Cork and Kilkenny have been telling us the roll of honour and possible three-in-a-row have no bearing on tomorrow's final. Do I think they will be a factor? Without a shadow of doubt.

Donal O'Grady is one of the most passionate people in Cork hurling. No one can tell me Cork being dethroned as the number one hurling county isn't a huge consideration. Does anyone think it hasn't occurred to Cork players that they could be the ones to lose that status to Kilkenny?

Brian Cody will want this, to put his own team's mark on its era and its time. Kilkenny teams that won two in a row in 1982-'83 and '92-'93 didn't get the chance to win a third because they were knocked out in Leinster. They will desperately want to do it. It could be DJ's last match and what a way for him to go out.

If I was over one of these teams, there wouldn't be a single night in training when it wouldn't be brought up.

Kilkenny got the kick in the pants they needed and when they needed it. If they were to have got through Leinster undefeated and reached an All-Ireland semi-final that way, I don't think they'd be in this final.

Tommy Walsh going back to the defence was a huge move for Kilkenny and a big gamble by Cody because he was probably the best player against Wexford at half forward. He had played corner back at underage but young players don't place the same emphasis on the quality of ball into the forwards.

The huge criticism Cork came in for over the Munster final equally motivated them. They blew away Tipperary and answered their critics but haven't had a tough game since. Whether that will stand to them tomorrow remains to be seen but I believe they would have loved a sterner test.

There will be questions asked of the Cork full-back line. Diarmuid O'Sullivan's playing better but he'll need to. Wayne Sherlock will need to be at his best as well because I think they're going to see an awful lot of action.

Kilkenny have all the aces in their deck: Henry, DJ, Eddie Brennan, Martin Comerford coming into form just when it's most needed. Up front they just seem to have a lot more options than Cork who have been very reliant on Ben O'Connor this year and he's playing on JJ Delaney, the classiest defender in the game.

Shefflin is such an important player. There's so much on his plate: winning ball, scoring, taking frees, work rate and also the intensity. Cork would love to see him on Seán Ó hAilpín but he may well go back into the corner. DJ tends not to lose ball in the air. He uses one hand to flick the ball on and leans forward with the free hand to disrupt his opponent. if John Gardiner isn't paying attention, DJ will be gone.

Despite Brennan's inconsistency he's well capable of winning ball in the air and has tremendous pace and stamina that really kills defenders. His finishing is lethal.

There are more question marks over Cork's attack. They've been relying on the midfield running at the opposition and I can see Kilkenny making that difficult.

Derek Lyng and Ken Coogan are big, strong players and will drop back to help the defence absorb those attacks. If Niall McCarthy gets on top of Peter Barry, that's a huge platform for Cork because many's the game that has stopped at Peter Barry.

Donal Cusack's puck-outs will be really important. Will he go for Timmy McCarthy if he's being marked by Tommy Walsh? Brian Corcoran has a big role to play. I've seen him get very frustrated with referees for not giving him frees and he's going to have to learn to make room for himself and let his marker know he won't tolerate pulling and dragging. It's not in Brian's nature but he has to do it for tomorrow because Noel Hickey manhandles a forward if he's allowed.

Another motivation is whoever's defeated tomorrow has nothing to show for the year: no league, no provincial title and no All-Ireland.

I believe Kilkenny have slipped over the past two years. They scored three goals against Waterford and there was still only a puck of a ball between them. It took two games to beat Clare who had a very defensive game plan. They haven't yet hurled for a full 70 minutes. But I think they will handle Cork's running game and their forwards will do the rest.