“Ultimately, we need to get out of that Munster championship”

A top three finish in the Munster championship is the ambition for new Waterford hurling captain Dessie Hutchinson in 2025. All Ireland champions Clare come to town at the end of April.

“That first game in Walsh Park is going to be massive for us,” he admits. “Ultimately, we need to get out of that Munster championship. There’s massive belief within the group now that we can go and do that. You’ve seen how close we came last year. In fairness to Peter Queally and his management team, they’ve put a new spin on things. The atmosphere and the environment is really, really good at the moment. Peter has brought in some good people to help with that. We feel like we’re in a really good place. Ultimately, we want to be in that three that qualify from Munster.” 

He is enjoying Queally’s set-up thus far. “We’ve a few new faces involved. The likes of Dan Shanahan is doing massive work with us in terms of our hurling, Eoin Kelly is doing a lot more as well. A big one for us has been Shane O’Sullivan coming in. He is doing massive work with the group and our belief and what we can achieve as a team. It’s one area we might have lacked in recent years. Getting through those big games when we need to.” 

Ballygunner club mate O’Sullivan is on board as performance coach. 

“He's looking at our identity as a team, our purpose and where we want to go to. They are the main areas. He’s meeting lads individually the whole time, he’s trying to get best out of them in terms of performance and bring their game to a new level.” 

Hutchinson is chuffed to lead out the Déise in 2025. Queally approached him last autumn.

 “He asked me a couple of weeks after the county championship with Ballygunner. I met him for a quick chat and he asked me would I do it. Obviously, I was never going to say no! It’s a huge honour and privilege to be asked first of all and then to get the role. I kept it to myself for a while and then I told my girlfriend and my family. I didn’t really tell anyone else until it broke to the public. A proud moment for myself, my family and the clubs I’ve been involved with.” 

The 28 year old will miss the early rounds of the league but aims to return by the end of February.

 “I’m carrying a small, little problem with my shoulder, it’s nothing major. I’m looking to get back into it in the next two or three weeks. The Carlow game will definitely come too early for me and possibly the Laois game. I’d be very hopeful to be back in contention around the Antrim game.” 

 His last competitive outing was the shock Munster club final defeat to Sarsfields. 

“At the time, it was wicked tough. We massively underperformed and you’d have to give massive credit to Sarsfields. They were much the better team on the day. They asked us questions that we didn’t have the answers for. Sometimes, that’s the way it goes. You come away from that game with no complaints. You were completely dominated by the better team on the day. That was the real feeling of it. It was a little bit different to the year before where you felt that you really let it slip. In that game, we never really looked like winning it.” 

2024 was full of surprises. With Stephen Bennett hampered by hip problems, Hutchinson was unexpectedly handed the free taking duties for the Munster championship opener against Cork. 

“That was thrown upon me to be honest, we had a few injuries and someone had to stand up and do it. I don’t consider myself a top free taker or anything like that! It’s definitely something I’ve thought about now and I’m making sure that I’m practicing that area of the game in case I’m needed on them again.” 

The three-time All Star nominee struggled with an injury throughout that provincial campaign. 

“I actually ended up with a stress fracture in my fibula. I didn’t realise it; I thought it was just bad shin splints at the time. I carried on through the Munster championship, I was taking painkillers. I got a scan after we were knocked out and that’s what showed up. I had to take twelve to fourteen weeks off it completely. I was only after doing one week of training before De La Salle in the quarter final. It actually started at the end of March, if I remember rightly. As the ground started to harden, it just got a bit worse.” 

 Dessie’s nearest and dearest were thrilled to bits with news of the captaincy. 

“We’re a massive hurling family. My father and my mother have been going to matches for years. For them to see me lead Waterford this year, it’s as big for them as it is for me. They’re delighted but they’ll keep my feet on the ground too!” 

 The Hutchinson clan followed Waterford religiously during the noughties. 

“We were up and down the road to Thurles the whole time. Some of the best days you’d have heading off in the car with the family. With Wayne being involved for a number of years, we went to support him and the rest of the lads. They were special days.” 

His first taste of big time hurling came in the 2010 Tony Forristal triumph against Kilkenny alongside the likes of Patrick Curran, Shane Bennett and Conor Gleeson. 

“I remember it like it was yesterday. It was an All Ireland final for us. There was a massive crowd in Walsh Park. At that age group, it was the pinnacle. I got a goal and a couple of points. We still actually have the DVD of it at home. It goes on now and again! One of the lads from Kilkenny, Shane Walsh from Tullaroan, sent it to me a couple of months ago madly enough. He was like ‘Did you ever see this?’ I had it myself but it reminded me to go back and have a look at it.”

 The new skipper plans to create more Walsh Park memories this year.