Delaney still finding fresh answers

"JJ gave a speech at half-time, and just to hear the words coming from his mouth was fantastic. He just said the simple things, like keep driving it on. But knowing he wasn't able to hurl after all the effort he put in all year long, that was such a big inspiration."

Aidan Fogarty, man of the match in the 2006 All-Ireland final, was talking the day after Kilkenny denied Cork the three in a row. JJ Delaney, hurler of the year in 2003, had missed the game with cruciate-ligament damage sustained at training in August.

At last week's Kilkenny press night journalists were ushered from table to table in small shoals and afforded 10 minutes with one or other of Delaney, Henry Shefflin, Jackie Tyrrell and Derek Lyng.

Delaney was asked four times (not including TV and radio interviews) to reflect on the heartbreak of having to watch from a distance as his team-mates devoured Cork last year.

The loss of Delaney and the arrival of a few new players had persuaded most pundits to back John Allen's Rebels to push two clear of Kilkenny in All-Irelands won.

Anyway, Delaney answered the question with the same, yet ever so slightly different, four replies. He never once showed impatience or exasperation.

"This time last year I was on four legs," he said. "That's the way sport is. You have to take these knocks and come back stronger for them.

"This time last year I was looking forward to the All-Ireland final. You can't take these things for granted. In 30 seconds it could be taken away from you again. There are no guarantees in life, or sport either. You have to just get yourself physically and mentally right for this game."

Did you have a sense of detachment on the day?

"Sure, but it wasn't too bad because Donny Cody was in the same boat. We weren't on our own; there was someone to talk to. He was going through the exact same thing."

When did it hit home?

"The night before. I always thought I'd be back, thinking I'll be grand . . . but the night before I didn't want to go to sleep at all. Watching telly just for the sake of watching it.

"I woke up the next morning, the day of the match, and you were going out of the house with no gear, no hurls, no nothing. That was cruel. But it had really sunk in the night before."

Delaney is the embodiment of the Kilkenny player in this golden era: calm and confident, yet without a hint of arrogance.

You ask about the hunger that drives them back to the core of the championship each year.

"The panel that is there at the moment is unbelievable," he says. "There are five or six guys on the sideline who can be better than you on the day so you cannot afford to get complacent.

"The hunger grows from getting your own place on the team and then you will kill for the lads around you."

It always comes back to Brian Cody. The man is responsible for giving everyone on this panel his championship debut. He will probably be responsible for ending most of their careers too. They respect him in the county but they don't do pedestals in Kilkenny.

"I don't think we'll see another man like Brian Cody again," says Delaney. "In another county they would have a statue of him in the middle of the town. His hunger is even bigger than it was for his first All-Ireland.

"He is a great man."

JJ Delaney

Age: 25

Height: 5ft 11in

Weight: 12st 7lb Position: Defender

Club: Fenians, Johnstown

Honours to date: 3 All-Ireland SHC medals, 1 All-Ireland under-21 HC medal, 6 Leinster SHC medals, 4 NHL medals, 2 Railway Cup medals, 2 Fitzgibbon Cup medals, 3 All Stars