Prior to the final round vice captain Mark McVeigh announced his retirement from football after 14 season and 232 games at the club . After the Home and Away season completed Essendon captain Jobe Watson was awarded the Brownlow Medal . The highest individual accolade in the AFL The season became notorious for the illegal supplements program that was operated by the club prior to and into the 2012 season . After a three-year investigation , thirty-four players on the 2012 squad were suspected to have been administered the banned peptide Thymosin beta-4 , and were suspended for the 2016 season
Brownlow Medal
2012 Brownlow Medal
2012 Essendon Football Club season