In his 21 seasons as Kilkenny manager, Brian Cody is not sure if there has ever been a more even and finely balanced hurling championship.

Springtime may not have landed in Nowlan Park quite yet, given the chill in the Kilkenny venue yesterday, but the virtues and habits of the men in the striped jerseys remain evergreen.

Brian Cody took a seat in front of the media, after Kilkenny’s Leinster final stalemate with Galway, and planted his tongue in his cheek.

Of the three games I took in over the weekend, the toughest to referee was clearly the one in Salthill.

Galway 1-22 Kilkenny 2-11

Our writers analyse the weekend’s GAA talking points...

He played in three All-Ireland final wins for Kilkenny, and won four medals in total, but the conversation that ended Kieran Joyce’s county career last October was a short one.

When I was Clare manager, we played Limerick in the league semi-final in 2006 in Thurles. The game went to extra-time but it nearly seemed that both teams were more concerned with losing the match than winning it, writes Anthony Daly.

Our writers analyse what we learned from the league...

After all the new money and massive entertainment on show this spring, the final now is an old-money showdown between Kilkenny and Tipp, writes Anthony Daly

Relax. We won’t say ‘they haven’t gone away’. We won’t inflict ‘write Kilkenny off at your peril’. We promise to stay away from talk of nine lives.

Eddie Keher knows there are better teams than Kilkenny at the moment and he doesn’t expect them to win the All-Ireland title this year, but he is convinced they are developing quicker than anticipated.

Goal drought continues

After this game in Walsh Park Waterford manager Derek McGrath, who’d just seen his side beaten well by Kilkenny, was asked if the Cats had done a Waterford on Waterford.

 Kilkenny 1-18 Clare 2-18... Deep in injury time there occurred arguably the most noteworthy event of a first half full of noteworthy events. Kilkenny scored their first point from play of the afternoon.

The discussion in the staff room at Our Lady’s, Templemore on Wednesday morning centred on the long list of household names who passed through their doors without ever pocketing a Harty Cup medal.

“You have to remember they all want to get up on the wall,” Tom Hogan says.

St Kieran’s College (Kilkenny) 1-15 Ardscoil Rís (Limerick) 1-13: The terms of engagement may have been changed for this latest joust, but the students draped in black and white still prevailed.