BLUE BLOODS RUN DEEP
WATERFORD’S THREE BENNETT BROTHERS ARE MAKING UP FOR SOME LOST TIME
FOR a 10-minute spell in the All-Ireland quarter-final between Waterford and Tipperary, it was as if the hurling world belonged to the Bennett brothers. If there was a period in the game that was transformative, then it came just after half-time when Waterford surged into an eight point lead. The family were at the heart of it all.
Watching the three put their stamp on the game, it was easy to understand how Kieran, Stephen and Shane Bennett became the first triumvirate of brothers to ever play inter-county minor together, lining out in the 2012 Munster quarter-final, in which they beat Clare by a point.
Stephen - an All-Star in 2020 and such an exciting attacking talent he was short-listed for the Hurler of the Year award along with Tony Kelly and Gearóid Hegarty popped his first from play.
Then Kieran – the eldest at 26 – slung over a point from the left after some neat footwork to create the space, his second of the day in the number seven shirt, proving once again the scoring power of modern teams from wing-back. While there might have been doubts about the crucial penalty subsequently awarded by referee Colm Lyons, it was Stephen who held his nerve to bury a low skidded shot to the corner of the net.
Finally, the last of a run of 1-3 from the family involved the youngest of the three, Shane. When manager Liam Cahill took a player whose combination of skill and bullish physical presence made him a go-to man in a two-man inside line favoured by Derek McGrath as the county reached the 2017 All-Ireland final, and turned him into a ball-playing centre-back, it looked like a gamble.
Or as much a case of needs must with Tadhg de Búrca out for the season with a cruciate knee ligament injury and Iarlaith Daly then also out injured, the player who looked next best equipped to fill the sweeping or covering defender role that earned De Búrca his own All-Star.
But Shane’s placement at six – like Clare with John Conlon where Brian Lohan has re-fitted a blue chip attacker for centre-back – means that he knows exactly what kind of ball a forward wants.
And so Stephen Bennett’s second and last point from play in the 50th minute came when Shane picked up the ball around his own D and pinged a 50 metre pass straight into his brother’s hand. The ball was over the bar before Tipperary could lay a glove.
The three brothers are united together in the starting 15 after fate and fortune kept them apart.
Last season saw Kieran take a year out, while Shane’s intercounty career has been hampered by double surgeries on troublesome hips.
The pair were such an exciting double act on the Waterford team that romped to AllIreland under-21 success in 2016, also winning an All-Ireland at minor level in 2013 as part of that celebrated crew.
There’s an off-thecuff element to all of their play that makes them exciting to watch. Just go back to Shane’s stunning goal in the 2015 All-Ireland quarter-final against Dublin, when he instinctively flashed the ball to the net on the half-volley. Any normal player might have stopped to pick the ball and advance on goal. He was just an 18-year-old Leaving Certificate student then.
Or the mesmerising solo run by Stephen in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final triumph against Kilkenny,
when he picked up the ball in his own half and kept going – and kept going, and kept going – tricking the ball off the ground and back into his own hand to leave Paddy Deegan trailing in his wake before scoring. The Bennett bloodlines run deep through Waterford hurling and Ballysaggart GAA club. Brother number four Ryan also togs out there and father Pat hurled for a decade for Waterford. There’s a long tradition of brothers lining out on county teams, and Tipperary the last day had the three McGraths – Noel, John and Brian – all part of the squad. But that list narrows a lot when it comes to three brothers lining out together in an All-Ireland semi-final. What they bring, too, is that unique understanding on the field from all the years of togging out. A feature of the last round Allianz Hurling League game against
Tipperary again was the brilliant interplay between them.
Shane and Stephen cut loose up front together, the latter going short and sideways with a free – at one stage in the second half he found Kieran sprinting through for a goal chance that just broke down.
And they tend to be players for the big occasion, whether that’s those previous underage All-Ireland finals or the 2017 senior semifinal, when Kieran was drafted in to make his debut against Cork at wing-back – a situation very few players have been trusted with.
And he did more than enough to hold down his position for the final when his speculative effort from distance went all the way to the net.
All three are named again for tonight’s All-Ireland semi-final against Limerick at Croke Park and will be central to their county’s cause. Waterford must dethrone the champions and try to end the long wait dating back to 1959 since that last senior title.