DRIVEN: Mark Hutchings has been given a second crack at AFL football. Picture: Will Russell Source: PerthNow
IT was the blueprint that engineered Mark Hutchings' return to AFL level.
It sat on his desk, contained three key points and one common thread, and was looked at almost daily. It repeatedly read: improve.
The year was 2010 and Hutchings had gone from an extreme high of entering the AFL system as a St Kilda rookie, to the "shattering" low of being delisted at season's end without playing a senior game.
So he took out a sheet of paper and a pen. And he wrote.
"It was pretty tough because it was my dream to play AFL, and to have that dream shattered for that moment was very disappointing," Hutchings said. "I'd always had the desire, but that gave me the extra drive to succeed.
"I always knew I was good enough - I knew I had it in me - I just had to show it to people.
"So, I tried to learn from what people were saying to me, set those goals and forget what happened in the past."
Hutchings, a former WA under-18 captain, re-entered the WAFL, switching from East Perth to arch-rival West Perth.
Hutchings was drafted by the Saints after averaging 12.3 disposals in 2009 as an 18-year-old with the Royals. Two years later, this almost doubled to to 21.4 touches.
Last year he finished runner-up in the 2012 Sandover Medal after averaging 24.9 disposals a game.
And all the time he had his list.
"I talked to my dad and wrote it down, just so I had it in front of me on paper," Hutchings said. "It was there in front of me every day, or when I looked at it every couple of days, so that it didn't just bobble around in my mind.
"If you get it down on paper, then it gives you something to look back on and help you stay on track.
"I left it on my desk and maybe every month I'd come back and add ways of how I was going to achieve those goals.
"The goals never really changed - it was more the 'how'; how I was going to achieve those goals that would help me get there (back to the AFL)."
West Coast gave Hutchings his second chance, using its third-round pick, No.60 overall, in last year's national draft. The Eagles identified the 22-year-old as a ready-made midfielder who would add the depth they needed for a premiership tilt.
Hutchings showed how far his development had come last weekend when, in West Coast's opening NAB Cup clash against Geelong, he grabbed six possessions and made four tackles to be among the Eagles' best against a Cats midfield that included Joel Selwood and Jimmy Bartel.
It was a showing Hutchings always knew he had in him, but one he was prepared to display in any arena if his second stint in AFL had not eventuated.
"I would've still given it my all for West Perth (if I hadn't been drafted)," he said.
"The overriding goal was always to be the best footballer I could be and if that wasn't good enough to make AFL, then so be it.
"This time around, I feel a lot more confident in my abilities and I think I'm a better player. I tried to improve specific areas of my game that were letting me down and I think, over the past couple of years, I made some big improvements and that's why I got this second chance."
The news of his drafting took a while to hit Hutchings, who, as a personal trainer, was in the middle of a session with a client and unable to answer the flood of calls made to his phone on November 22 last year.
But the emotion of playing for the team he had supported as boy has stuck with him. And now he has a new list to write; one that maps out his plan for breaking into one of the strongest midfields in the competition.
"I know we've got a really strong midfield, like (Scott) Selwood, (Matt) Priddis and guys like that and they're all really fit and firing and they're experienced AFL footballers," he said. "But, then again, I'm a good player as well."
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