Okay, Hutch … before we start our interview I just want to let you know that everything from here on out is on the record.
Righto then, Zac Anderson's garbage [laughs].
I am going to tell him you said that!
Don't, because he'll get emotional. I don't need an emotional Zac.
Too late now. Hutch, it's been a bit of an up-and-down season for the Mariners, both on and off the park, and it's been almost three weeks since Mossy left the club – have you had some time to sit back and assess it all?
Overall, when you sit on the outside and have a look at what's happened, it's probably been the toughest season in 10 years for this tiny club. We've always talked about stability, player-wise and manager-wise, and it's obviously really disappointing that Mossy's parted ways with the club. The players have felt his loss.
We understand that our performance is a factor in him leaving as well, and the players are really disappointed. But, as a football club, we have to move forward and as a bunch of boys we have to move forward – and we've tried to do as much as we can in the last couple of games to move forward and follow the philosophy that the club's trying to instil now.
The timing of it all was particularly shocking, mainly because it was on the same day that the club celebrated your career – were you prepared for any of it?
I think once they brought in the technical director and they brought in Peter Storrie to have a look at the club, obviously everyone started fearing [for] their jobs - players, staff, maybe not fearing, but you know that they're here to evaluate where the club's at and why we're performing poorly. You just have to look at it that way and think that they're here for a reason. The timing is what it is.
They decided then to act and move and I was out shopping the night before when the news broke through the club that that's what was happening. As I said, the boys had to move on quickly because we had a game in a couple of days. The club has to think about the club first and foremost, then it's players and staff. That's what happened and that's their decision.
Were you told that you were going to be brought in to the assistant coach's role then and there?
It was a tough one because I was out shopping when I got the phone call from Peter Storrie asking me to take training tomorrow, which was a weird phone call. But it's something they knew that I was planning to do in the future, whether it be assistant coach, which obviously came around quickly, or just a coach.
I'll help Tony generally with a couple of sessions here and there when he wants me to take them, other than that, pretty much he runs the ship now and I am just there to help him and guide him from a players' point of view and help him with whatever else he needs from a staff point of view. He's pretty understaffed at the moment but he's handling it pretty well and he's always encouraging the boys to move forward and do their best.
It was a strange phone call but one that I took and, as I said to Peter at the time, I am here for whatever the club needs me to do. If they need me to go and clean Central Coast Stadium chairs, I'll go do that for them - whatever they want I am here for.
Quite a number of fans expressed their views on the situation, with some of them saying that Moss's sacking came too late in the season and that it should have been executed much earlier. How did you see it?
Obviously we weren't doing very well in the league – we'd only won three or four games at that stage of the season – and I think for Mossy, you've got to give him time. If you just go in and sacking people … we're not known for that, we're known for our stability and all that kind of stuff and that's what the club's all about. But if you just go in and start wielding the axe straight away for a few bad results then what future does a coach have coming to the Mariners? They'll think someone's going to start wielding the axe for a few bad results.
I just don't think in the end that we got the results that were required enough times. The reality of professional football is that the head coach is the one that's going to pay the price at the start. You can move players off at the end of the season but during the season that's the way.
I am disappointed personally because I've known Mossy a long time and we were friends away from football. It's a hard one to take but it's one the club decided to make to move forward and Tony's come in and the boys have responded to it in the past few weeks. We're just looking to try to end the season on a happy note.
Tony Walmsley was originally appointed as the club's technical director but has stepped in as the interim coach. The club has also agreed to have you on in a dual role as both player and assistant coach and pay for you to get your coaching badges – how have you been coping with the extra workload?
Obviously the workload has increased but I've just tried to keep it the same. Being captain helps, because normally you're in between the staff and the players anyway in that kind of role. Really for me, I've tried not to change anything, I've obviously taken the sessions as a coach and tried to help the boys that way but mainly it's been the young ones and just trying to help them along and push the sessions along.
When we train, I am still there as a leader like, Bosa, Reddy and Montgomery, trying to drive the sessions for Tony as well, like we did for Mossy, but it's just the same. I don't really look at it as a coach, more like a player trying to help out the coach in a tough situation.
With my licenses I am going over to do my UEFA A licence and I've got my B already so I'll go and get my A one and whether the club makes me a coach next year, a youth-team coach, assistant coach – whatever kind of coach – I just want to be a part of the staff and help the club and move forward.
Peter Storrie has said that he's got a four-stage restructuring plan – can you shed any light on what that involves?
I think the first part of it was the internal side, obviously the staff and trying to restructure that kind of side of it. The second part will be seen as the football side of the club and I wish I could tell you more than that. I know some people out there think that I sit in all these special meetings and know the ins and outs of the club, but at the moment I am just a player and I don't know what the three and four parts are.
If you look outside the square, I think one of them will be the community engagement and getting the club back into the community and making sure that we're stable and the last one would be financially, if I am having a guess. You want to make the club financially stable, no one wants to keep losing millions of dollars.
We're trying to reconnect with the community; you need people like Lawrie McKinna back with the club, he's a well-known man on the Central Coast and if he's on board with the club and driving the club forward then people will start coming back to the game. We need to reconnect with the community and make sure that this club is a community club and that we're here for everyone.
Now onto your achievements as a player … After the game against Perth Glory last weekend you set a new A-League record of 223 appearances – how do you reflect on your time in the A-League given that you are retiring at the end of this season?
