Waterford star opens up on crippling pain he gets from playing

Despite the pain, he's spoken of his refusal to hang up the boots.

Waterford star, Stephen Bennett, has been battling hip issues since he was a minor where he had an operation at 17 and again when he was 20.

The issues have become career threatening in recent years with former Déise boss, Davy Fitzgerald, revealing last year that Bennett was advised to get a serious operation which would end his playing days.

The 29-year-old has contemplated retirement due to his hip problems as he spoke with another ex-Waterford manager, Páraic Fanning, in 2019 on doing so. Bennett didn't go down that route and two years later was shortlisted for Hurler of the Year.

Despite still somehow playing at a high level the Osteoarthritis in Bennett's hips leaves him limping around for days after a game. The full-forward revealed one of the driving forces that keeps him playing for as long as he can.

Speaking to the Indo Sport podcast, Bennett said: "In fairness to Peter [Queally, manager] and the management, I wouldn’t have played this year only for them. Sure, I missed loads of training."

The Ballysaggart man recently received the man-of-the-match award in Waterford’s Munster SHC opener against Clare this year. A week later Bennett thought there wasn't a prayer for him to play against Limerick a week later due to the pain from playing.

The 2020 All-Star always finds a way to play despite the agony the games cause. While the Waterford management keep him going, Bennett spoke on more reasons as to why he hasn't gone into retirement yet.

He said: "It is a lot, but it’s probably worse for Melanie [fiancee] at home listening to me for six months because all you think about is, ‘Jesus what do I do with my time again?’ You’ve so much time in the evenings and don’t know what you’re doing for a few weeks.

"When you still believe you can win something, it’s hard to say, ‘I’ll stop’."

Bennett added: "Every year you’re going, ‘One more year’. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m not even thinking about it now. I haven’t a clue. I don’t know what to do."