All-Ireland Club Hurling Semi-final/James Stephens v O'Donovan Rossa: Ian O'Riordan asks former All Star Brian McEvoy how it feels to be one win away from a return to Croke Park.

Further evidence of the, at times, unbearable demands facing intercounty players is right now personified in former Kilkenny hurler Brian McEvoy. Two seasons ago, McEvoy decided he'd had enough and at the age of 29 opted out of the Kilkenny panel just as they were building their All-Ireland winning momentum.

Any player who makes such a decision could be soon hounded by regret, yet for McEvoy it turned out as one of the better decisions of his career. On Sunday, he lines out with his club, James Stephens, in an All-Ireland semi-final knowing that he's just one game away from reliving his glory days in Croke Park come St Patrick's Day.

But, more importantly, he's now enjoying his hurling like never before: "Until we won the Leinster club final I thought I'd never be back in Croke Park," he says. "Now I'm only 60 minutes away, and after packing in the county scene that would be something to savour.

"I've always said that hurling is there to be enjoyed, and if you don't enjoy it you shouldn't do it. And I just wasn't enjoying my intercounty hurling, and that's why I packed it in."

An All-Ireland winner in 2002 and a former All Star, McEvoy's decision to walk away from county hurling coincided with that of then Kilkenny captain Charlie Carter. While Carter's decision remains a little mystifying, McEvoy simply surrendered to the demands.

"I'm self-employed, and was building a house and getting married that year as well. So I just felt it was time to go. But the training for Gaelic games has gone so far down the road now that I don't know where it's going to stop.

"It seems to be getting out of hand, just more and more. Burn-out has become a real issue for younger players, and something Croke Park will have to address. Guys just can't train at that level for six or seven years in a row, because they just won't be able to do it if they're trying to hold down a job.

"Most weeks you'd be out five or six nights a week. And the club did suffer. When I was involved with Kilkenny for six or seven years, going well and making Leinster and All-Ireland finals, I just wouldn't get the chance to go to the club.

"Even the club training has stepped up too, and is where intercounty training was say 10 or 15 years ago. But at least it's still manageable, and still enjoyable."

It may be no coincidence that since he and Philip Larkin have re-concentrated on James Stephens the club has started winning: "The training in the club has definitely benefited because we are there more often. Before, if we'd trained eight or 10 times with the club we'd be doing well.

"And to finally win a county championship was a big deal, because we hadn't won any since 1981. So it was just euphoria and relief and everything else rolled into one. It meant so much to us because we know how hard it is to win the Kilkenny championship. You can always rattle off five or six teams that can win it."

As a result, though, James Stephens are hotly fancied to overcome Antrim and Ulster champions O'Donovan Rossa at Parnell Park on Sunday. Team captain Peter Barry also grew up with McEvoy and Larkin, but even with that combined experience they won't be taking anything for granted.

"I suppose we're all only finding our feet at this level because we haven't been here before," adds McEvoy. "So we'd be foolish to look beyond this. And those bookies' odds don't make a difference: if they were always right then we'd all be millionaires.

"And Dunloy have shown us what Antrim teams are capable of. Those days of underestimating northern hurling teams are well and truly gone. And you'll always need some luck. The Kilkenny championships are so hard to win you need it, and we just didn't have it for a couple of years. Thankfully, we'd the bit of luck this year."

Yet, considering McEvoy and Larkin are now 13 years playing for James Stephens - and were almost as long across all grades in Kilkenny - the overwhelming feeling is that O'Donovan Rossa are the ones who will need the luck on Sunday.