If Tipperary can beat Kilkenny this weekend, it will be their first victory against them since 2010.
A great rivalry between two storied hurling counties it might be, but it's certainly a one-sided one right now.
There is a sense Tipperary go into this game with more chance of beating Kilkenny than in previous years. Odds-wise, they are deadlocked with nothing to separate them.
2010 Hurler of the Year Lar Corbett believes that if Tipperary go into this game thinking this isn't the same Kilkenny, that they're a more beatable Brian Cody side than previous years, it will be fatal to their chances.
I think that's the rock Tipperary will perish on. I can't understand how the majority of people that you talk to when I'm up on down the country are saying this is not the same Kilkenny team. They're going for three-in-a-row.
If Tipperary think that they have an advantage because Michael Fennelly isn't playing, that's another rock that we'll perish on because there's players on the sideline to fill that gap.
Kilkenny are coming back in again, under the radar. That this Kilkenny team are more beatable then other years, wouldn't Brian [Cody] only love to hear that. They're the best team in the country for the last three years. Nothing has changed. If anything, I think they're getting a little stronger.
There is a lot of hype [in Tipperary]. I think sometimes we're a little too sure of ourselves. Kilkenny are in a great position. Everyone there is trying to talk their team down, people in Tipperary are talking our team up. The momentum seems to be with Tipperary, even though Kilkenny are going for three-in-a-row.
After starting and being sent off in the Munster semi-final against Limerick, John 'Bubbles' O'Dywer was suspended for the Munster final versus Waterford. Tipp destroyed the Deise even without one of the best hurlers in the country.
In the All-Ireland semi-final win against Galway, Bubbles started the game on the bench - perhaps as further punishment for his indiscipline earlier in the summer.
The 24-year-old entered the Galway game after 45 minutes. A quarter of an hour later, he hit the first of Tipp's goals in the game. It was a key moment.
Lar Corbett believes that is the best role for O'Dwyer; coming off the bench as a trump card when Kilkenny are at their strong in the final third of the game.
I wouldn't start Bubbles. You need someone like Bubbles when this game goes into the melting pot just after half time. When he came on the last time, we all knew something magic was going to happen. We believed ourselves that something was going to happen. When you believe like that, players believe it aswell. It's a lift, not just for spectators, but for players.
If you want to start the bit of magic, who is going to come on and do Bubbles job? We do have players on the sideline but do we have someone with the experience.
You have two sides of the coin here. I'd rather hold out, see which way this thing is going to lineup and I always have - I won't call him a safety card - that bit of magic you need in an All-Ireland final.
I always believe that your first forward coming on should be better than your last forward starting because you want him as a game-changer. You want him to do something that hasn't been done in the first 40 minutes.
He has to buy into it. It's about how the system is explained to him and how important he is. He's that trump card you need. He has to buy into that and believe it.
eir Sport, with the support of Publishing Ireland has today launched the eir Sport Sports Book of the Year 2016, (formerly Setanta Sports Book of the Year) the second year of the award designed to recognise and reward the very best in Irish sports writing.
The eir Sport Sports Book of the Year will seek to find the best sports book published by an Irish author in 2016, or sports book with an Irish subject matter.
Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
