There is one unusual thing about Galway manager Noel Lane. That it is unusual is in itself unusual. In the 20 years since Galway re-emerged as senior hurling contenders, Lane is the first member of one of those teams to take charge of the county hurlers. It has been a slow progression, given the prevailing tendency to seek out All-Ireland medallists and put them into management, whether they fit or not.

Lane's chance of getting the appointment hadn't been considered great last year after Galway's improved season under Matt Murphy and given Lane's lack of success with under-21s. But he believed he could do more with players who he felt had been unlucky to lose out at underage level.

That belief, earnest as it undoubtedly was and is, wouldn't have been enough to sway the matter had Lane not produced Michael McNamara from his sleeve.

Mike Mac had become one of the most high-profile trainers in the GAA when working with Ger Loughnane in Clare. His reverse-existentialism (what kills you makes you stronger) practised at Crusheen attracted the attention of many in other sports as physical hardship bred mental toughness. McNamara's place on the ticket is acknowledged as the decisive factor in the new management's appointment.

For someone who has frequently appeared jumpy about some of the demands of management, Lane has proved to be a fairly secure and self- confident individual as the plaudits shower down on his team trainer.

In fact, he briskly accepts the logistical demands of being a manager mean he has had to leave training to McNamara and coaching to his other selector, John Connolly, another Galway hurling icon and former Hurler of the Year, who was the county's star player throughout the 1970s.

"I was involved with the players at minor and under-21 and unfortunate to lose All-Irelands," says Lane. "Unlucky with refereeing decisions in two of the three and I felt that the talent was there and that I might have something more to offer. That along with my experience and I always had the idea that we needed someone from outside to train the team and I felt Mike McNamara was the man for a couple of years. He is probably the best amateur trainer in the country, in my opinion.

"We had to up our training and preparation and Mick has done that.

"John Connolly is a legend in Galway and a great coach who's done a lot with players, both individually and as a team. That releases myself and more of my time for actual management, which is a job in itself.

"I certainly wouldn't be able to manage and train the team and coach the team. I've delegated and respect the two lads for what they've done."

Lane's own place in Galway's hurling tradition is certainly secure.

A veteran of eight All-Ireland finals, he is the only hurler in the county to hold three medals. As a substitute - not a role he accepted easily - in the 1987 and '88 finals he came on to score the goals that copperfastened both victories. Comparisons between those days and his current responsibilities are stark.

"It's totally different. As a player you're doing what you really like to do. Managing is a whole new ball game. It has its ups and downs.

"It's rewarding then you get to a final but the knives will be out for you if you don't win. Management is different. You're responsible for 30 different personalities and a whole lot of side- issues."

In the middle of the redemption he has organised within the county, Galway's manager remains conscious of celebrity's short lease. After all, he took power less than a year ago by supplanting a manager who had enjoyed a reasonable season's success.

Influenced presumably by McNamara's dismissive attitude towards the League, Galway gambled on concentrating on the championship without any concessions to the spring. The public wasn't entirely patient.

"We lost the first League game against Offaly and the knives were out. The defeat in the League semi-final by Tipperary was humiliating and people wanted to get rid of us."

For Galway, there is an uneasy resonance to the celebrations of the defeat of champions Kilkenny. In the 1970s and '80s, a number of high-profile semi-final victories gave way to disappointing finals.

Lane and Connolly both have memories of these unfulfilled seasons.

Connolly recognises the similarities. "We're not tried and tested," he says, "but that's a problem Galway teams have down through the years. People say: 'How can you play well in a semi-final and not in the final?' But that's the problem Galway teams have always had.

"Anyone can have a good performance one day and the trouble from our point of view is that all our lads had a good day the last day. But what happens if the game goes against them? If you'd three or four games you'd learn more about players because the next day they might be found out."

As former minor and under-21 mentors, Lane and Connolly are particularly aware of the frustration caused by the failure of successive underage talents to graduate to senior.

"There's a huge difference between underage and senior," says Connolly, "and then there's the one game every year. Take the likes of a young player coming through who gets his first game after playing good underage. He's up in Croke Park and it doesn't happen for him on the day. He's perceived by everybody as not having got it for the big day in Croke Park and he's not given a chance again.

"If we had games where somebody would start game one early and then go on to game two and game three and gain confidence, he could become a great hurler."

Lane views the disparity as ultimately yet another severe standard against which to judge himself.

"There's been a lot of talk over the last 10 years about the potential in Galway and I felt it was time to stop talking about the potential in Galway and deliver. I would be known as a failure and would be a failure if I don't deliver an All-Ireland. That's the way I look at it and that's the challenge."

That challenge will be met next weekend. Getting to a final is progress but given the restlessness within the county, a final that ends with the MacCarthy Cup heading to Tipperary will be racked up as another failure. Galway need to win, says John Connolly.

"It's great to be back. Galway hurling needed it badly. It's 13 years since we won one now. My one wish when we won in 1980 was that no Galway hurler who had played for nine or 10 years would ever retire again without an All-Ireland medal.

"Joe Rabbitte is there now and he has deserved it if anybody has. We need one again."