“We have Walsh Park there sitting on its own”
Ballygunner hurler Dessie Hutchinson pictured at the launch of this year’s AIB Club Championships which for the first season sees a single sponsor unite four codes of Gaelic Games, honouring #TheToughest players. Photo: INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Dessie Hutchinson was surprised that the county senior hurling final wasn’t held in Walsh Park this year. The Ballygunner score getter was speaking at the launch of the AIB GAA All Ireland Club Championships last week.
“It’s bizarre in one way. I know there’s a bit of tradition there where it reverses roles each year between Walsh Park and Fraher Field. When we have a pitch as good as Walsh Park and when the facilities are a lot better than what they used to be, it’s kind of surprising when you put that much money into it and you don’t play the biggest hurling game of the year there. Something similar happened with the football. We have Walsh Park there sitting on its own after putting a lot of money into it.”
Four Munster titles in a row is the next target for Hutchinson and company. The Gunners are currently preparing for a provincial quarter final away to the Limerick champions on November 3. St Thomas’ took them out in last year’s All Ireland semi final on penalties. A cruel way to exit the competition.
“I don’t think any game should end on penalties, especially hurling which is such an entertaining game. There was nothing stopping ourselves and Thomas’ going for another battle. It would have given everyone another game to smile about. Look, I’d say the exact same if it was the other way around. If Thomas’ lost on penalties, it wouldn’t have been fair. That’s just the nature of it at the moment and there’s nothing we can do about it. We just looked at how we could have won the game in normal time and make improvements from there.”
He would like to see penalty shootouts replaced by overtime showdowns which have been suggested by the Football Review Committee recently. “It might be a good idea to bring in an overtime play where the first team scores and then the other team gets an attack and if they don’t score within it, that might be a good way to go about it. I think something has to be done. Everyone in the country, bar the head people, are in agreement that it does not work and is probably not a fair way to find a result in a game. As I said, ourselves and Thomas’ could have had another unbelievable battle and given everyone another unbelievable spectacle. There seems to be a big rush on fixtures and that could be changed too and give options of replays, or even another bout of extra time, whatever it might be. Something needs to be done because hurling is not the same as other sports. As we know, it is a real fast, entertaining game and we want to see more of that rather than teams hitting penalties against each other.”
On the inter county front, Dessie is excited by the appointment of Peter Queally. “We have a serious man over us this year in Peter. He has Waterford at his heart and he wants everything to be done correctly. We fell short again last year, even though our performances were better. There’s still so much to improve on and that’s what we’ll be aiming to do. It gives you a bit of hope when you’ve beaten one All Ireland contender (Cork) and you’ve lost by a puck of a ball to the All Ireland champions (Clare). You do think to yourself ‘we’re not far away.’ It gives everyone in the country hope not seeing Limerick there this year.”
