It appears Kilkenny hurlers hardly have to break sweat to get to All-Ireland hurling finals these days. In fact, recent episodes of those finals makes you believe they have to do little indeed to actually win them. If the month is September, the game is hurling, then Kilkenny must be heading for town. And they are. Once again. There is talk of a double treble with Kerry footballers also in the hunt at the time of writing but with defeat in Munster and a draw at the semi-final stage one can hardly argue it was a trot for the big ball champions. You simply must admire Kilkenny. Their enthusiasm for hurling is obviously boundless and when they begin to lose that desire, their manager, in a most unsentimental, often clinical but certainly correct fashion, calls time on their journey as a Kilkenny hurler and retires you. To be replaced by a driven young gun anxious to start his own senior medal haul. If you are looking for the perfect set-up and the complete managerial template, then search no longer. Pitch the tent outside Nowlan Park and get to the training sessions. How does reality and myth compare? I am told you will find a group of powerfully athletic and focussed squad members anxious to work on their game. No slobbering around, just a perfect training intensity that makes demands on all the players. Did I mention their skills? They amaze me-the speed and accuracy of the different strokes, the way the sliothar fizzes all over the field and the full concentration. It helps when you have some of the best players in the country and a few that would grace any generation of hurling. Talking to my hurling colleagues on The Sunday Game, they assure us this current Kilkenny side is just about as good as it gets. But I remember them saying that about the team of a few years ago too when DJ was coming to an end. But watching the opening minutes of the Kilkenny versus Cork semi-final was really informative. No matter the sport you major in, the display was indeed awesome as players paid the utmost attention to the very basics of their game-hooking, blocking, catching, pulling and put each other under so much pressure it was simply difficult to get a stroke on the sliothar. In the end the two-in-a-row champions made their statement for the defence and the likelihood that the championship would end up where it usually does. That night very few gave Tipperary a chance in the final. Did I just write Tipperary? Well, Tipp won't even be there this year after Waterford laid a trap and won through. Yet, the nearly men of hurling are spoken of now as the darkest of horses, one with a full complement of scoring forwards and one that can cause Kilkenny damage if they get motoring. Ah, Waterford. If they were footballers they would be Mayo! The country's favourite team not to have won an All-Ireland recently. The last three All-Ireland finals for Mayo had Kerry men waiting; for Waterford just substitute Kilkenny. It has been a strange year for the Waterford lads. I have long admired their former coach Justin McCarthy but the manner in which the players pushed him aside early in the summer left a sour taste in the mouths of most sports followers. And the end does not always justify the means but it was very heartening to see senior players nod in Justin's direction when they had finally got over the invisible wall and reached the final. Waterford are regaining the affection of the nation post Justin and Dan Shanahan's dismissive march past his coach. They probably could not care less how we view them so long as they can end up winners. They have a few smashing players and a few more that are buzzing as the final approaches. Enough to make Brian Cody anxious and consider the real possibility that they will have to sweat a little for this title. I've met Davy Fitz a few times with the TV punditry and must admit he has come a long way in management since the night Pat Spillane asked him if the Waterford job interested him. If I recall properly Davy was extremely interested in anchoring the Sunday Game and stayed well clear of the Deise question. But by then I suspect contact had been made and timing was everything. Davy is left field and lives the life of the typical hurling fanatic. He most likely has an intimate knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of a neighbouring county's under 14 team and will travel 60 miles to attend the opposition minor trials. He talks at a speed that is not good for one's health and hits a pretty dangerous heartbeat level with just the mention of an incident from a bygone day. The county of Tipperary should never be mentioned in his presence. He'll be pretty excited about this final and you can expect his team will be too. Brian Cody will do things a little differently but they will show up for the final all the same. The crucial difference between the camps is a simple one: Kilkenny know all about September Sundays while for the most of Waterford-players and supporters, this is a whole new country. The hype will be possibly the biggest of any county in recent times. Perhaps only Mayo could match them in that department. When we qualified for the All Ireland in 1989 it was after a break of 38 years and the county went bananas! I went to a training session one night and there were over five thousand people there to see lads stretching muscles. Shops, pubs, cars, sheep and humans will get a lick of paint as the day nears and attempting to keep a squad insulated from peripheral matters is a difficult task. Sports supplements and songs will be published and your granny will apply for two tickets to 'Up for the Final'. Perhaps the Waterford hurlers might consider a charter flight to the south of England for the last week-it's the best option at this stage. But the location would need to be secret because if word got out I'd expect at least a couple of thousand fans to follow. Just to see the stretching. Look, I'm no hurling man but I know it's Kilkenny's title to lose. They don't make a habit of doing that and with this being a derby game they will want to fire ever hotter. In All-Ireland finals reality quickly meets romance and the introduction can be serious. If you are not ready for the heat, the game can be over before it begins. Kilkenny will start with this 'shock and awe' tactic-heavy artillery followed by Special Forces as they hope to hit a big lead and play the game out to their agenda. We will see. I have a special interest on each side. Stephen Molumphy (Waterford) and Eoin Larkin (Kilkenny) are colleagues in the Defence Forces and two outstanding lads they are. We have toured together in a sporting sense and this year Eoin toured on overseas duty in Kosovo with me. His efforts at keeping fit and pucking had to be seen to be believed and he completed all this in a very quiet and unassuming manner. Top men both but the two cannot end up with winner's medals. There will be a lot of huffing and puffing but in the end, outside the county of the underdogs, you must go with Kilkenny. If Waterford can carry the day the country will rejoice. That would only leave Mayo as the last remaining work in progress and I could live with that. Tweet

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