West Coast's 31-point win at Adelaide Oval has sent the mathematicians scrambling to find out if and how the Eagles can reach the finals in their first season under new coach Adam Simpson.
The Eagles sit two wins outside the eight with four rounds remaining and face Collingwood (eighth), Essendon (seventh), Melbourne (17th) and Gold Coast (ninth) in the next month.
But Hutchings said finals were not a focus for the team despite describing the effort against the Crows as the Eagles' finest of the year.
"For us, that's the benchmark and we need to bring that every week," Hutchings said.
“Mathematically we can still make the finals but that's not our primary focus. Our primary focus is doing the right things.
"The performance on the weekend was definitely a step in the right direction.
"If we can bring that performance for the remaining games, we'll give ourselves every chance of winning each and every game."
Hutchings is settling into his new role as the team's main run-with player in the absence of Scott Selwood. In recent weeks he's done the job on Brisbane Lion Pearce Hanley (21 disposals), Richmond's Trent Cotchin (15 disposals and one goal) and Adelaide's Patrick Dangerfield (26 disposals and one goal).
"Over the past three weeks I've done some good things and I've done some things I can improve on," Hutchings said.
"(Dangerfield) still managed to find the ball and there were a couple of periods in the game where he got on top of me. He's a dangerous player and one of the best in the competition, so I learned a lot from it.
"It just goes to show that you can't let your guard down. You have to be focused for 100 per cent of the game on the best players in the AFL."
Hutchings said he won't find out until later in the week which of Collingwood's elite midfielders he will shadow on Sunday afternoon.
The Collingwood clash will be West Coast's penultimate home game for the season, meaning time is running out for the fans to catch one last glimpse of retiring champion Dean Cox.
The six-time All Australian missed the win over the Crows due to the concussion he suffered against Richmond. Hutchings is hopeful the veteran will be available this week.
"He's had a week off and I'm sure he wants to get out there as much as possible and we want him out there as much as possible as well," Hutchings said.
"Hopefully he's fit this week first of all and if the coaches want to play him, he'll play this week."
For one of the few times this season the Eagles have escaped with no injuries from the weekend. However, youngster Malcolm Karpany has been ruled out of the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.
The lively small forward was recruited with pick No.31 in last year's NAB AFL Draft and had been building some good form for East Perth in the WAFL. However, he did not play on the weekend after injuring his right shoulder the previous week.
The 19-year-old will have minor surgery to fix the issue in preparation for the pre-season.
