Generally considered one of the finest rovers ever to play the game, he captained Essendon from 1951 to 1957, and was a vital part of Essendon's premiership sides in 1942, 1946, 1949 and 1950.
Family
The son of Scottish parents, Henry Kearton Hutchison (1884–1962) and Agnes Caskie Hutchison (1889–1977), née Brown, William Henry Hutchison was born at Kensington on 28 April 1923.[1] He married Helen Isabel "Nell" Giles (1923–2011) in 1947.
Football career
Hutchison played with Essendon from 1942 to 1957.
Debut
He made his First XVIII debut on 16 May 1942 as a wingman, against Footscray, in Round 2 of the 1942 season; originally listed as an emergency,[2] he was a last-minute replacement for the unavailable Les Griggs.[3]
Interstate (VFL)
Selected in every season from 1945 to 1954, inclusive, and again in 1956, Hutchison played 30 games for Victoria and kicked 67 goals.[4] He was selected in the All-Australian team in both 1953 and 1956, the two years in which he also captained Victoria at the ANFC Carnivals in Adelaide and Perth, respectively. He was also selected on eight separate occasions in the Sporting Life Team of the Year: 1947, 1948, and 1950–1955.
Last match
His last match was against Melbourne in the 1957 VFL Grand Final. He was captain and first rover in the Essendon team that lost to Melbourne 7.13 (55) to 17.14 (116). He retired after the Grand Final, and he did not participate in the end-of-season night football competition that was held immediately after the final series.[5]
Brownlow Medal
Once established as a rover, he consistently polled well in the Brownlow Medal vote count:
Although their total votes and their "first votes" were equal, their "second votes" were not, and Wright (with more "second votes" and less "third votes" than Hutchison) was awarded the medal on a countback according to the rules that applied at the time;[13] however, those rules were changed in 1989, and Hutchison was retrospectively (and posthumously) awarded a Brownlow medal for the 1952 season.[14]
He died on 18 June 1982, after a short illness.[20][21]
Legacy
Champions of Essendon
In 2002, at a "Champions of Essendon" gala event, Hutchison was voted the fourth-greatest Essendon player of all time. The man who was voted Champion, Dick Reynolds, famously said: "I don't deserve this honour... Bill Hutchison was the best player I've seen."[22]
^Dick Reynolds' tribute at the time of Hutchison's death: "HUTCHISON, Bill — Thank you for letting me share a big part of your life. I will always remember the happy times we had together both on and off the football field. I will miss you Bill. Your friendship was something I will always cherish. — Dick Reynolds (Deaths, The Age, (Monday, 21 June 1982), p.27.)
Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN0-9591740-2-8
Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN0-670-86814-0
