The equation is like this: Tipp are slightly better + Kilkenny slightly worse = Premier victory

The Wednesday or Thursday after the 2014 All-Ireland final replay an old stalwart from near Urlingford decided to go for a spin on the far side of the border. Eternal vigilance and all of that, dontcha know.

In an unmarked car and under heavy disguise he made his way through the demilitarised zone and presently fetched up in a shop in Moyne or Templetuohy or somesuch. On the counter was a stack of Tipperary Stars, the front page featuring a photo of Padraic Maher in the depths of agony at the final whistle in Croke Park the previous Saturday. Our pal leaned on the counter and mock-sighed, gesturing conspiratorially to the photo. “We’ll never bate ‘em, will we?” The woman of the establishment fell for it and sighed in her turn, “No, we’ll never bate ‘em.”

Today they get the chance to bate ‘em. Today, facing a Kilkenny at the very bottom of their cycle, as stuck for depth as they’ll be for the remainder of the decade, they simply have to take it.