Playing for the Penrith Panthers, he seemingly defied gravity, contorting his body in mid-air to plant the ball down inside the corner post.

Now, Earl simply wants another chance to do what he loves.

After spending the past two years in limbo on a provisional ban for using performance-enhancing drugs, the former Raiders, Panthers and Roosters winger is on the verge of getting closure.

Ideally for Earl, he will have no further suspension imposed by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and be allowed to resume his NRL career next year.

It would be a remarkable comeback if that comes to fruition.

Earl pleaded his case during a five-hour hearing of the NRL's anti-doping tribunal on Thursday, with a decision expected next week.

He's been a scapegoat during this whole drawn-out, messy saga since the NRL announced on August 29, 2013, that he had been issued with an infraction notice for the use and trafficking of performance-enhancing drug CJC-1295.

Earl faces a four-year ban if he is found guilty, but hopes to resume playing next season if that suspension is reduced to two years.

There is no way Earl should have been left for this long without some sort of resolution, one way or the other.

Earl can feel hard done by that while he has been left stranded, Cronulla Sharks players are back on the field.

Seventeen Sharks players accepted backdated 12-month bans in a deal from ASADA last year.

Most missed just three games.

It wasn't an easy choice.

The alternative for the Sharks players was a possible two-year legal fight that could have cost them up to $300,000 in legal fees in addition to lost income.

North Queensland winger Matthew Wright, who was 20 when he was at the Sharks when the injection program took place, missed the finals and the Four Nations tournament for Samoa.

At least the Sharks players had a choice.

Earl did the right thing. He came clean.

He could have easily decided to stay quiet and played on with the Raiders until ASADA eventually came knocking at his door.

The AFL's Essendon Bombers have kept their shutters up the entire time.

In March, the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal wasn't "comfortably satisfied" any of the 34 players "used" a prohibited substance, namely thymosin beta-4.

ASADA decided against appealing against the AFL tribunal's judgment, instead passing its case over to the World Anti-Doping Agency.

WADA's appeal against the verdict of the Essendon case is set to be heard in Sydney in mid-November.

So the Bombers are far from in the clear.

But in the meantime, the players have been free to go about their business and continue their careers as professional footballers.

Earl?

He's lived in Thailand for the past two years and opened an organic health bar in Phuket in late 2013.

Earl's desire to return to the NRL is as strong as ever.

What he did was wrong, there is no disputing that.

During his time at Penrith in 2011, Earl used CJC-1295, which was administered by Dr Ijaz Khan at a private clinic, Injury Care, in Cabramatta to treat a shoulder injury.

Earl alleges Khan told him CJC-1295 wasn't a banned supplement during the eight times he was administered the drug between August 2, 2011, and September 12, 2011.

ASADA has made a mess of this entire situation.

You can understand it needs time to undertake due diligence and gather evidence to present its case, but there is no way it should have taken this long.

I'm sure Raiders fans would entertain the thought of having Earl back in Canberra if he gets the green light to resume his NRL career.

He was an instant success when he joined the Raiders mid-way through the 2012 season.

Earl formed a dynamic on-field combination with centre Blake Ferguson, coining the name "Dorguson" and playing a key role in the Raiders' surge to the finals that year.

In 2013, Earl's form dropped off.

Looking back, with the hindsight of the doping bombshell, it's easy to see the impending news was weighing heavily on his mind.

The question for NRL teams is whether he is worth a second chance?

Earl will be 26 by the start of next season.

Providing he's kept himself in reasonable shape, there's no reason to say why he's not worth a punt.

He's shown enough to suggest he can be a handy addition to an NRL squad.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. What first needs to happen is the verdict.

The fact we will have a result after two years of waiting is the first victory.