RTÉ stats man Dave Punch: 'There is definitely a pride in Limerick hurling now'

Dave Punch won an incredible 12 county SHC titles with Patrickswell

Dave Punch gets his hands on the Liam MacCarthy Cup after Limerick’s All-Ireland SHC final win over Galway in 2018. Punch deals with facts, those that can be delivered instantaneously, bearing in mind the live nature of TV and radio.

Like he was 40 years ago when Limerick met Galway in that year’s All-Ireland final, Dave Punch will be i lár na páirce on Sunday. Only this time he’ll be above centrefield in the middle of the Upper Hogan Stand, helping to call the game.

Punch and Marty Morrissey first cross paths in 1984 as Morrissey provided radio commentary of the Patrickswell-Sixmilebridge Munster final. But it was during those three glorious years (2000-2) for Limerick’s U21s when Punch was a selector to Dave Keane that the pair became well acquainted.

When things went belly-up for Keane as senior manager in 2003, Morrissey contacted Punch about coming on board as their live stats man. “Basically, I went up to RTÉ, did a test and nearly 17 years later I’m still doing it.”

Punch’s value to RTÉ’s coverage is understated but fundamental. Between the whistles, the press box is usually a dispassionate place but if there is a flailing arm or a dramatic gesture it is most likely the genial Patrickswell man, channeling his inner Marcel Marceau so that he can get his point across to Morrissey, Ger Canning or Darragh Moloney without interrupting the broadcast.

“It’s the sound of silence in the commentary box. It’s visual, it’s hand signals, it’s no talking for obvious reasons. It’s very much an understanding with looks. I’ve got a few dirty ones in my time for stupid mistakes and I’d hold my hand up, not a bother. I’ve given one or two back as well.”

Punch deals with facts and bearing in mind the live nature of TV and radio those that can be delivered instantaneously. “I provide the stats as in what’s happening in front of you - wides, scoring chances, subs on, subs off, yellow cards, black cards, how many times it’s level. I don’t do zones or percentages, I leave that to the computer guys. If it’s level for the fifth time, you need to make that known to the commentator.”

The facts show that Punch won a stunning 12 senior county titles with The ‘Well. It’s a haul he’s modest about, keener to make light of than anything else.

“I led The ‘Well out in four finals and we won all four - two of them as mascots,” he laughs of Patrickswell’s first two senior titles in 1965 and ‘66. “I was captain in ‘77 and ‘90.

“Don’t ask me about playing in the 90s because I can’t recall but I can vividly remember being a mascot. Richard Bennis, Phil Bennis, five brothers in total. Tony O’Brien God be good to him, Eamonn Carey, and then guys who never got onto county panels but who were household names in our village.

"I didn’t achieve any of those medals as an individual. 

"We had a group of players in ‘75, ‘76, ‘77 that won three U21s in the ‘Well and in ‘77 we won a senior for the first time in seven years. That really was the run of the 70s, 80s and 90s. Everything came together from players to managers.

We had nothing but hurling. There were two channels on the TV so where would you be? Above in the hurling field.

A Munster inter-county medal followed in 1980 prior to that final against Galway where Limerick were distant second best.

“The biggest thing I remember was the noise in Croke Park,” he recalls. “When the first goal went in, it was a sonic boom, turned up and down, up and down. I wouldn’t say it was scary but it was startling, an experience.

“That year we had after beaten Cork in a Munster final, the first time Limerick had done that in 40 years. Because it was Leinster’s turn to play in the one semi-final, we had seven weeks from the Munster final to the final and a lot of us never had the experience of playing Croke Park before that. Unfortunately, I never got back there with the county. I did in the club final but we lost to Glenmore.”

Punch wasn’t on the Limerick team that lost to Galway in a semi-final replay the following year but his senior club career with Patrickswell was vast as it was illustrious.

In total, it lasted 25 years, him only moving down to intermediate at the age of 41. In his 30s, he added two Munster senior club titles.

After joining Eamonn Cregan as a Limerick senior selector for the 1998 and ‘99 seasons, he linked up with Keane and the U21s in 2000. Few generations of hurlers have promised so much.

Those teams were untouchable but when the management team made the expected move to senior with them things fell asunder.

“C’est la vie,” shrugs Punch. “What happened, happened. I use the line from the song, ‘Don’t look back in anger’. The past is the past and you can’t undo it so you have to move on.”

Punch remains in close contact with Keane and fellow selectors John Meskell and Pat O’Callaghan.

“We have met up every Christmas, the four of us, the families. We’d go for a drink, a bite to eat but obviously this year has changed things. We have a friendship from it as we would with that U21s group from that time.

“We developed a great bond and it was all based on total honesty. Clubs didn’t mean anything to us and the players knew that. We didn’t care if there 10 guys from Adare, Ahane, Patrickswell, Hospital-Herbertstown starting.

As long as we believe they’re the best guys to start, we didn’t care what club they were from. Honesty was a two-street and I think that’s why we had success.

Seeing a U21 group under John Kiely actually go and translate their dominance to senior level has only given Punch pleasure.

There is no point in comparing times, he says, when time and the culture around teams has changed. When Declan Hannon raised aloft the Liam MacCarthy Cup two years ago, he was cock-a-hoop.

He wasn’t so happy when he realised that Darragh O’Donovan’s sideline was deflected off Cillian Buckley’s hurley in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final, thus ending their title defence.

“I would have surrounded the linesman,” he chuckles. “I would have called over three or four players and surrounded him to highlight it. Because it was never really highlighted at the time. In all seriousness, I never saw the deflection but what I did see was the angry reaction of (selector) Brian Geary on the sideline.”

How Limerick are spoken and thought of now delights him no end.

“There is definitely a pride in Limerick hurling now. You hear pundits now saying, ‘Limerick are the best team in Ireland’. You want them to win the All-Ireland first but you get a great sense of pride about that. We’re good.

"We’re not big-headed but we’re good. There is nothing like success to give people a lift, especially in a county where we hadn’t see the Liam MacCarthy for 45 years. Now we’re up there with the best again.”

After a year in which Patrickswell has had to bury too many of its own, Punch knows there is comfort in seeing Diarmaid Byrnes, Cian Lynch and Aaron Gillane starring as they have been doing.

“It’s been one of the saddest years in the village,” he says, with a gulp. “None of us can remember so many passing way in the one year, be it tragic circumstances or health. There have been just too many of us who have passed away. Hurling brings its comforts in these times. You know, we’re not the only place to lose people this year but a win on Sunday… it would be lovely for spirits.”