A CROWD of 8,000 – just absorb that figure for a few seconds – turned up in Nowlan Park last week to see Kilkenny train. Obviously, there was greater local interest than normal due to the fact that Henry Shefflin was going to test his injured knee in a full-bloodied trial match after seemingly making a miracle recovery from the cruciate damage he suffered against Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final.

We have all heard reports of how Kilkenny’s practice matches are fought with a savage intensity and without compromise. Denis Walsh, arguably hurling’s finest journalistic analyst, is not a man prone to hyperbole or easily bowled over, but this extract from his latest column in the Sunday Times fairly summarises why the Cats have been in a league of their own for the past five years. It’s his account of the trial match which took place last Wednesday week.

“The belting and flaking was outlandish at times. Nobody was spared. At one stage Jackie Tyrell flattened John Mulhall with a shoulder of such ferocity that Mulhall was blown over the endline. Any player who gathered a ball in a crowded area was balked and hit and mauled as he tried to escape. One player threw off his helmet as he burst out of defence because it had been half torn off him by then.

“At various times, after another episode of crazy physical contact, there were gasps of astonishment from the crowd. Those who were momentarily stunned may not have been regulars. By now, the regulars are probably de-sensitised. In every sense, it was spectacular: the skills execution under such physical stress was truly extraordinary.

“As a hurling match, it couldn’t have happened in any other environment. If two club teams shaped up to each other in this way the match would probably be abandoned in chaos. The key to it is tolerance and discipline. These players are conditioned to expect any tackle and accept it. Only once in a 40-minute match did a player draw back in anger at his opponent with a swinging hurley.”
 

In the same column, Walsh also recalls the reaction of a Cork man who was attending a Kilkenny session for the first time. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing. I’m sorry I came. After looking at this, we won’t win an All-Ireland in Cork for years.” Against this commentary, those of us who were giving Tipperary a great chance of flooring the champions on Sunday are forced to rethink our assessment, if not prepared to do a complete U-turn.

Remember, with ten minutes to go in last year’s showdown, Kilkenny were scarcely hanging on. Tipperary were doing most of the hurling, forcing the pace and were in front. Only for Benny Dunne’s red card for a desperate pull on Tommy Walsh, PJ Ryan’s epic goalkeeping display and a controversial penalty, I have no doubt that Liam Sheedy’s men would have carried the day.

Sure, Kilkenny have been more vibrant this summer and Shefflin is due to start the final, but the ‘drive for five’ has to be getting into their psyche. Being 70 minutes away from GAA immortality admittedly gives a team powerful motivation, but it also brings fierce pressure as well. Furthermore, will Shefflin’s knee hold out in what is certain to be a raw battle for supremacy? Mentally, he must have found the whole episode draining as well.

For more, read this week's Conacht Tribune.