Talking points: Limerick look to save the best for last again 

This Limerick vs the famous Kilkenny side and TJ Reid still shooting the lights out.

FINAL COUNTDOWN: Kilkenny and Limerick jerseys, with the matchday sliotar, before the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Final between Kilkenny and Limerick at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

At the end of the 2008 All-Ireland final, when the final numbers were crunched, when all the data was compared from other finals, Kilkenny had amassed the third biggest winning tally in the history of All-Ireland finals, the highest since Cork annihilated Antrim by 27 points in the 1943 final.

In the last 80 years since that Cork-Antrim rout, there have been disappointing deciders, devoid of suspense and intrigue, but there have rarely been blowouts like the 2008 final when Kilkenny eviscerated Waterford by 23 points.