It was simpler in the old days, when he was just responsible for hurling hard and lapping up the good times. Right now, Kevin Fennelly walks a path laden with worries and doubts and organisational hazards. But the Kilkenny pulse beats still. They are, as usual, contenders to the last.

On Thursday, Fennelly busied himself with his insurance work, pushing aside for a few hours the needs of his players, the press night, the team talk. Tomorrow, business resumes again and he will find himself on the line with that familiar peaked cap, urging, praising, hoping.

"No one was giving us a chance this year. They said we wouldn't win Leinster but we have done, even though we don't seem to be playing especially well. Now, all of a sudden, folk in Kilkenny are sitting up and saying, `Jesus, we mightn't be so far away after all'."

Fennelly speaks in a forthright, affable way, eschewing agendas. Despite all the trials, his love for the game glows yet and he is determined to haul Kilkenny skyward again.

"We are not as strong as we'd like to be at the moment. Maybe the club competition structure in Kilkenny is responsible for that. OK, we won the two All-Irelands in 1992 and 1993 but the county has been quiet since. That happens, you come and then there is a rebuilding process. I suppose it helped me coming in when things were a bit flat, it gave me a reasonable starting point."

Early in the Championship, it was tentatively suggested that Kilkenny would wither in Parnell Park, that they had never been so vulnerable. When the game was over, Dublin were left bewildered and odds on Kilkenny were slashed.

"Too much was made of that game. The fact remains that Dublin stayed with us for most of the match. When we pulled away, they were spent. We weren't that impressive against them and just did enough against Laois, which I always saw as our most difficult game. And the Leinster final was just a tight game, it could have gone either way."

After the provincial finals, people judged the Leinster fare as pedestrian compared to the heat and flair in Munster. Kilkenny, until this week, have been left to prepare in splendid isolation. Their southern neighbours have commanded all the attention.

"Waterford have a fine balance, no real stars, but a lot of fine hurlers and a terrific half-back line. They are typical of the new breed in the GAA, teams that decided they would no longer be a goal short of the stronger counties. They have raised the stakes in terms of fitness and they have made it so the likes of Kilkenny and Cork have to worry about them now. They don't care about the past and have forced the so-called stronger counties to adapt to them."

Fennelly has a good relationship with Waterford, having hurled there. "Sometimes I'll meet up with a few lads for a bit of grub and we'll have a chat about how things are going. It's great for the game to see new teams coming through and the fact that we are neighbours makes this game even more special."

He is adamant that Kilkenny will have to discover a sharper game if they are to sever Waterford's flow. "It's going to be hard. This is like a professional business now. The days of a few nights' training, steak dinners and a bit of a laugh are finished. All-Irelands aren't won easily. If we have the game the next day, we can go on. If not, we go away and try again next year. Simple as that."