To be honest, Lucy, I haven't really looked back yet. I haven't sat down and look at my career. I remember when Arnie came in and said the worst thing you can do as a player is sit down and look at your career. He said look at it when you're finished. I've kind of taken that advice and I've never really sat down and had a look at it. It's something I want to just look at, at the end. I might sit down and have a few beers with the boys and they can take the piss out of how many games I've played and all that kind of stuff.
These records that come up, if people know me and obviously the players here know me, it's not really something that I set my sights on. I'd rather it be about the team. The best thing about this games record is that one of my best mates, Danny Vukovic, is right behind me and I know that for a long time he's going to hold it. I want to have great pleasure knowing that I played with him and got to know him as a person and as a footballer. When I see him playing 400 or 500 games in the A-League then that'll mean more to me than me getting the games record right now.
You mentioned the advice that Arnie has given you. How much of his legacy is still prevalent within the club, even though he's at a rival team now?
When Arnie was here, it was a great time. Firstly I don't think that anyone could have done what Lawrie McKinna's done and the way he set the club up. He had the community going, he had the boys in a great culture and a great winning mentality - he set that all up.
When Arnie came in, he saw what it was like and made it better. For me, and I know that people won't like me saying this but he's the best coach I've had. He's still a good mate and a mentor to me, he's always been there for me. When he went to Japan he was there to receive my phone calls and I've spoken to him while he's been at Sydney about a few things here and there. Obviously it gets a bit tougher when he's the opposition coach but he's always been there for me and he's a great guy.
When I finish my career I'll look back at the time that Arnie was at this club with fond memories. He brought this club a championship, he brought them a top-two finish with 50 points every season, league wins, grand final wins, last 16 of Asia. The things he's done at this club, where people say we're the smallest club in the league, is fantastic and I think he's proven what kind of coach he is. I don't think anyone in the time that he was here would have a bad word to say about him. He looked after the boys, he loved the club and, as I said, he's just a great mentor to me now and a great friend.
He should be a legend of this club for a long time - him, Lawrie and even Mossy continued that on for a long time. I know our members and fans probably won't like me saying that about Arnie because he's at Sydney FC but what he produced at this club and what he brought us to, and the football we were playing, was unbelievable.
In round 23 you're facing Victory, which is second on the ladder and playing some good football of late - what are you anticipating from the clash?
It's a tough one there – for me they're the best team in the league this year. I know Adelaide and Wellington will probably scoff at these suggestions but I look at their overall team and the way they play and I just think they're the team to beat this year.
This is a good challenge for us now; it's a time where we can go over there and test ourselves because we kind of play a different brand of football. We're trying to play higher up the park and defend higher up the park, which the Mariners haven't done in the past. We're just going to go over there and see what we can do.
Pretty much no one expects anything from us and I am sure everyone will be picking Melbourne Victory, so we have nothing to lose at all. If we lose the game it will be expected, if we win the game, it'll be a miracle, so the boys will just go there, play with a bit of passion for the shirt and the club and see where it takes us.
Mathematically, you still can't rule out the Mariner's chances of making it into the top six but you will have to rely on good results from your end and bad results with the remaining teams in contention. Does the team still have hope it can make it, especially given that the club is known for having such a strong culture?
We talk about mateships. It's been a long thing here where we talk about mateship and people kick us and they don't give us a hope and we've always fought with the underdog tag. Mainly for me, it's about getting to know your teammate and getting to enjoy their company. We spend a lot of time together so you might as well enjoy each other's company and work hard for each other and it's what we've always tried to focus on.
When you talk about the top six, yes it's mathematically possible, we've got a tough run but when I speak to the boys I tell them it's about taking it one week at a time. There's no point in saying 'we'll get this result, that result, this result will fall for us, we'll go here and we'll beat them'. We've got the Victory away twice, we've got Wellington away and Brisbane away so we've got some tough games coming up that are going to challenge the boys but this is what the Mariners are about. We're not going to concede defeat and then just throw it away and say 'okay, we're not going to make the six so let's just chuck it in because that's not what we're made of'. We're made of hard work and these are just down-to-earth people that want to work hard and do something that they love doing.
So, until the final ball is kicked in Melbourne, the boys will keep trying no matter what. First and foremost we want to work hard for each other and then hopefully the fans and the members get enjoyment from that. If you're not willing to put in the hard yards for your mate standing next to you, then what's the point of playing football?
Finally, five years from now - where does John Hutchinson see himself?
Where do I see myself? Well, Lucy, I want to be the head man at the Mariners - I want to be the boss at this club, at this wonderful club. As I said, I've had some wonderful teachers already - I've had Lawrie, Arnie and Mossy. You learn so much from people like this under pressure and you see how they respond to it and I want to be the head coach of the Mariners.
I want the team to play the way I want them to play [whithin] my philosophies, but I am a long way away from there. I need to learn and I need to learn as a coach and make mistakes and when I make mistakes, I need people around me to tell me that I've made a mistake and move on. Hopefully in five years I am on the sideline and you're talking to me as a manager and not just a player. Fingers crossed.
And then you'll tell me to bugger off because I've got to hassle you for a post-match interview!
I won't, because we'll have won and I'll be happy so I'll tell you to come over and let's get the interview done and move forward!
