Favourites? Definitely. Complacent? Never.

IT is hard to believe that only a year ago, as Kilkenny were getting ready for yet another All-Ireland final questions were still being asked about Jackie Tyrell’s abilities as a corner-back.

To add to the pressure, he was captain, an honour bestowed on him by his club, James Stephens, after they had won Kilkenny and All-Ireland club honours. One year on, those doubts are no more, those questions all answered, and Jackie is one of the more established members of a Kilkenny team which is, yet again, in search of All-Ireland honours.

Faith repaid — the faith of manager Brian Cody in a youngster he would have known since the cradle, the faith of his club in its belief that he would wear with honour and assurance the mantle bestowed by them.

Playing for Kilkenny is about ability first and foremost in a county where the standards are so high, it couldn’t be otherwise.

But playing for Kilkenny, and playing under Brian Cody particularly, is also about character.

A few minutes in Jackie’s company and you understand – this guy has it. He’s intelligent, assured, courteous, thoughtful and considered in all his replies. But safe, safe as houses.

Be assured of this, no utterance of Jackie Tyrell’s will ever find itself pasted on the walls of the opposition dressing-room before a match, outraged inspiration gained from its slights, real or perceived.

Certainly not tomorrow, even as Kilkenny face a Limerick team written off as likely winners in almost every corner.

“I’m not surprised they’re in the final,” he says. “They’ve definitely improved immensely from their first game. They bring a huge intensity to their game and a phenomenal work-rate. They’re a confident team who are playing well at the moment. They have some serious hurlers — Ollie Moran and these guys are all well able to hurl, while their forwards like Andrew O’Shaughnessy are on fire. They’ve reshaped the team and are hurling with much more confidence. They’re a dangerous team really.”

Dangerous, Jackie? Where? “There’s danger all over the place but the big thing with Limerick this year is their forwards are scoring. Andrew O’Shaughnessy is in the form of his life, Brian Begley is lethal on the edge of the square, Mike Fitzgerald is after getting some great scores and bringing Ollie Moran out of defence has strengthened them up front as well. I think the forwards have come on in leaps and bounds. They’re running up big scores, brilliant scores. We’ll have our hands full.”

A problem for most counties in Kilkenny’s situation would be the fact that the whole of the rest of the country will be behind the underdogs.

A problem for most counties, but not Kilkenny explains Tyrell.

“That won’t really enter our heads. We’re in an All-Ireland final — the biggest game of our careers at the moment. We won’t be thinking about who’s shouting for us, who’s not shouting for us, we just want to play Limerick.” Kilkenny, you see, being as successful as they are, are used to being up against the popular favourites. Year in year out it happens in Leinster; simple reality, a fact accepted by Jackie. “I suppose, yes. After the success we had last year, everyone wants to see a new team coming through. We’re used to it but these things don’t really enter a hurler’s head. We just focus in on the match.”

Less acceptable, however, is this notion that a win for Limerick would be great for hurling, as if somehow a win for Kilkenny would be bad. Nothing could be further from the truth. Kilkenny is the model hurling county, the template. If they don’t deserve success, no-one does. If they’re not good for hurling, no-one is. What is a fact, however, is that a win for Limerick would be a fantastic fillip for a fanatical hurling county, one which has seriously underachieved for generations. Having studied in the city, in LIT, Jackie is well aware of that love of hurling in Limerick.

“It’s definitely a hurling-mad county. We were lucky enough to win a Fitzgibbon and a lot of that was down to lads in the backroom team who were Limerick men. We’d train at six in the morning and there was a guy there, Eddie O’Sullivan, and he’d be there at five, putting ice-baths out for us.

“That’s the way they are down there. The likes of Eddie O’Sullivan, they live for the game, the same as the people here in Kilkenny. Hurling is everything to them. They love the game and they’re hell-bent on winning the All-Ireland.”

Well, they can be as determined as they want, they can be as hungry as wolves in a howling winter, but if they’re to win this title, Limerick will have to get past Jackie Tyrell and& company. They will have to earn every inch, they will have to earn every score, because this is a man now operating at the top of his game.

“You’re always looking for faults, looking to improve. The captaincy last year and winning the All-Ireland, maybe that has helped me this year. It has given me the confidence to go on again. I’m a year wiser, a year more mature. If I’m lucky enough to start, the final I’ll probably have Andrew O’Shaughnessy which will be a huge test. He’s in the form of his life, we’ll all have to be at the top of our game “Brian (Cody) always says, the best match to win is the match you’re in now He has a huge hunger, he’s driving us on, but we’re all driving each other on.

“When you’re there a couple of years, having new lads coming in drives the whole thing on again.

The championship to win is the championship you’re in at the moment.

“That is the basis for everything.”