Collingwood's David Buttifant and Melbourne's David Misson know it's hard for some to imagine that could be the case, given the amount of times their profession has been denigrated in the past month.
"People who criticise sports scientists don't really understand what happens at club level," Misson told AFL.com.au.
"It's a high performance coach, rehab coach, strength coach, dietician, in consultation with the coaching staff and doctors, working in collaboration to prepare athletes."
Remember how Hawk star Cyril Rioli's running style was modified to help him avoid hamstring injuries?
A high performance (or sports science) team developed the plan for that.
And if you adapt the question made famous in Monty Python's Life of Brian to ask 'What have Sports Scientists ever done for us?' general answers flow:
- Individual training schedules
- GPS data and its analysis
- Advanced injury prevention and rehabilitation methods
- Recovery programs
- Skill acquisition and testing
- Education of coaches and players about how to prepare as a professional athlete.
- Ice baths, high altitude rooms, wellness monitoring
It's hard to imagine such a fast, spectacular game without the presence of the profession.
"Watch the 1996 Grand Final and compare it to now," Buttifant says.
"The competitiveness was similar but the athleticism of today's player has evolved significantly."
Despite all that, the alleged unethical practices of a few have recently tarnished the title.
AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou has taken out the big rhetorical stick in order to flush out any cowboys that might be in the industry in the wake of the Essendon scandal and the Australian Crime Commission report released in February.
Such discussion has made it easy for others to perceive the role as the domain of laboratory coat-wearing concoction creators.
Misson says he doesn't even think of himself as a scientist. He is a coach, a man manager who prepares people to play elite sport.
He puts players' wellbeing as his No.1 priority.
And at Melbourne, he carries the title of elite performance manager in any event.
Misson has a multitude of decisions to make every moment of every day as he prepares players. If something goes wrong in a player's recovery or a hamstring tears when it should not, the buck stops with him.
He understands the game's demands and appears to believe in the power of the human spirit. In his time, he's seen what players are capable of.
His respect for them is palpable.
That's why the calm exterior he carries is sometimes misleading. His mind is always ticking. At the club he is with now, he has had to be patient, ensuring the young bodies are developed in a way that is sustainable and healthy.
He knows where his expertise starts and ends too, so he has a team of professionals to help him.
Misson also has a good relationship with the club doctor, Dan Bates, who calls the shots when it comes to medical issues.
Both understand the pressures that come in the real world of helping players perform in the elite sporting environment while maintaining enough perspective to protect a player's wellbeing.
Neither Misson nor Buttifant can imagine being in an environment where the doctor and high performance manager's relationship is any different.
Any rumblings among the competition around that demarcation appeared to be resolved anyway after The best practice framework for AFL sport science, physiotherapy and medicine personnel was established in consultation with the AFL in the middle of 2012.
Yet it keeps being raised and raised again.
Both Melbourne and Collingwood also have sports science committees to ensure any idea is tested for its efficacy with the research behind it and its value critically assessed.
This is not a mad scientists group. Rather it is made up of coaches and football managers and a person who reports to the board.
"If someone suggests [using] special magnets from Timbuktu or whatever, the question is: where is the research?" Buttifant said.
He's using an extreme example to make the point. Both understand that extreme ideas exist but don't get far in an evidence-based system.
So although the term 'pushing the envelope' became something of a cliché, there has never been a free for all in good clubs anyway.
According to Buttifant, AFL clubs have become like micro-institutes of sport.
Buttifant has a doctorate in exercise physiology and the director of sports science position at the Magpies but he says his role is all about man management too.
He proved that when he was a key player in getting Collingwood prepared for the 2010 Grand Final replay after a brutal draw the week before.
When the coach at the time, Mick Malthouse, admitted he would 'leave it in 'Butters' hands', no-one demurred.
One wonders what they would think now, and for many in the profession that seems unfair.
Having seen Buttifant with players, his approach is a mixture of common sense, care and expertise.
And, when required, he helps people push themselves to a place they may not have imagined themselves capable of reaching.
The respect the Magpies have for him is immense. His respect for sport and for what teams supporting athletes can help them achieve bursts from him too.
Mo Farah's efforts in the London Olympics under mentor Alberto Salazar when he ran the last mile of his 5,000-metre race in 3 minutes and 52 seconds was just the latest achievement to blow his mind.
Both Misson and Buttifant are members of the AFL Sports Science Association that met at the Westpac Centre in mid-February, a week after the Essendon and ACC news broke.
Many members were angry at the time about the effect the speculation was likely to have on the reputation of their profession but they decided to hold their line until more information came to light.
No-one wants to be commenting on the ongoing investigations because the results will provide the answers, not a commentary.
In the meantime, the association welcomed the tougher measures the AFL introduced on February 20.
They took a balanced view.
"It's not been a bad thing [as it] just gives you a recheck of your systems and practices," Misson said.
Clubs double-checked their own processes and were satisfied with what was in place.
The supplements their clubs provide come from traditional suppliers, Musashi at Collingwood and BSC at Melbourne.
In Misson's words, they are 'garden variety' supplements and he welcomes an audit.
At both clubs, if any player wanted to move outside what the club recommended, they had to have it authorised by the sports science director and the doctor.
But the basics are what matter most: a balanced diet, enough sleep, a measured lifestyle, and the work ethic to prepare well.
And a program developed that takes into account a player's age, body shape, role in the game and capacity.
The main worry they admit is that they can't hold every player's hand every minute of the day. So, they are educated about what they can and can't take and are expected, as professional athletes, to accept responsibility for their intake.
"You can't watch them 24/7," Buttifant said. "You have to educate them and they have to make the right decision."
Buttifant says the drama has created an apprehension among players: "Players will now be thinking 'is this safe'?"
That's not a bad thing because the question should be on their mind anyway.
"Athletically, our game is hardest in the world and our players would be among some of the fittest players in world sport," Misson said.
What disappoints the association most is the constant maligning of sports scientists when football and sport has benefited from the majority who practice ethically.
Both point to the membership of their association that includes people with between 12 and 25 years experience with elite athletes.
They point to the research their members have undertaken, to the Brisbane Lions' Brett Burton, a recent member who was president of the AFL Players' Association not so long ago.
They say, with some justification, that a title does not guarantee an ethical approach.
With world sport now understanding the role rogue doctors played in doping exercises in other countries, it's a fair point.
But it's not necessarily a point they want to emphasise for fear of creating a battle that doesn't need to exist.
Their point is that the game needs to focus on ethical practices across the board and support people of good character to work together.
And ensure the game benefits as much from elite sports science as it does from elite coaching, strong medical advice and courageous players.
A time to balance the discussion might have arrived.
"We need to show a bit of leadership as well instead of just copping the flak," Buttifant said.
