A midfielder, he was delisted after a season at the club without having made his senior debut, and transferred to West Perth upon his return to Western Australia.

[3] Zoned to the East Perth Football Club, where he played in the colts (under-18) and reserves divisions of the West Australian Football League (WAFL), Hutchings made his senior debut for East Perth in early August 2008, recording 21 disposals against Peel Thunder in what The West Australian described as a "spectacular debut".

[6] Although he was not named in the under-18 All-Australian team, he was one of 75 (and 13 WA-based) players invited to the AFL draft camp,[7] where he went on to finish equal third in the beep test, with a score of 14.12.

[13] He went on to be named in Western Australia's initial 31-man squad for the 2011 state game against Queensland,[14] but did not make the final team after suffering a hamstring injury against Peel.

[17][18] Further good form during the 2012 season led to Hutchings' selection in the state team to play against South Australia, where he was the youngest player in the side.

Hutchings played most of the remainder of the season for West Coast, filling a midfield role after a run of injuries to other players, with a high of 26 disposals against the Western Bulldogs.