Short, Sweet, Succinct is the quickest way to the top for Old Brighton

After Old Brighton held off Old Xaverians in Round 2 the question “is Greg Hutchison the coach of the year?” was floated on the VAFA’s For the Love of the Game podcast. 

The response from ‘Grumpy Brian’ drew much disdain “Look, why do you ask… Can someone please help me? Please! The man (Joey) just asks the most inane ridiculous questions.”

10 rounds on, Old Brighton are 2nd on the Orthosport Ladder having beaten St Kevin’s (1st), Old Xaverians (4th) and University Blues twice. They are primed for a big tilt at this year’s title in William Buck Premier. 

Coming off the VAFA’s famous double bye rounds, going into Round 12 against Caulfield the question about Hutchison being in line for coach of the year was again put to Waldron, and captain of the Tonners, Harry Hill on For the Love of the Game “Absolutely. He’s been amazing Hutch, there’s not many coaches who’ve lasted that long in the role (7 years) which is just an unbelievable effort for Amateur footy.” said Hill. 

When Hutchison took over Old Brighton as the senior coach in 2015, the club was coming off a 5 game winning season in the VAFA’s top-flight in 2014 that saw them relegated to Premier B. 

Hutchison has a winning record of 65% with Old Brighton (75 wins, 39 losses and 2 draws). A record that includes the 2017 Premiership in Premier B (Beating Old Scotch by 36 points) which put the club back in William Buck Premier. They have not only stabilised in the top section, they have finished in the top four in 2018 before losing the Elimination Final, fifth in 2019, top three in 2021 before the season was abandoned, and they’re on-track for a double chance in 2022.   

The ability to get the best out of the core group of players at Brighton Beach Oval, according to Hill, has to be credited to the coach and his guidance “how he gets the boys motivated, up and about week to week. It can be bloody hard Amateur footy, there’s 4-5 changes a week, VFL availability, illness etc.”

“He does a really good job in keeping the message simple,” he continued. 

It may still be too early to be contemplating or considering the 2022 coach of the year. No doubt this will give Waldron a wry smile, and some additional fodder for the next edition of the For the Love of the Game podcast. 

For the boys’ bayside, they’re buying into the message of the man affectionately known as ‘Hutch’ who will asking his troops to buy into the messages this weekend when they face off against Caulfield Grammarians in Round 12 as part of the TAC and VAFA’s Road Safety Round.