Circumstances may be familiar but the context has changed since last year for Ronan Curran. Twelve months ago Cork's centre back was preparing for the All-Ireland final against the uneasy background of having struggled in his previous two matches.

Waterford's Séamus Prendergast had taken him for four points in the quarter-final and in the semi-final Clare's Tony Carmody scored three.

Curran had been replaced in both matches. His departure from the Clare match, together with Brian Corcoran, at the beginning of the final quarter was heralded at the time as the making of John Allen's rookie year as manager.

"Last year wasn't the best," he says. "I'd two bad games up in Croke Park and was under a bit of pressure going into the final. This year it's different and things have gone okay. Last year it was only three or four balls in each game but at this level if you make a mistake you're going to be punished. That's what happened. I suppose it was a lack of concentration. Fortunately it hasn't happened this year and hopefully it won't in the final."

Even his travails last season didn't conspire against him in the final when he took on Galway's in-form David Forde and reasserted his status as the pre-eminent centre back of the current era. It may have been too late to retain the number six All Star, which he had held in 2003 and 2004 and which he is short-odds to regain this year but it was an impressive revival of form on the biggest day of the year.

Curran's underage career was full of promise and he landed two All-Ireland minor hurling medals as well as contesting the minor football final in 1999 against Mayo. Coincidentally that day he marked Billy Joe Padden, who will be lining out against Kerry in three weeks in the All-Ireland football final.

It took time for him to emerge on the senior hurling team. There were a couple of years' hiatus between Brian Corcoran's initial retirement and Curran's arrival in the centre of the defence, a position he is now holding down for the fourth year.

Of the three centre backs tried in that time two are still on the Cork team, this year's captain Pat Mulcahy and John Gardiner, part of the half-back line with Curran and Seán Ó hAilpín.

"We know each other very well," says Curran. "We're playing there together for three years now. We know each other's strengths and when we need back-up and so on. It comes from the experience of playing together.

Seán Óg is a great athlete and John Gardiner is a brilliant hurler, great striker of the ball. The backs work together in training a lot, doing different moves, rotations and stuff like that - covering each other and various other aspects of the game."

Next Sunday Cork press for a third successive title against Kilkenny, who were also chasing a three-in-a-row when Cork's sequence began in 2004.

Curran doesn't believe there is any additional motivation for Kilkenny in bringing the champions' ambitions to a shuddering halt.

"It didn't feature one bit that day. That year we were just thinking about the year before and that was the big thing for us. We struggled in the first half in 2003 and Kilkenny got the better of us towards the end so that was what we were running on in 2004. I don't know does it come into players' minds. You're thinking about this final. I can't speak for Kilkenny but I'd imagine that it's the same for them."

His team are favourites this year and injuries to Kilkenny defenders John Tennyson and JJ Delaney have hardened Cork's status. Does that bring additional pressure?

"Not really," says Curran. "Down through the years the favourites' tag hasn't counted for much in Cork-Kilkenny games. The tag is there but I don't think it makes any difference."

Players try to detach themselves from everything that surrounds being in an All-Ireland final and before a fourth final in succession, know the drill.

"It's more an event now there's so much hype going on around it. You try and stay away from that and concentrate on the game and hopefully you can enjoy it afterwards."