It was only weeks after JJ Delaney’s retirement at a function in Kilkenny’s Cíllin Hill that Brian Cody was approached by a supporter about replacing what the manager himself has described as the greatest defender he has ever seen.

Ballyhale Shamrocks secured their place in an eighth Kilkenny senior hurling decider in 10 years (against reigning champions Clara) with a routine 1-19 to 0-14 victory over St Martin’s at a sunblessed Nowlan Park yesterday.

Kilkenny SHC: Champions Clara and St Martin’s (Muckalee) won through to the Kilkenny senior hurling semi-finals, but the remaining two places are still wide open.

"Substitutions are a consequence of how you read the match. You cannot predict them before the game because it is unpredictable" – Jose Mourinho

Former Kilkenny star Charlie Carter believes invisible spray, like that used at the World Cup, could provide the solution for hurling’s penalty difficulties.

Who best to talk about Henry Shefflin than those who knew him best — his team-mates.

1. The King

Tipperary have named an unchanged team for Sunday’s All-Ireland SHC final showdown with Kilkenny at Croke Park.

Injury and injury alone has kept Henry Shefflin from the Kilkenny championship team these last 16 years.

Mutual consent.

Let’s get one thing very clear — the King is not dead, in fact King Henry is very much alive and kicking and going, for his record ninth All-Ireland senior hurling medal this Sunday.

Tom Ryan: Former Limerick and Westmeath hurling manager

Drico ‘an All-Black in other colours’

Incredible. Almost comical. Predictable. Frightening. Phenomenal.

Here’s an interesting question. Granted, it may be a little too deep and existential, not to mention downright unanswerable, for a Saturday morning, but let that pass.

HOW GOOD is Henry Shefflin? Where does he stand in the pantheon of the hurling greats? For a cross-section of opinions we asked nine players for their assessments of the man simply called King Henry.

DJ CAREY insists he has no designs on making his return to hurling any more serious than lining out for Young Irelands’ junior A team. The 40-year-old returned to action for the first time for the Gowran club in a challenge game against Carrickshock last Tuesday after he had trained with the team the previous week.

FORMER Kilkenny star Charlie Carter believes the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) will be monitoring the Cats for the rest of the season following their indiscipline in last Sunday’s defeat to Dublin.

FORMER Kilkenny star Charlie Carter has criticised the GAA’s promotion of the Allianz Hurling League. The former All-Ireland winner was unimpressed by the marketing of this year’s Tipperary v Kilkenny opener.

Tipperary enjoyed an edge in determination yesterday, sweeping onto breaking ball with relish, and they confined Kilkenny to rare moments of freedom.

TIPPERARY manager Liam Sheedy says it would be good for hurling if injured Kilkenny star Henry Shefflin makes the All-Ireland final – and good for Tipperary.

ANYONE complaining of tiredness in the Ballyhale Shamrocks camp ahead of the Leinster Club SHC final against Tullamore in Tullamore on Sunday would be given short shrift by the management because of the example of Henry Shefflin.

HENRY SHEFFLIN broke new ground yesterday – and without swinging a hurley – by becoming the first player in the history of the All Stars to receive an award for a ninth year in a row.

WHATEVER doubts there may have been about the outcome up to the time Henry Shefflin converted that penalty, Kilkenny didn’t need to win yesterday’s All-Ireland final to have greatness conferred on them.

IN these final few days before the All-Ireland decider, all the talk is about the players from both teams. Henry, Eoin Kelly, Eoin Larkin, Lar Corbett – these are the stars, these are the guys you pay to see, and the pressure is on them to produce.

TIPPERARY hurling manager Liam Sheedy wouldn’t allow Sunday’s chastening defeat to All-Ireland champions Kilkenny deflect them from their bid to retain their League title.

Antrim hurling manager Terence 'Sambo' McNaughton has called on GAA chiefs to look at creating a second-tier championship for counties that are not good enough to win the Liam McCarthy Cup but who are too strong to compete in the Christy Ring Cup.

IT'S only a couple of years since Charlie Carter was playing a starring role for Kilkenny.

OVER the past several years, this year more than ever, we’ve had headline after blaring headline on whether or not the GAA will open up Croke Park to rugby and soccer.

James Stephens 2-16, Young Ireland’s 3-12

Young Irelands 1-18 Tullaroan 1-9

AFTER Kilkenny’s demolition of Galway in Thurles, it wasn’t a stretch to visualise a dressing room scenario beforehand of newspaper cuttings around the walls depicting Brian Cody’s team as a spent force and predicting the end of the road for them.

KILKENNY manager Brian Cody paid tribute yesterday to retired defender Philip ‘Philly’ Larkin for the contribution he made to hurling in the county over the past decade.

Kilkenny defender Philly Larkin is rumoured to have quit the Cats' camp in defiance of his non-selection by boss Brian Cody.

ROYAL ALPHABET, lucky to survive a blunder at the second, subsequently toyed with his rivals on the way to taking the Ballynonty Novice Hurdle at Thurles yesterday.

Former All-Ireland winning hurling skipper Andy Comerford is set to regain his captain's armband, according to speculation in Kilkenny.

O'Loughlin Gaels 2-12 Young Irelands 2-10