Club: James Stephens

Age: 26

Height/weight: 5ft 11ins/13 st.

Championship debut: 1997, v Dublin.

Major honours: All-Ireland under-21 winners medal; Two All-Ireland senior runner-up medals; Three Leinster senior winners medals; Two Leinster under-21 winners medals; Railway Cup winners medal, Leinster minor winners medal. All Star, 1999.

Eamonn Cregan's analysis

"Kilkenny's centre field has been good at delivering ball into their forwards. Andy Comerford is a consistent player who's plenty of experience in the position and Brian McEvoy is a good hurler. He's been steady rather than spectacular since his move from the forwards and has had to curtail his running. There's no point in running with the ball unless you score or find a better-placed team mate."

Player's view

"I'm not really fussy where I play as long as it's in the first 15. Midfield does give you that extra bit of space and I have played there a lot with the club, varying it between half forward as well.

We do seem to be going well at the moment but of course we were going well this time last year. Deep down you do think about losing another All-Ireland.

There was very little between ourselves and Offaly for the first 50 minutes of the Leinster final. In my opinion, they have been playing some of their best hurling this year, especially against Cork.

Of course, anybody marking Johnny Dooley will have a hard time. You have to keep your eyes on him for the full 70 minutes. If he gets the ball in his hand, he is usually very accurate.

I think this team has grown a bit in stature, and definitely have that bit more experience. The panel has been strengthened a bit as well with the younger players coming through.

Opponent's View: Rory Gantley (Galway)

"Both Comerford and McEvoy are extremely mobile with an excellent strike of the ball. They'll nearly always give quality ball into the forwards, and McEvoy in particular has superb hurling ability.

Of course Johnny Dooley is one of the finest players in the country and will be hard to stop but collectively I think these two will have the edge.