Position: Left half back

Club: Tullamore Age: 27 Height: 6ft 1in Weight: 14st Championship debut: 1994 v Kilkenny

Major Honours: All-Ireland senior medals 1994 and '98; Leinster senior medal 1994 and '95; Leinster under-21 medal 1992; All Star 1994 and '98.

Player's view

"Kilkenny have five lethal forwards and John Power's a workhorse. They're capable of getting scores if they get the ball into their forward line. In the Leinster final, D J got the goal at the right time but we were struggling before that, just hanging on, getting in the hooks and blocks.

I don't think we were ever going to win that day. Against Cork our defence struggled with the pace of the game for the first 20 minutes but settled down and played our best hurling. It's a bit easier to hurl when you're on the wing, at centre back you're more of a blocker and Joe (Errity) is doing that job very well.

Myself and Brian (Whelahan) have more freedom to roam around and pick up loose ball or stand back and read the game a bit better. Martin Hanamy (former corner back retired this year) used be very solid behind me and brought my game on a lot but I've matured a bit into the game and Niall Claffey is hurling well behind me and I'm happy with him and he has experience of big days with Birr."

Opponent's View:

Jimmy Barry Murphy (after All-Ireland semi-final loss)

"We always knew that Offaly were capable of pulling a brilliant game out of the blue. Their defence gave us chances in the first half but we had a lot of wides. We lost the plot a bit in the second half and started going for goals too early. But they were on top on a number of positions and fully deserved the win. They are a good side, the one side that have proven they can come back from defeat and perform very strongly in the All-Ireland series."

Overview: Eamonn Cregan

Irish Times analyst

"Offaly haven't been playing that well at the back and Brian Whelahan's been troubled with injury - Achilles tendon isn't an easy thing to overcome - but he is due a good day and has a very good big-match record. Joe Errity is a very good hurler and I've seen him in club matches playing his best hurling at full back and centre back with Birr. He played effectively against Cork. The half-back line is Offaly's most important and they appear better here than Kilkenny."