Former Kilkenny forward Christy Heffernan argues DJ Carey’s imminent appointment to Brian Cody’s management team is a necessary one for the team’s hiccuping attack.

To curve or to swerve — that is the question.

Sending offs can have major influences on a game.

Richie Hogan was late and well he knew it.

A final for the annals but certainly not for the ages.

Tipperary’s 28th All-Ireland title came easier than expected as Richie Hogan’s first-half sending off helped to pave the way for their third Championship crown this decade.

In the Father Ted episode where a bomb was planted on Dougal’s milk float, two fellow priests and a tense Ted were involved in a major planning session.

The rivalry has defined so much of this decade it shouldn’t be surprising that the players and their skills have done so too.

Who’s it going to be then, eh?

Learning you’re about to make your inter-county debut is a big moment in any player’s life.

“I would have felt at the start of the year that there were seven or eight teams capable of winning the All-Ireland final.

The Cats were better than the Munster and All-Ireland champions for the vast proportion of this game.

John Fogarty Tipperary boss Liam Sheedy has drafted in Barry Heffernan and Michael Breen to give his team a more physical edge in tomorrow’s All-Ireland semi-final against Wexford.

Limerick hurling manager John Kiely “marvels” at Brian Cody’s appetite for the game saying the Kilkennyman “is an example to all of us”.

Patrick’s Horgan heroic 3-10 wasn’t enough to save Cork as Kilkenny’s second-half strength proved too much for them.

In the NFL, the quarterback is always looking at the match-ups. He scans the backfield for a mismatch. Tom Brady, who drove the Patriots to another Super Bowl win this year, is renowned for it. The New England win back in early February was greatly influenced by two mismatches on coverage on Rob Gronkowski.

Dónal Óg Cusack had already begun changing the game with short puckouts in 2003 and 2004 but Damien Fitzhenry’s puckout masterclass against Kilkenny in the 2004 Leinster semi-final was still a keynote moment in hurling’s expanding tactical revolution.

Re-engaging with a team recently met is one of hurling’s hardest tasks. Familiarity breeds apprehension, a mixture of knowledge and fear.

The Kilkenny forwards around TJ Reid need to step up their scoring contributions, according to former Cats defender Brian Hogan.

The revamped hurling championship has given us many wondrous memories this last 13 months but the sight of Wexford and Kilkenny supporters jiving away together to the tune of 'Dancing at the Crossroads' may well be the most bizarre.

An “emphasis on the traditional”, reading comprehensions featuring Michael D Higgins and human reproduction each made an appearance in questions faced by Leaving Cert students as the fifth day of the State exams got underway with Irish Paper Two and Biology.

There has been no wielding of the axe by the Clare management in the wake of last weekend’s 13-point hammering at the hands of Tipperary, with the team named for tomorrow’s game against Limerick showing just one change in personnel.

After wins over Dublin and Carlow, Kilkenny legend Tommy Walsh believes that his county has reached the “turning point of our season” with Sunday’s Leinster SHC clash with Galway.

The only problem with throwing a party like this is that you don’t get to have the final say over the guest list.

No prizes for guessing where most of this column’s focus is on after this weekend. Nowlan Park was the stage for one of the most unusual moments I’ve seen in a game and it’s no surprise it has most of the country talking.

Hollywood A-lister George Clooney along with his wife Amal and two children spent several days of Easter in Laois getting to know his Irish cousins.

Kilkenny star Walter Walsh wasn’t biting when asked about his former team-mate Jackie Tyrrell’s recent comments about Limerick.

How to feel your age part I: The Good Friday Agreement is a month older than Kyle Hayes.

Right, tomorrow in Thurles. Here’s the slightly — but only slightly — likelier scenario.

If the drawn final was the game Galway needed, this was the one they wanted.

Hurling aficionados love drama, an enjoyment forever in need of the unexpected.

Yesterday was a day for hurling referees to step up to the mark and both James McGrath and Fergal Horgan did just that, in Semple Stadium and Croke Park.

After all the commotion of the past seven days, today's two provincial hurling finals could hardly have come at a better time for the GAA and everyone who follows it. 

Call it as it was. Last day out against Galway, Kilkenny were pretty much crushed, writes PM O’Sullivan.

Kilkenny 0-22 Wexford 1-18

JJ Delaney has challenged Kilkenny to step up against Wexford tomorrow and led the county to a Leinster final.

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

Kilkenny 2-19 Offaly 1-13: It told a tale of the first hour of this game that the loudest cheer in Nowlan Park came from the little pocket of Murray State University visitors.

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

TJ Reid has no doubt but that Kilkenny would have the number of every other county if they chose to fully embrace the possession game and sweeper systems so much in vogue among so many of their competitors.

Kilkenny 2-23 Tipperary 2-17: A result like this would read as par for the course were it not for some supposedly extenuating circumstances.

Tomorrow marks the 10th national final in 10 years between Kilkenny and Tipperary, writes Enda McEvoy

Damien Young may not be a recognisable face in the Tipperary management but the performance analyst and sports studies lecturer is playing a crucial role in how Michael Ryan’s team goes about its business in training and on gamedays, writes Kieran Shannon