Waterford hurler Stephen Bennett pictured at Ballysaggart GAA Club to launch the Bord Gáis Energy Christmas Jumper campaign. Bord Gáis Energy will shortly be making 500 special county-themed Christmas jumpers available for sale – with all proceeds going to homeless charity Focus Ireland aiming to raise €20,000 to help fight homelessness in the run-up to Christmas.
By Cian O'Connell
"Sure sport is funny," Waterford hurler Stephen Bennett says through a smile.
Following the Munster Championship pain of 2018 and 2019 when Waterford reflected on what might have beens, the Deise are relevant once more.
Liam Cahill's cocktail of purpose and passion is earning admirers, but most importantly respect.
"You win a game and you're brilliant," Bennett adds. "And then you lose a game and everything is going wrong.
"It's hard because when you start losing, it's hard to bring yourself out of it and the confidence is down. Fellas aren't trying things that they would try. You're not going to be as good."
Cahill, though, and his selectors Mikey Bevans and Stephen Frampton have restored hope to Waterford.
"When you're losing by 15 or 20 points, you're not exactly going to go to the next game full of confidence so you're kind of playing in your shell," Bennett remarks.
"I suppose then when the boys came in this year, they don't care about mistakes once they're honest mistakes. Which I find is great.
Waterford have enjoyed an encouraging campaign under manager Liam Cahill.
"Just go for it really. It's enjoyable, as I said. Even in the Munster final, I'm not sure did we even believe by the end of it. Liam Cahill and the boys were telling us we were going to win this match but we didn't stand up when we had the chance.
So it's definitely something we can work on. We just need to get back to believing that we are as good as all these teams."
In the laudable Derek McGrath era Waterford have returned as serious Liam MacCarthy Cup contenders.
An All Ireland final appearance in 2017 hinted at real potential so Bennett is thrilled to be back on the national stage once more ahead of the penultimate round clash with Kilkenny at Croke Park on Saturday.
"It's brilliant," Bennett admits. "We drew one game and lost seven championship games in two years.
"It's bleak enough when you're going down training thinking, 'What are we going to lose by this weekend?'
"You get stuck in a rut, I suppose. But it's great when you get back and start believing in yourself.
"When fellas are confident, they're going to be shooting from different positions. They're going to be attacking more and enjoying it more. We're in a positive place at the moment so we just want to keep it going."
Stephen Bennett continues to impress for Waterford.
Joy has been found in the journey. Four months inactivity between March and July enabled Bennett to rest and he was primed for the inter-county return.
Ultimately, Bennett is simply relishing being involved at this stage of the Championship.
"People are saying it's a bad time of year to be playing, but everyone is loving it," Bennett remarks. "We're actually so lucky. We get to go down training, we get to meet up the friends and play at the weekends.
"The weeks are flying by because we've a match to focus on every week so it's really enjoyable.
"It's one of my favourite years. It's both tight and condensed. You're staying injury-free.
"I think the fact we are enjoying our hurling, we are going down enjoying training.
"The quick matches suit the team. I know it is hard playing week on week, but it is nice having it condensed."
Bennett is embracing the challenge.
