“I retired about four times over the winter!” - Stephen Bennett

The autograph hunters and the selfie hunters flocked to Stephen Bennett in the centre of the pitch after the Ballysaggart ace weaved his magic on Sunday.

The 29 year old nearly called it a day in the off-season due to his persistent hip problems but Waterford fans are mighty glad he didn’t.

“I retired about four times over the winter! Peter, I just remember him saying one thing to me down in The Park Hotel. They’re really good the management, Dan, Eoin, Nigel, all of them. Dan and Eoin, they just want you to play hurling like. Have that little bit of magic, do what you want. It’s just lovely to play for them. I wish I could play for another ten years! We’ll really give it a go this year and see but it’s really enjoyable.” 

What did Peter Queally say to him? “I’ll tell you that when I retire! Really happy, really enjoying it. The lads are just big into hurling, ball to hand and movement. They don’t mind you shooting, they don’t mind you going for goals, flicking balls. Dan told me beforehand ‘give a short free’. It’s great that they encourage you that way.” 

The 2020 All Star knows that time is running out. “The body will never be good again but look, I’m happy enough with how today went. We’re trying to work through it. In fairness to the physios and Peter, they’re giving me every chance. You need these games too because you won’t get up to the pace otherwise. I’ve way more work to do.” 

A league final at GAA HQ is the motivation this spring. “A lot of the younger lads haven’t played in Croke Park. After the first day, we were disappointed. Carlow fully deserved their win. We just needed to get back on track. In fairness, the crowd were brilliant. You know what, it’s just nice to get back winning games. That will stand to us now. Having the crowd back and having them all on the pitch, it’s exciting times again.” 

He felt confident when he stood over that injury time free. “Look, anyone playing at this level fancies their chances all the time. I’m just happy it went over. It’s my second game since last May with Waterford, since August even with the club. Last week I was poor so happy enough with today.” 

Queally was thrilled to keep their promotion hopes alive. “I have to admit, it’s a big relief to us to get the result and still be in the league with two more rounds to go. The facts of it are, if we hadn’t won today, we were mathematically out of the promotion race. We then have an eight week run-in to the championship with a couple of dead rubbers to play. I think I saw a Dublin interview during the week where they said it feels like a championship match leading up to it. The stakes were so high, the prize was so high.”