Cagey Cody wary of Limerick

There is an air of calmness about Brian Cody in the lead-up to Sunday's All-Ireland final - his seventh All-Ireland decider since he took over the Kilkenny reins in 1999 - yet the James Stephens clubman knows not to underestimate any opposition and he is very wary of the threat which Limerick will pose this weekend.

"Limerick have had a huge year and have shown massive resilience with their games against Tipperary," Cody said.

"Then they got on a roll and had a bit of a setback in the Munster final but hit the ground running again and came back against Waterford also and played an outstanding semi-final."

That semi-final against Waterford was certainly played at a blistering pace and Cody is keen to point out that his side need to be on their guard against such a goal-hungry attack.

"It was serious hurling, they had five great goals. Each one of those goals was top class and one of them was a brilliantly struck penalty - it was an unstoppable one - and the rest of the goals were terrific goals. You're either capable of doing those things or you're not."

Cody believes that Limerick's underage successes early in this decade are now beginning to come to fruition under the guidance of manager Richie Bennis.

"Limerick have three Under-21 All-Ireland titles pocketed for a couple of years now and the maturity is there now and their ability to follow through on that and to realise the potential that they showed then is really coming to the fore now," he admitted.

"It's not as if Limerick came overnight. They reached the National League final last year and while they ran into problems after that, they regrouped and very nearly beat Cork in the All-Ireland quarter-final."

And their Munster championship trilogy against Tipperary proved to the nation that Limerick are a serious side and this is not something which Cody has forgotten.

"Their performances against Tipperary this year showed how determined they are and if you go through the team individually you'll see how many terrific hurlers they have.

"The manner in which they thundered into Waterford in the All-Ireland semi-final was something else. And even when Waterford came back at them, Limerick hit them again with more goals. They are savage opposition for us," he added.

A four-time All-Ireland senior medallist as a player, Cody has learned over the years to approach each game with caution and dismisses the favourites' tag for this Sunday saying that his side have come through some very testing encounters this year.

"I think we are stretched to the limit every time we go out despite the pundits saying otherwise.

"The first game against Offaly was a big test for us to be honest, they put fierce pressure on us that day and we responded well to it. In the Leinster final Wexford didn't play like they could have had but the Galway game was a huge test for us and for 60 minutes there was nothing in it.

"Then we had the semi-final and Wexford came very strongly at us again. Wexford had a big win over Tipperary the previous week so they were on a good run of form."

Kilkenny will name their team tomorrow night and they hope that both Noel Hickey and PJ Ryan will have recovered sufficiently from injury to play a part in Sunday's clash.

The game will be the ninth meeting between the sides at the All-Ireland final stage and the first since 1974 when Kilkenny were victorious with Cody part of the winning panel.