A true Limerick leader
Ecstatic Limerick supporters charge on to the field in pouring rain, many of them clutching umbrellas and the voice of the late Michéal Ó Hehir describes the scenes unfolding on the Croke Park surface.
“Every Limerick player is being carried shoulder high and I think if Limerickmen had an extra pair of shoulders they would put Richie Bennis up there on top,” he says, going on to mention team captain Eamonn Grimes and other players. His daughter ran the tape for him before she went to Australia last September, acknowledging that winning his All-Ireland medal was the highlight of a very successful career.
He also won a league medal two years earlier, his late point from a free bettering Tipperary at the old Cork Athletic Grounds. And people still talk about his winning point against the same opposition in the 1973 Munster final in Thurles.
His more recent involvement in hurling was as manager of the Limerick team, taking over a few days after Joe McKenna jumped ship following a 17-point hammering from Clare in the qualifiers. He got things quickly back on track with a comfortable win over Dublin before they lost by a point to Cork in the All-Ireland quarter-final. A year later he guided the team to Croke Park on the first Sunday in September where they lost to an awesome Kilkenny.
Along the way, he charmed his way into the hearts of followers everywhere with his innate honesty, infectious enthusiasm and impish humour. Knowing he had a serious accident on a building site a few years earlier — and hearing him say how “the man above” and his doctors saved him — you could appreciate his zest for life.
As a 12-year-old, he saw Limerick win the Munster title and was acutely aware of the struggle to challenge the dominance of the big two in the following decades. So, winning the league in 1971 represented a major breakthrough. “Limerick hadn’t achieved any success in any form at senior level since 1956 and they were getting big beatings from Cork and Tipperary on a regular basis.” He was fortunate to be playing with Patrickswell when they were successful — picking up 10 county medals from 15 final appearances. His brothers Phil and Peter were with him in a league decider against Cork in Croke Park and Phil shared in their All-Ireland triumph.
The winning score from Richie (or Richard as he is known at home) in that year’s Munster final is still talked about. “Yes,” was his terse reply when asked if it was a point, saying he’d be a rich man if he got a pound every time he was asked that question.
“I don’t know how many people have that ball at home!”
Limerick didn’t manage to hold on to their All-Ireland title when they again met Kilkenny in 1974 and his career ended the following year after defeat against Cork in the provincial final. “I never retired, I was dropped,” he explained.
During his playing years he managed Patrickswell’s U21 team to five county final titles, as well as wins at U15 and minor. With Phil managing the senior team to league success (he was also successful at underage level), it was always a big ambition to be part of a selection committee.
When McKenna walked away from the team, Richie was five years into a recovery from a serious illness. He recalled getting a phone call from a friend the day after and saying that he wouldn’t touch it when asked if he would be interested. But, within an hour he had been contacted by the county board. After that, “the whole thing snowballed”.
Progress achieved in the two remaining games of the ‘06 campaign was maintained the following season in the Munster championship with an epic win over Tipperary after a three-game marathon. Although two late goals from Dan Shanahan sank hopes of a provincial title, they came back to beat them and get to the All-Ireland final.
After that, all went well the following year until a 6-19 to 2-7 hammering from Tipp in the 2009 All-Ireland semi-final. And then, there was that public spat over allegations of a players’ drinking culture and he was later replaced as manager.
Unwittingly, he became embroiled in the controversy. Without wishing to re-ignite the debate, he insists that he was “completely misquoted”, that he simply responded to a reporter who said to him, “it is strongly rumoured...”
“You know what the rumour was. It was in that context I made my remark, that the rumour was true. I did regret saying that. I got on well with the media and I had no problems with the media.”
While he might have been disappointed initially that he wasn’t retained, “the job was gone before I went for interview.”
But his own well-being was the immediate concern after being diagnosed with bowel cancer.
“Thank God it is okay. If I had been reappointed I would not have gone about my health, so it did me a favour,” he stated.
Crediting current manger Donal O’Grady with being a good organiser while disliking his style of hurling, he has bigger issues about the way hurling is played in general.
“We were always told by the great Jackie Power, why run with the ball when the ball will travel faster than you? If they keep going with technology they will kill hurling. The sliotar is going too far and it’s doing away with centre-field play. On a good windy day the ball is below in the 21-yard line. Half the team is being cut out from playing!”
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. “I watched the Tipperary v Cork U21 game on TG4. That was brilliant hurling. It was first-time hurling!”
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