. No background checks were conducted with his former employers. Little, if any, consideration was given to his outside business interests and the conflicts that may thereby arise," it said. Saga could see Bombers' stars walk Expert tells of frightening drugs links Dank worked at NRL club Cronulla in 2011 and in April that year club doctor David Givney wrote an email about Dank and his practices to coach Shane Flanagan and football manager Darren Mooney that is similar to the letter penned by Essendon club doctor Bruce Reid just nine months later. The Givney letter says Dank was unable "to tell me at that time what was in the injections the players have been getting" and that the person giving the injections was not medically trained. It also dealt with "a rumour around the NRL that the Sharks are being injected with RPC - a precursor for growth hormone." Givney writes "time for all this to stop." Past ... Stephen Dank in his days with the Cronulla Sharks. Among the AFL charge sheet allegations is that Hird "did not ensure that Dank was subjected to appropriate employment history checks or that Dank was appropriately supervised and managed, despite being aware of the importance of, and risks associated with, the position of sports scientist for the program the club was proposing to implement. Dank joined the club on November 4, 2011 and, together with high performance boss Dean Robinson, set about implementing a program the AFL alleges led to players being treated with banned supplements or, at least, saw players treated with substances the club still cannot say are definitively not banned. By January 2012, Reid had written to Hird and football manager Paul Hamilton saying he had "fundamental problems being club doctor" because of the supplements program. Later that month, Hird sent a message to football department boss Corcoran telling him that he was frustrated with Reid and that Corcoran's "United Nations" skills were needed to get "back into action." Even after a meeting in May 2012 where senior assistant coach Thompson instructed the injections must stop, they continued for a further three months.