ALL-IRELAND HURLING FINAL: BY HALF-TIME in last year's All-Ireland final the game was up for Waterford. As the match unfolded it became clear that champions Kilkenny were actually playing against themselves rather than against their wasted opponents.

It was hard viewing for Tony Mansfield, the former Waterford player and manager who had taken the county to the 1992 under-21 All-Ireland but he pithily addressed the situation: “They will become the most successful team,” he said of Kilkenny, “and in time will be seen as the greatest.”

There is some irony in the discussions about Kilkenny’s place in the game’s pantheon because as early as two years into Brian Cody’s tenure, his team was being measured up against posterity.

The fate of that team in the 2001 All-Ireland semi-final is recorded as one of Cody’s formative experiences in the road that has led to the threshold of history.

Twelve months on Mansfield qualifies his original statement.

“It is hard to compare teams from different eras but I think they’ll probably end up the most successful. And if they win four they’ll win five. I think that’s at the back of their minds as well as the prospect of Michael Kavanagh and certainly Henry Shefflin breaking the record for All-Ireland medals [currently eight – both have six going into tomorrow].”

It’s over four years since Galway earned the enduring distinction of being the last county to defeat Kilkenny in championship. What Brian Cody’s team are doing is exceptional.

Pat Daly, Croke Park’s Head of Games and a former Waterford hurler, says that the explanation for what has been taking shape – a win tomorrow will give the county seven titles in this decade, an unparalleled return – can be seen in the county’s games development structures.

“In a nutshell it’s a joined-up system. If you look at Kilkenny in terms of training, primary and post-primary schools, development squads, the county board and team managements. It’s a relatively recent phenomenon because in the past things were more ad hoc and not overly structured. . . that holistic approach is working.

“It’s difficult to compare eras . . . but man for man and pound for pound they make a strong case. Every generation has got good teams but this is a stand-out team. Is it the best? We can’t say but all of the evidence from the leagues and championships of recent years points in that direction.”

Daly’s citing of the league is a valid submission in the argument, as Kilkenny have won three of the past five NHL titles as well as reaching a final and a semi-final, giving them an outstandingly consistent competitive standard.

Jimmy Barry-Murphy won All-Irelands as a player on the great Cork three-in-a-row team of 1976-78 as well as managing the side that beat Kilkenny in Cody’s first year in charge in 1999. He is in no doubt about the place occupied by the current team and who has had the greatest influence on its emergence.

“I saw the Tipp team of the 1960s and all of the super teams since but they’re the best I’ve seen. I think Brian Cody’s longevity and control of the senior scene has been fantastic. He’s had the courage and single-mindedness to change his back room and players whenever that’s been required.

“There are complaints about their physicality but I love the way they play the game. It’s a manly style; they give it and they take it and when beaten there’s no whingeing and Brian Cody’s the first to shake your hand.”

A mildly dissenting voice from within the county comes from Patrick O’Sullivan, currently engaged in writing a history of hurling in the county. O’Sullivan points out that a previous sequence recorded by the county (seven in 10 championships) has equally strong if not more convincing claims.

“I’d say the folk memory only really goes back to Wexford in the 1950s and the public consciousness to Tipperary in the 1960s. It’s not widely known but the first great Kilkenny team won seven All-Irelands in ten years. The 1904 final wasn’t played until (June 24th) 1906 and the 1913 final was in November of that year.

“In those years the only tradition of hurling in the county was a losing one and Kilkenny was as much associated with football as hurling. The bald, cold facts are that they turned that around and created what is there now.”

Mansfield believes the possession or ‘picking’ game that Kilkenny have taken to new levels was inspired by the Wexford team of the 1950s.

“I attended a coaching course given by Fr Tommy Maher in the 1960s and he told us the revolution came with Wexford a decade earlier. He said it was the first time Kilkenny saw the value in catching the ball, watching newsreel footage of Willie Rackard catching the ball and passing it back to Jim English to clear.

“The question became: when in possession how do you distribute the ball? That has passed down the years from Fr Maher to Pat Henderson to Ollie Walsh and now Brian Cody. Kilkenny always look up to see where there’s a man.”

Noel Skehan, holder of a record haul of medals and goalkeeper in the 1970s and ‘80s as well as one of Cody’s former selectors, is in no doubt about the hierarchies.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that you’re looking at the best Kilkenny team ever. Teams differ and rules change but no side has won as many trophies or stayed on top for so long. It’s the best all-round team I’ve seen and with strength in depth on the bench.”

“Kilkenny decided they’d need to get fitter after those matches with Clare,” adds Mansfield, “and all things being equal, skill will out. Despite what anyone might think in Cork or elsewhere, Kilkenny are the Brazil of hurling.” Twenty-four hours from Samba time.