Hollywood has had some memorable disaster movies.

Think Steve McQueen in Towering Inferno, Charlton Heston in Earthquake, Ernest Borgnine in The Poseidon Adventure.

When they get around to casting the Essendon movie, the bloke who plays James Hird will have his name at the top of the poster.

• Essendon and James Hird part company 
• James Hird fires back at Bomber Thompson 
• Why James Hird is our new Lindy Chamberlain

And whether you think he’s a villain, or a hero fighting grave injustices – as many still do – there’s one fact that can’t be denied: it will be a disaster movie.

The body count is of Rambo proportions.

While those around him fell, Hird clung on like a barnacle, resolute in his belief that he was the right man to lead Essendon.

Until Tuesday, that was, when he was convinced that, for the good of the club he loves – the club he spilled blood, sweat and who knows how many tears for – he had to go.

He was the last key player from the supplements saga to fall, but fall he did.

CEO Ian Robson was the first casualty, then chairman David Evans disappeared.

Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson, the seasoned 2IC who arrived at the end of 2010, had to make way for the returning king, after Hird had served his year-long suspension.

Hird arrived at Windy Hill with little expectation – a seemingly brittle 17-year-old chosen with pick 79 in the 1990 draft.

He went on to become one of the greatest players the club has ever known.

He was tough, courageous, blessed with sublime skill and an indomitable will.

If you like this article, you should also read: James Hird: all class to the very end

But the legacy he left as a player will no doubt be tarnished by his spell as a coach, fairly or otherwise.

At the press conference to announce his departure he spoke repeatedly of giving the club “space” to move on.

Hird will be bitterly disappointed he departs with the ASADA saga still unresolved.

One could feel the air around Essendon get a little bit lighter when the club’s players were exonerated by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal in March, only for the black clouds to mass once more when it was revealed WADA would appeal that verdict.

And where will it all end?

Whatever WADA’s decision is, will that finally bring closure to the scandal that has gripped footy for two-and-a-half years?

The Essendon disaster movie is crying out for a hero, and it will take some kind of man to step into the void Hird has created.

In an interesting move, the club turned to Matthew Egan, rather than the more seasoned Neil Craig or Mark Harvey to coach the final three games of the season.

The man who will be charged with the task of waking this sleeping giant will have to be made of stern stuff indeed.