PHILIP LARKIN INTERVIEW:  Ian O'Riordan meets Kilkenny's influential corner back - playing in his fourth All-Ireland final in five years

Philip Larkin is the essential Kilkenny hurler: Already won every honour in the game and can play in different positions. He doesn't like training a whole lot and reckons it's no good unless Kilkenny are winning All-Irelands. He's not chasing success; he relies on it.

Sunday will be Larkin's fourth All-Ireland final in five years. Left corner back will be his fourth different position. When you remind him of the scale of his accomplishment he responds with a shrug of the shoulders as if the past never counts.

"It's a good achievement alright but we've only won the one All-Ireland. It's no good being remembered as the team that lost three. You want to be winning them."

This year was even more about winning. The semi-final loss to Galway last year hurt Kilkenny in a way only Kilkenny can be hurt. When Brian Cody brought the team back together it was clear things were going to be different.

"We went down badly last year, no doubt about it," says Larkin. "I think we were caught flat-footed by Galway last year. But they were ready for us. They hurled us off the field and we have no excuses. This year we hit the ground running from the start and it made a big difference.

"When coming back we decided to do our best to win the All-Ireland, same as any year. But we started back in November, earlier than usual. So it's been a long year now. Hopefully it will be worth while on Sunday.

"And it was hard trying to get motivated back in November. Just doing running constantly in January and February. We didn't even hold a hurl until March. That was hard. Four months of just running. You're working and then driving in the dark to training and straight home to bed, it's a long day.

"But we were already doing three days a week in November. It upped a gear again in January. When we won the previous year we didn't start until February. We had a break and we were away. This year we've had three extra months. There were times I was thinking if we needed to do so much, and that the championship didn't start until June. But again it will be worth it on Sunday."

With the early start there was clearly more bite to Kilkenny's league campaign this year. Larkin says part of that was because players were trying to win places, but winning it didn't mean a whole lot because everything was geared towards the championship. And they were never taking Offaly or Wexford for granted.

"People say we had an easy route to the Leinster title but I have to disagree. Those Offaly and Wexford games weren't easy. When you played those teams you knew all about it afterwards. It can be a strange atmosphere because you're playing in Croke Park in front of 40,000 in an 80,000 capacity. If those games were in Nowlan Park or Wexford Park the atmosphere would be electric because they're very tough games.

"Thurles, say, is a totally different atmosphere for the Munster teams, but I don't think their games are any tougher. I still think the toughest first half we've had this year was against Offaly. I felt so anyway. We were under fierce pressure and the rain that fell that day was like playing in the middle of winter."

Even the six-week void between winning Leinster and playing Tipperary wasn't going to stand in their way. Kilkenny avoided any challenge games but a few rounds of club championship helped fill the idleness. Either way they were going to be ready for the Tipperary game.

"Neither ourselves or Tipperary had hurled well up to that semi-final. It just happened that we both peaked on the day. But it was a huge battle. A lot of things went right for both teams and we were just delighted to get to the All-Ireland final. When it was over people were coming up saying it was a great game, but you definitely don't realise that when you're playing. All you want to do is win."

While Larkin's own performance at left corner back was one the key components in the Kilkenny victory, he prefers to look at the entire team performance: "I thought the guy in front of me, JJ Delaney, did very well too.

"He's been hurling well all year and when he stops the ball coming in it makes an awful difference. And the forwards worked fierce hard as well when they hadn't the ball, so the Tipperary backs weren't able to make great clearances. That all makes it a lot better for the backs at our end."

At 28, Larkin can still look forward to a few more years at the top, but having played for Kilkenny at midfield and wing back (and currently centre forward for his club James Stephens), is corner back now his ideal position?

"Well I'd prefer full forward," he jokes.

"No, but I do like to be further out the field. I used always prefer midfield with Kilkenny. Corner back is different because one mistake and the ball could be in the back of the net."