It will soon be three years since DJ Carey briefly retired from hurling. His disillusion with the game and feeling of distraction prompted many to wonder whether he would ever again regain the phenomenal capacities which had made his decision to quit so sensational. His ultimate rehabilitation has come incrementally, an out-and-out disappointing year in 1998, a great year up until the final in '99, and this year a consistently menacing campaign which delivered vital goals in Kilkenny's big matches and with them, the Hurler of the Year accolade. This unanimity might be hard on some of his team-mates - Henry Shefflin, Peter Barry or Andy Comerford - but just as Carey often picked up disproportionate blame when not in form, he is perhaps entitled to the converse credit. And the bouquets weren't that disproportionate.

Each of Carey's goals was a match-breaker. Against Offaly in the Leinster final and Galway, he struck just as the opposition's confidence was reaching critical mass. In the All-Ireland, his seventh-minute goal buckled Offaly. Even in the bad years, Carey tended to dispute the focus on variations in his form and play down any differences in the team's preparations. The perspective hasn't changed.

"I can't say there was anything different about our preparation this year. As soon as we started back, we had one goal - to put the head down and train as hard as we could for the first round. It was a long way away but it came round quick.

"Very little differed for me. I missed two and a half months of the league with a collarbone injury but unlike other years when I had hamstring trouble, I didn't miss much training because of injury. I was able to train even if I couldn't play."

There were other issues. As a public advocate of the Gaelic Players Association and one of the "Marlborough 10" who entered into an unauthorised (by Croke Park) endorsement deal, Carey was never far from mind when relations between the GAA and the GPA were aired. Although he was never confrontational with the GAA and generally supportive of the officially backed Players' Committee, he is still seen as a bit of a rebel. His own view is that of unfinished business.

"I think it (the year) was a step forward. The only thing I'd say about it is that the treatment of players should be better than in the past. If the structures of the GPA and Croke Park (GAA Players' Committee) improve that, brilliant, but there's a long way to go yet."

The Marlborough deal happened at the height of the championship and Carey had to distance himself from the publicity, but at the same time he was submerged by a controversy that had nothing to do with him. The An Post/GAA Millennium hurling team promotion involved the naming of a `best-ever' XV. Carey didn't make the cut and of his contemporaries, only Brian Whelahan was selected. "It didn't really affect me. There was a certain amount of disappointment but that's because I'd be competitive. If I was playing golf against Tiger Woods, I'd be disappointed to lose even though I'd no chance of beating him. There were different opinions among the selectors and it was a difficult job. I'd no axe to grind, it didn't motivate me one way or the other.

"I didn't really think I'd be on the team. The only players who were picked that I'd seen play are Ray Cummins and of course Brian Whelahan. They were all legends and one of them would have to come off the team if I was going to be on it. Other people or their families would have been disappointed then." Certainly his performances weren't inhibited, as the All-Ireland finally came around for Kilkenny. There's little doubt that Offaly's surprise win over defending champions Cork smoothed the path, but with their forwards scoring for fun and the motivation of the previous year's bitter upset, Kilkenny would have been hard to bet against. The All-Ireland final against Offaly leaves him his most memorable moment of 2000.

"I've played in six at this stage and the sense of satisfaction was huge this time. The last time we won an All-Ireland, in 1993, I was 22. The more the years go by, the less chance you have of winning an All-Ireland. Now we are going to be hard to beat but we're not unbeatable. We had a great team in the early 1990s but only won the All-Ireland twice. When you have the chance, you have to take it."