SHC Qualifier, Round Three Quotes: Any chance of a quick word Henry? "Ah jaze, yeah, okay." And for the first time all afternoon somebody has stopped Henry Shefflin. 2-11. Tell us about it. And he leans back against the cool of the corridor wall and looks up at the ceiling and reaches for his modesty.

There was never a hurler in Kilkenny that didn't have the feeling there was a greater hurler coming up behind him.

"Ah, there were a lot of frees there today. It's not about individual performances anyway. I think today everyone played well. You'd find it hard to pick out a player who didn't go well. It was the opposite of the day against Wexford, when not many of us went well and the Wexford lads went well. You have days like that and days like these."

That's how it goes with Kilkenny. They got over the need for whooping and hollering a long time ago. They do what has to be done. Do it quietly. Then they move on. Hype is the enemy of progress.

It's all so unfussy. We ask him if it's a big deal winning a mere qualifier like this.

"I think it's a big deal for us," he says quickly. "We're training since last November like any other team. I suppose the only thing is that we suffered defeat, we know what it is like to be in the losing dressing-room. We were that small bit keener today than Galway. That comes from the pain of defeat. We felt it. We'd rather this dressing-room."

And in the answer behind the smiles and the shrugs you see some of the steel that lies at the soul of Kilkenny hurling.

Defeat is poison. Defeat is slow death. Winning is oxygen.

"We didn't have to answer any questions to ourselves," he says. "There's doubters out there alright but Galway are a very good team and it was going to be 50-50 out there. Some people went against us. Some people didn't. I think from here, this year is very open. Whatever team can be the most consistent is going to win it."

Kilkenny, running up winning margins of this kind, have the consistency. All they need fear now is themselves and any sense of satisfaction they may feel before the job is fully done.

"I don't know how much we beat Galway by there but are we that much better than them? No. It's going to be very tough from here on. We've answered any doubts but there's a bit to go in the summer yet. "

Brian Cody in the Kilkenny dressing-room has taken it all on board.

"It was a very good display. We hit the game with good tempo. We maintained it, playing against the wind. We got a couple of early scores. There was great commitment throughout the field."

Inevitably, unavoidably he is asked about the referee. His views on, his conversations with, his approaches to . . .

"I have a golden rule I never criticise referees to anyone. The referee has a hard job to do. I have a hard job to do, the players have a hard job to do. I have absolute respect for the referee. I would not condemn a referee. If we were to lose by 20 points, I still wouldn't condemn the referee. You do what you do in the heat of battle and everything else but there's certain things you don't do and I won't criticise anyone from Galway, Kilkenny or anywhere else, certainly not a referee."

You were wound up all the same?

"I don't do wound up. I told you that before," he smiles.

Is it a possibility you could face disciplinary action from Croke Park?

"I can't imagine why. For what?"

But you had words at half-time, Brian.

"I spoke with the referee at half-time."

And an unfortunate linesman. "The linesman has a good old position. He's not unfortunate."

And he draws breath. Regroups. Steers the conversation.

"There was too much good hurling out there for you guys to be looking at me, for you guys to be talking about Brian Cody, referees or linesmen. I thought the play was very good, I thought there was great hurling." All nod.

The most pleasing aspect of that hurling? "We played well. Galway had won the league and had beaten us in the league. A lot of people would have considered them favourites. Obviously, when Wexford beat us at the time there was fierce disappointment. I'm excited about the qualifiers.

"We always went the other way but I'd always have claimed that the six-week gap that's there is too long. Two weeks is ideal for any manager. Now we're in the situation where we have a match every two weeks. Two weeks after the Wexford game, two weeks since the Dublin game. Two weeks' time, we play again. If we're good enough we'll keep going and it'll be two weeks again."

People glanced at their calendars. Two weeks. What could unhinge them in so short a time? Nothing.