For long-suffering Essendon supporters, James Hird was the fairytale option. Instead, the Bombers are set to turn to another favourite son, with former midfielder Mark McVeigh poised to become the club’s next senior coach as the club officially finished wooden spooner in the 2026 AFL season.

McVeigh has emerged from a field that included Hird, Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham and Adelaide coaching director Murray Davis.

The size of the job awaiting him? 8,024 days. That’s how long it has been since Essendon last won a final, dating back to its five-point elimination-final victory over Melbourne on September 4, 2004.

For supporters old enough to remember the Kevin Sheedy years, it’s an extraordinary drought. Essendon won four premierships under Sheedy and dominated the 2000 season, and now, after another miserable campaign, it is searching for a way back.

The fairytale that wasn’t

That’s what made Hird such a fascinating candidate. The Brownlow medallist, premiership captain and one of the greatest Bombers of all time returning to revive Essendon after more than two decades without a finals victory had all the ingredients of a football fairytale.

There was plenty of support for it, too, but the club has resisted the romantic option and is about to announce McVeigh, Hird’s former teammate and a man with deep Essendon roots of his own.

McVeigh played 232 games for the Bombers from 1999 to 2012 before building his coaching credentials elsewhere.

He had 13 games as Greater Western Sydney’s caretaker senior coach in 2022 and has been an assistant at Sydney since 2023.

Hird has congratulated his former teammate but admitted his disappointment at missing out and indicated he won’t accept another role at Essendon.

McVeigh may be one of their own, but this isn’t simply a nostalgic appointment. He returns after years learning his craft outside the club.

And after 8,024 days without a finals victory, his task is brutally simple.

Stop the clock.