Bennis happy he answered the call
It wasn’t that he never entertained thoughts about coaching the county, or wasn’t prepared to put something back into the game which made him a hero in the seventies when he was one of the leading lights in their last Liam McCarthy Cup success.
It was more a case of answering the call when the board came knocking on his door.
“It was always my ambition,’’ he said, explaining that he had put himself forward as a candidate in 1994 and again 1996 — and didn’t get enough support from the clubs. “I didn’t get it on a vote this time either. I was shoved into it as the only candidate,’’ he joked.
“I was sure my time had passed. Up to then I was happy enough going to matches with my daughters and my wife. I had to consult my doctor. He asked me if I could relax on the sideline, which I do!
“At the time we didn’t have time to think about it, the thing was in disarray (after the hammering from Clare in Ennis). I said I’d take it on if they were in trouble.
“You could say that I felt duty-bound, but I didn’t like the way Limerick were going.’’
Bennis was in Cusack Park that evening when everything went Limerick’s hurling world collapsed and Joe McKenna promptly resigned as manager.
“They (management) tried something against Clare and it didn’t work out. We took it from there.
“We feel we have come a long way. It’s been very positive since. But, before we played Offaly (in their second game in the qualifiers) people were very down. The whole of Limerick was down.’’
Beating Offaly provided the type of boost that was needed and a place in the All-Ireland quarter-final against Cork was secured with another win, this time over Dublin.
Bennis feels his side were ‘very unlucky’ not to beat Cork in a tense thriller at Semple Stadium.
“We were criticised for being over-physical, but we had to counteract Cork some way. We couldn’t let them run all over the field and dictate to us. But, we played within the rules — we were fouled more often than they were.’’
He bristles at the suggestion that his team plays ‘close to the edge.’ “I’d categorically deny that,’’ he responded. “If you look at the statistics, we are fouled more often than we foul. And the frees we give away are silly little frees, needless ones. We won three All-Ireland Under-21 titles and you don’t do that by being over-physical!’’
The only downside to winning these titles, he feels, was that it created an unreal level of expectation, possibly as much among the players as the general public. “I think the players thought they had a divine right to win,’’ he commented.
“We got that out of their system. We said, ‘ye’ll get nothing without an effort’ and they have put an almighty effort. They have worked for what they have got and we are lucky to have a great trainer (Dave Moriarty).’’
Bennis recognises that one of the key factors in their progress has been the form of Ollie Moran.
“We asked Ollie would he play there (centre forward) and he did. As well as that, we persevered with him, in the face of a lot of criticism. We kept with him and he has proved us right. Brian Geary was another player who was ridiculed, but himself and Ollie have come good, thank God.’’
In terms of progressing to tomorrow’s final, he was confident that they were best prepared to beat Tipperary in the third game, pointing out that they played for three quarters of the first draw with 14 men. The combination of that, the extreme heat and the fact of ‘coming behind the whole time’ drained the players.
“We really had only five days to recover for the replay, but we were much fresher going into the next game,’’ he added.
“You could say that people are reading too much into that victory. After all, we have only one match won. Expectations are very high and while things ‘won’t fall down’ if we do not perform, it would be a setback.’’
However, he does accept that Limerick are viewed as outsiders. “Waterford are a way more experienced and will be favourites, but we’re not worried.
“We’ll go out and do our job to the best of our ability. That is all we can do.’’
