As it stands today, the Melbourne Football Club does not have access to the identities, nor the number of players, who are in potentially incriminating text messages sent from the phone of Joel Smith.

Unofficially, the Demons say they don’t know how many texts were sent by Smith, nor – most crucial of all – the contents of those messages, which, if the worst came to pass, could put another player or two in the crosshairs of Sport Integrity Australia.

The question of what Smith allegedly sent to teammates is the major risk factor for the Demons, who say they are not allowed to run their own investigation into the Smith imbroglio, which threatens to become another major hurdle for a club that is already dealing with the delicate matter of Clayton Oliver’s wellbeing.

Smith knows what he did or didn’t, and so does his legal team. The AFL’s head lawyer, Stephen Meade, is privy to what’s alleged, and the new AFL CEO Andrew Dillon, clearly, must be in the loop.

Typically, such incendiary material does not remain private for long and the players, doubtless, will talk among each other. As in any workplace, they will want to know what the hell has happened.

But if it’s possible that this extended investigation by Sport Integrity Australia may discover that others have run foul of the WADA code, the outcome would be further embarrassment to the club, player(s) and competition if those names reach the public domain.

Joel Smith.Credit: Getty Images

For another player to get nailed by Sport Integrity Australia would require a pretty explicit message that demonstrated drug use and/or distribution, and it might need to be shown that cocaine or another illicit drug-as-stimulant had been ingested close to game day. Smith, we shouldn’t forget, is only in the dock because he tested positive to cocaine after a late-season game. It is an SIA, not a police matter.

Smith should understand that he is long odds to wear the red and blue again. He’s 27, and under the anti-doping code there’s a four-year minimum ban for “trafficking” or attempting to traffic, so if the latest charges were proven by SIA, it would end his league career. It would be a shock if the Demons retained him even for a shorter ban, given the collective damage.