Essendon chairman Paul Little has defended the AFL club’s disastrous legal action against ASADA, saying it was the right thing to do.

Members applauded Little at the club’s Monday night annual general meeting when he said he would do the same again.

Little was referring to the Federal Court action that Essendon and coach James Hird launched against the anti-doping body.

They challenged the legality of ASADA’s joint investigation with the AFL into Essendon’s 2012 supplements program.

Justice Middleton ruled decisively three months ago against Essendon and Hird.

While the club decided not to take the matter further, Hird is awaiting the result of his Federal Court appeal against the verdict.

ASADA has also gone ahead with its case against 34 current and past Essendon players following Justice Middleton’s verdict.

It is now before the AFL anti-doping tribunal in a landmark hearing that also started on Monday.

“We were of the view there was a strong case to challenge the validity of the action,” Little said at the AGM.

“As it turned out, we were wrong – we lost that action.

“I still believe that what we did was absolutely in the best interests of the players.

“If we had a similar situation again – hindsight is a wonderful thing – I’d do it again.”

Also at the AGM, Little said Essendon officials were not allowed to attend the anti-doping hearing, which is closed to the media and public.

The hearing will also sit on Thursday and Friday before it breaks for Christmas.

It will continue on January 12 and Little hopes it will end later that month.

He remains confident the tribunal will rule in favour of the players, but asked Essendon members to be patient.

“We hope this is the last step before our players names can be cleared once and for all and we can all move forward, putting this major distraction behind us,” Little said.

“Make no mistake, we, like everyone in this room, want this matter finalised as quickly as possible.

“But I am sure you will agree that we cannot and will not compromise the position of our players for the sake of a quick resolution simply to satisfy the broader public.”