WAYNE HUTCHINSON KNOWS what it takes to win a county title.
Now he is hoping that his experience can help to drive St Jude’s to the first Dublin hurling championship in their history.
The former Waterford star won four club titles with Ballygunner before he relocated to Dublin for work.
On Wednesday night he pointed a long-range free as Jude’s came from behind to beat Lucan Sarsfields 1-16 to 1-11 and set up a final showdown against in-form Cuala.
“Coming in at the start of the year I kind of new what type of a group they were,” he told Newstalk’s Oisin Langan.
“They were very unlucky to be beaten in last year’s county final by a great Kilmacud team.
“It’s nice to be back there but it’s not about me or it’s not about any individual. The reason why we got through today was about the pure team performance.
We were down at half-time, we regrouped in the dressing room, did not panic, cool heads, and thankfully we had enough to pull through in the end.
Hutchinson hasn’t forgotten his roots though and he made the trip back home to see Ballygunner clinch another county title with a win over Tallow.
“Work brought me up here,” he explained. “I’m a Ballygunner man to the core.
“I was down in Waterford last weekend and thankfully they were able to put together back-to-back titles.
“When you’re trying to compare the two clubs, it’s hard. One club is very successful in Waterford and then the other club, St Jude’s, we’re trying to make the breakthrough.
At the start of the year I would have thought I’d have something to offer with my experience on the back of four county championships in Waterford. I was just delighted to offer that bit of experience to the team.
Hutchinson is under no illusion that Jude’s will be the underdogs in the decider on 31 October.
“Cuala are the form team in the championship,” he said.”They’re going to take serious stopping.”
