Breaking news has turned the club upside down as we can report shocking revelations about club legend Tommy Hutchinson. For 45 years he has been living under a false life.
As a young lad growing up in Quebec, young Thomas Le Clerc grew up in a very traditional French-Canadian household. He was the only child of Claude and Madeline Le Clerc, at home he only spoke French, ate a diet subsisting only of Poutine and Maple Syrup, supported the Ottowa Senators and apologised profusely to anyone he came across.
During his early teenage years, he became radicalised by an underground Ontario Independence Movement. It was at an Independence rally in Montreal that his life changed forever. Thomas was part large mob that had formed outside City Hall, the Ontario Independence Movement was joined by the Peoples Front of Quebec and the crowd swelled. The tension was palpable, a nearby Tim Hortons had already sold out of Donuts which did nothing but rile up the mob further. Revolution was in the air; the entire City was a powder keg ready to explode.
In the late afternoon as the crowd sang Le Marseillaise, a rival group from the Canadian Defence League marched into the square and began singing “Oh Canada”. The two rival mobs were only separated by a thin line of Mounties. Violence quickly erupted as the opposing groups began throwing ice hockey pucks at each other, and the Separatist group charged at the police and broke through the line of Mounties that had been keeping the crowds apart. It was a bloodbath as the streets of Montreal ran red, and to this day it is one of the most shameful day in Canadian history, second only to the Canadian Ice Hockey team loss to the Czech Republic in the 1998 Winter Olympics.
In amongst the melee, young Thomas Le Clerc lay stricken on ground. Thomas was found and rescued by a Mountie by the name of Bruce Hutchinson. Bruce took young Thomas to Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montreal where the medical staff did as good a job as they could. Unfortunately, due a nasty head injury the poor lad had lost all of his memories and knowledge of who he was. For his part in the riot the police were looking to arrest Thomas, however Bruce took pity on the boy and stated that Thomas was his son and had sustained the injuries in a horse-riding accident. Unable to find any information about Thomas or who his parents might be, Bruce took him back to his own home, where he and his wife Mary raised him under the name Thomas Hutchinson.
The Hutchinson’s raised Thomas in a very safe and loving environment, far away from the violence from where they had found him. His new parents were of Scottish descent and raised him with traditions of their Highland heritage. Thomas started wearing skirts (kilts) and developed a taste for a single malt. He excelled in his studies and read Engineering at The University of Saskatchewan. Upon graduating Thomas left Canada and moved to Sydney and its notorious Kings Cross district. It was here in Sydney that Thomas was talent spotted by Northern Suburbs Rugby Club, as he was a man who could stand toe to toe against the Pacific Island boys demolishing scrums around the league. It was here playing at the North Sydney Oval that “Big Tommy” the Prop developed his love of the game, however his French-Canadian DNA still shone through, with his willingness to play from anywhere, throw elaborate dummies, and penchant for a goosey. It was his displays of athleticism and joie de vivre on the rugby paddock that drew the attention of his now wife Di.
Having immersed himself in Australian culture, Tommy began spending a lot of time down at the local RSL got a nasty habit of buying too many tickets to the Chook Raffle and pumping his money into the pokeys. It was only after an intervention from his loved ones that Di and Big Tommy decided that they needed to leave Sydney behind, and venture to pastures new. Hong Kong was their destination, but after some unpleasantness in a Dim Sum restaurant just off Lan Kwai Fong they quickly left town and moved to Singapore. Big Tommy landed a job at IBM and Di became an essential cog at Centaurs rugby, then bundles of joy followed in the form of Isla and Callum. Big Tommy helped set up Wanderers and became a cornerstone of the pack for many years, playing for the Prems, Gents and Rovers.
Currently Big Tommy is now Coach of the Rovers and still a big presence in the club. In spite the loss of all memories before that riot and the loss of his old identity, Thomas the French-Canadian still lives on inside him. Nothing brings a smile to Big Tommy’s face than to see his boys play in a typical French way, so make sure to throw the risky low percentage offload, try the grubber or the chip and chase.
Fun fact: Big Tommy has a Martini named after him at Picotin
Unconfirmed Rumour: Big Tommy is in fact the biological father of Coco the clubs premier Frenchie
Wanderers chief reporter Dale Maxwell reached out to Big Tommy for a quote about his formative years pre riot, he responded with “I have no fucking idea what you’re talking abooot”. Clear evidence of the amnesia.
