Finding Saturday night hero

Ever since Lar Corbett broke through for a goal in a largely forgotten yet pivotal 2008 league semi-final in Nowlan Park to announce the Liam Sheedy era and the Tipperary revival, it’s as if there have been two kinds of games in the life of a Tipperary or Kilkenny hurler — those against their fiercest enemy and those against everyone else.

Take Noel McGrath, who burst onto the scene the following year. Today will be his 16th league or championship game against Kilkenny. He’s still only in his sixth season, yet you could say roughly two of those have been taking up playing solely against Kilkenny.

Any debate about the merits of any current Tipp hurler and invariably a picture of them has black and amber in the background.

Similarly for Brian Cody’s men, their legend has been etched as much out of their deeds against Tipp as by anything else.

Back in the 80s, Páidí Ó Sé used say about any prospective Kerry footballer, “But would he do against Cork?”

In Tipp and Kilkenny, a game against the old enemy is likewise the litmus test.

Hardly any player has aced it every time. This has been no straightforward narrative but more like a classic series in the line of a Breaking Bad or The Sopranos. So who are this drama’s most interesting characters?

How have they fared or evolved through the seasons? Can all that past body of work against an opponent help us predict the future, namely today? We delved the archives and crunched the numbers to see what they threw up.

* LAR CORBETT: Seventeen games now Lar’s played against the Cats and still we don’t know if today he’ll offer more of the ridiculous or the sublime. Outside of his hat-trick in the 2010 All-Ireland final, he’s scored a further six goals — and 14 points — against Kilkenny, meaning he’s the rivalry’s top goalscorer in the Brian Cody era. But he’s also drawn a blank six times, including in that infamous 2012 All-Ireland semi-final reel with Tommy Walsh, the 2011 All-Ireland final when he was held — literally — by Jackie Tyrrell and the 2013 league final, when himself and JJ Delaney got tangled up and sent off.

* JJ DELANEY: No player has emerged victorious more often in Tipp-Kilkenny games in the Cody era than Lar’s old friend; JJ has started and played in 22 games against Tipp, winning 16. Lar’s other close friend, Jackie Tyrrell, also has a 75% win rate against Tipp, winning 13 of 18 clashes.

* JOHN O’DWYER: Almost the match-winner the last day and a likely candidate to be just that today. In all four previous starts against Kilkenny over the past two seasons, he’s either scored a goal or three points from play. In total, he’s notched 2-11 from play against them, an impressive average of 4.3 points a game. That said, he’s still awaiting a medal at senior level with Tipp or indeed a second win over the old enemy since his goal in last year’s league game in Thurles.

* HENRY SHEFFLIN: Whatever about starting him or bringing him on, the message for Brian Cody is simple when it comes to this fella — give him at least 13 minutes because it’s a lucky number. On the last 13 occasions he has played more than 13 minutes against Tipp, Kilkenny have only lost once, a league game in 2003 that Kilkenny would avenge a month later in a league final.

* PATRICK ‘BONNER’ MAHER: His goal the last day was quite the collector’s item; it was Bonner’s only time finding the net in 10 clashes with the Cats. In fact in five of those 10 games, he’s failed to score at all, his overall tally of 1-5 against today’s opposition easily the lowest scoring rate of any forward featuring in this rivalry. But as we all know, it’s how many scores he creates rather than takes which makes him so valued.

* COLIN FENNELLY: No player has scored more from play in a Tipp-Kilkenny game during the Cody era than the 3-5 he rattled off in this year’s game in Nowlan Park. But you can see why Dónal Óg Cusack is excited and frustrated by his potential in equal measure because in every other of his last seven games against Tipp, he’s managed just the one point. Never two, never a blank, just constantly that one single point. Needs a bigger return today.

* NOEL McGRATH: Probably Tipp’s best Kilkenny player — and certainly their most consistent and constant. Not only is he the one player from either side to start in all 15 Tipp-Kilkenny games over the past six seasons but remarkably he’s scored from play in every one of them. National finals in particular bring out the best in him. In three league finals against Kilkenny’s he’s scored at least three points from play in each of them, even if he’s still awaiting his first league medal. In All-Irelands, he’s been just as good, scoring a couple of points from play in Tipp’s two defeats, a goal in their 2010 win and clipping over another four understated, classy points the last day. In all he’s scored 3-18 from play in his seven national finals against the Cats, an average of 3.9 points per game.

* PAUL MURPHY: Has the best winning rate of anyone in this rivalry. In 10 games against Tipp he’s only lost once.

* PAUDIE MAHER: Has started in every possible Tipp-Kilkenny game since getting the nod for the 2009 league final but of those 14 games Tipp have won just three, lost 10 and drawn one, a 25% win rate.

* CILLIAN BUCKLEY: Has never lost in any of his five clashes against Tipp.

* EOIN MURPHY: Has never lost in any of his four appearances against Tipp.

* SEAMUS CALLINAN: If one player has personified Tipp’s troubles with Kilkenny and their resurgence under Eamon O’Shea, it’s Callinan. Prior to this season most of his best contributions against Kilkenny have been off the bench; outside of the 2009 league and All-Ireland finals, he’d been well held as a starter by JJ & company. He was taken off, scoreless from play, in both the 2011 All-Ireland and 2013 league finals, but O’Shea believes a key moment was bringing him back on in this year’s league final. Five points from play off JJ the last day suggests a breakthrough and that Kilkenny now have to worry about him more than he worries about them.

* RICHIE HOGAN: Tipp especially bring out the best in him. Since the 2008 league semi-final, he has scored in all his subsequent 10 starts against Tipp, and often heavily: 1-10 in the classic 2009 league final, 1-1 in the 2011 All-Ireland final and then 0-6 from play in both this year’s league final and drawn All-Ireland. In total he’s scored 2-20 from play in seven national finals against Tipp, an average of 3.7 points per game.

* RICHIE POWER: The only player to have scored goals in at least two All-Ireland finals between the pair in the Cody era, netting 2-1 the last day on top of his 1-9 in the 2010 decider. Whatever about a goal, he’s certainly good for a few points today — in each of his last 12 appearances against Tipp he’s always found the scoresheet.

* TJ REID: Another who comes up big and scores big against Tipp, especially in national finals or Croker. The last day he scored 1-8; in the league final, an astonishing 2-11. In the 2012 All-Ireland semi-final he’d 2-2. In both the 2010 All-Ireland and 2009 league he’d three points from play and a lineball score, while he scored a vital point off the bench in both the 2009 and 2011 All-Ireland wins.

* BRIAN CODY: This’ll be his 28th league or championship game on the line seeing his men going up against Tipp. Of the previous 27 he’s won 19 and lost just six, giving him a winning rate of 74% (two draws). In Championship, he’s lost only one of the previous eight clashes.