1. Kilkenny and Galway meet again
Kilkenny and Galway clash for the fifth time in the championship since the start of 2014. It’s a sign of the dominance Brian Cody’s team have over the Tribesmen that they haven’t lost a championship game to them since the 2012 Leinster final.
By that September, Kilkenny had restored their dominance over Galway with an 11-point win in the All-Ireland final replay. Galway’s last championship win before that was 2005.
Kilkenny are chasing a third Leinster and All-Ireland title in-a-row and Galway may have to pick their punch carefully. There’s a feeling that you might catch Kilkenny on the hop once during the year, but you won’t do it twice.
2. Galway motivation
Galway are highly motivated to win this game. After dumping Anthony Cunningham last winter, the heat is on this group to deliver. They put a target on their backs by ousting Cunningham, who brought them to two All-Ireland finals. They lost both to Kilkenny.
The most recent defeat to the Cats came last September, so Galway will be determined to exact revenge. They always raise their game against Kilkenny and they’ll have to improve a lot from their semi-final win over Offaly.
3. Jonjo Farrell’s emergence
A fringe member of the Kilkenny panel in recent seasons, Farrell had a breakout game against Dublin in the Leinster semi-final, scoring 1-5 in a remarkable display.
In the absence of the injured Richie Hogan and Ger Alwyard and the recently retired Richie Power, Farrell has emerged from the periphery to make his mark in Kilkenny’s forward unit.
Galway will be well aware of the threat Farrell poses. He’s the latest example of a player Cody can pluck from the periphery. Will he be the Aylward of 2016? How he performs against the Tribesmen will go a long way to answering that.
