It means they won't be arguing their innocence to the ADRVP (the government-appointed group who assess show-cause notices and any responses to them in order to decide if the players are likely to have doped). Unless something strange occurs, it's pretty much a given that the ADRVP will conclude they have doped and will put an entry onto a 'register of findings'.
Once this occurs, I believe the infraction notices are sent and the players are referred to the AFL tribunal. The players can still argue their case here I think, and ASADA will argue theirs. Then, they are found guilty and punished.
If either side (ASADA or Essendon*) are not happy with the outcome, the next step is for the matter to be taken to the CAS - the sports court (in Switzerland I believe). That will drag the process out a looooong time.
This is pretty much it. The players are, by not responding to the show cause notices, are pleading a no contest to the doping charges. The ADRVP will then enter them into a register of findings as having been found guilty of doping and will be referred to the AFL doping panel.
I think that the AFLPA and the AFL will try and rig it so that the players will be given as light a sentence as posssible (a 3 month ban out of contest) as opposed to the 24 months that ASADA will be recommending that they be banned for. IF they only get the 3 month out of contest suspension, then either WADA or ASADA will be appealing that decision at CAS (Court of Arbitration in Sports) in Geneva, Switzerland and the players will be allowed to continue training and playing during that appeal process. ASADA, and by extension WADA, needs to stamp on this as harshly as possible and ensure that no other sporting organisations anywhere else in the world gets in on the act.
With a bit of luck, when ASADA or WADA appeal Jab Watson's, the CAS board will find him guilty of deliberate doping and strip him of all awards won during that period (i.e. there goes Jab's Brownlow medal).
As soon as between 2 and 6 players are entered on the register of findings, WADA has the right to start applying team based penalties which would see everyone actively involved in the program receiving between 2 year (There goes Bomber's and Corcoran's careers basically) and lifetime bans (Hird, Evans and Doc Reid).
By declaring it before the expiration of the 10 day response period, the players and the AFLPA has allowed ASADA to refer the matter of the show cause notices to ADRVP immediately. All that means is that the ADRVP will spend 5 minutes per player making an entry into the register of findings.
As I said originally with this... Essendon* are ******.