Mark Hutchings (East Perth/WA) – Draft Profile

Height: 181cm
Weight: 81kg
Preferred foot: Right/Dual Sided
Role: Midfield (offensive or defensive)
Potential: 6.5-7.5/10
Style-like: Steven Armstrong?

Strengths

> Good vision in traffic – can be quite creative with his feeds from traffic
> Very good courage and attack on the football – will consistently put his head over it and more often than not win the footy – goes back with the flight willingly
> Good all-round ball winning and play reading ability both as an inside player and linker – reads and positions himself quite well at stoppages
> Excellent team and work ethic – very hard worker both ways with an excellent engine, good accountability and a strong tackler – capable of playing run with roles with good effect > Good agility and well balanced in close quarters
> WA U18 coach (Andrew Lockyer) says he possesses “strong leadership skills” – was captain of the 2009 WA U18 team

Weaknesses

> Lacks a yard of pace off the mark (OK over distance) –will sometimes get himself caught out because of it
> Kicking lacks penetration over longer distances – struggles too and rarely kicks over 40m
> Limited versatility – he can play an offensive or defensive midfield role, possibly a small defender role but no real other roles stand out at AFL

Other

> Sound-decent dual sided kick with decent weighting over short range on both sides
> Sound DM - lowish risk/reward gamestyle - can be a tad slow on occasions
> Clean, but not outstanding hands – good in traffic
> OK-decent feeder – decent precision, can be reasonably sharp over short distances, though tends to give the ball too much air at other times
> Doesn't have a big frame but should develop into an OK build
> Should be given opportunities at AFL next year with 15 games of WAFL senior football behind him over the last 2 seasons – I thought he was better in 2008 averaging 15.8d and 0.2g from 5 games vs 12.3d and 0.5g from 10 games in 2009 – however did seem to get noticeably less TOG and opportunities in games this season

Stats

2008 and 2009 WAFL League
2009 WAFL League, Reserves and Colts
2009 U18 Championships

Overall

Hutchings is a solid inside midfield prospect and 100% team footballer without any frills attached. At worst he will be a very good depth player that will excel at state league level but struggle with the step up, at best he could be a valuable foot soldier in the midfield that will allow stars to shine. Worth a 3rd round pick onwards.