By Kevin McStay It's been a slow burner of a hurling season and the number of top class games witnessed needs only the big fingers of one hand to count them. It really has been that average. I take my cue from the hurling pundits on The Sunday Game who share the studio with the big-ball-chancers each week. They told me all along that it was Kilkenny's to lose and as August dawned all agreed only Tipperary might match them. And so we get the final most expected if not hoped for. I sensed a certain gra for the chances of both Galway and Waterford but the cold truth is neither was good enough in the end. Limerick got as far as they did because the draw was kind to them and both Clare and Dublin nudged themselves a rung or two further up the ladder. Cork will rise again, probably sooner than many believe but certainly not as we came to know (and love?) them. It is time for a blank canvas for their senior hurlers and perhaps a paradigm shift in the way Cork GAA conducts its business. But we know from hurling history that they are a county that can regenerate and become All Ireland winners almost overnight. Watch this space. And that folks is the 2009 hurling season in a nutshell. Once the Munster championship fails to sparkle and only a few of the All Ireland series games front up, the season is on a downer. Hurling officials hoped that Leinster might step up now that both Galway and Antrim added spice, but only Galway produced in any real sense even if Dublin tried manfully to bridge a very large gap. To put the tin hat on proceedings we had the fiasco of the relegation controversy and teams playing games week on week that now may count for nothing at all. Nobody is sure where Antrim will end up: out of the Liam MacCarthy and/or out of the Leinster championship? It was sloppy administration and just not acceptable at this level of elite sport. And so, that is a round about way of saying the season can only be saved by a sensational final. The trouble for hurling followers is the belief that even if this year's effort falls a little flat, we can expect the next few seasons to be more of the same because both counties have sprinted well clear of the pack. And with their underage structures continuing to churn out stars of the future, their dominance seems assured. Once again, Kilkenny feature teams in all three major finals. Kilkenny are going for 4-on-the-door in the senior and who will bet against them? They look invincible and have answered every question posed in 2009. Many of their opponents were able to get their intensity and physical levels up to the standard demanded but when they matched KK in those departments they quickly found out there is a skill level to be reached also. The NHL final was such a game and the hope is the championship decider will be a repeat. But to beat Kilkenny, you must have a strategy for Henry Shefflin. No doubt a majority of managers circle him in thick red marker for special attention but his strength and ability make him the man that often decides who wins and who loses. I once asked Pete Finnerty why Shefflin has yet to be 'taken out' by an opposition hard man, perhaps a player a team might be willing to sacrifice. But his answer was of no comfort to those with their eyes on the crown because he maintains many have tried, none succeeded to date and even if they did, their subs bench has a young Shefflin ready to star if called upon. Who will win then? And what do I know about these things? Stop laughing in the back row now but here comes my prediction for the 2009 final: Tipperary to win by four points! In hurling as in football I use a very simple 'Ready Reckoner' to evaluate the chances of the teams in any championship year. Teams are categorised as follows: 'In Decline', 'Threading Water' or a 'Coming Team'. That's why I went for Cork to take out Tyrone this year - Cork being a team on the up with improved personnel changes from the previous year while the northerners were stagnant - no new players or dynamic to their play. I believe the hurling final can be analysed in a similar fashion. Tipp have the young guns and the hunger/appetite and certainly are improving year-on-year. Kilkenny are more or less what they were last year and thus I go with the underdogs to take a large bite out of the favourites leg. There is a single proviso: if the managerial genius that is Brian Cody can motivate and arouse these troops once again then they may be able to match the Munster men in terms of desire. And if that happens the Kilkenny skill advantage will see them climbing the steps again! But even Cody's demand for honesty of effort must fall on the ears of tired men, great players all, but those, to paraphrase the poet, who have tested and tasted too much and now see little wonder. May the best team win! The subject of key decision-making by championship referees and the crucial bearing they can have on the outcome of major fixtures has been a constant theme this summer and so it is only right that we wish both of the big match appointees the best of good luck with their assignments in a few weeks time. Of course they will make mistakes, they are after all human, but the hope must be they do not become part of the analysis in the days and weeks to follow the result. Diarmuid Kirwin is not taking his maiden bow and so will bring great experience to the contest. His handling of the 2007 final when Kilkenny destroyed Limerick went extremely well but it was hardly a contest at all. This one will be and so he needs to be on his toes. This has not been a vintage season for hurling: the standard of the games was average and some referees also left a lot to be desired when it came to application of the rules of the game. Kirwin has emerged as one of the best in the game and will know how to handle himself in this pressurised arena. And we mention the minor referee also: James McGrath from Westmeath is on the same upward curve that saw fellow county man Barry Kelly make it at the highest level. The column wishes him a fair wind also. Tweet

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