Brian Cody says it will be the true benchmark of where Kilkenny are at right now. Anthony Daly says that one of his regrets is not winning it as a Clare player.reports

Given the climate of this year's Allianz National Hurling League it's fair to assume Monday's final will be the storm after the calm.

The Kilkenny and Clare managers were in Dublin yesterday to help talk up Monday's rendezvous in Thurles, as if we didn't already believe the hype. It's not so much the climax to the league as the start of the hurling season for real. And neither Cody nor Daly masked their desire to win.

"I'd be happy enough with the way we're going now," said Cody, "but next Monday is the true benchmark we want. Clare's form has been exceptional, and they were the only ones to beat us this year. I know the quality of both these teams and there's nothing between us. And I know we'll both be going out trying to win, so I think it will be a game well worth seeing.

"We'll be finalising a team on Friday, and the one we will line out with is the team we consider the best one we have at the moment. Simple as that. There'll be nothing experimental about it, and if it was a championship match next Monday we'd send out the same team."

While Kilkenny are trying to win back the title after the double-double of 2002 and '03, Clare are trying to win their first since 1978. They've lost in four finals since, including to Kilkenny in 1995, when Daly captained the team at left wing back. Winning as manager would be the next best thing.

"Well yeah," said Daly, "a lot of these Clare players have two All-Irelands, and three Munster championship medals. It would be nice for everyone involved. And not winning the league is something I did regret as a player.

"The championship is obviously a priority for everyone. But once we were drawn in a Munster semi-final we saw there would be a good gap after the end of the league, so it was right up our alley to play in this final. In fact, it's ideal preparation for us."

Daly won't finalise his team until before throw-in on Monday. One of his dilemmas is whether to start forward Tony Griffin, who has been studying in Nova Scotia for most of the past six months, and doesn't return home to Clare until tomorrow evening.

"He's actually been snowed in a lot," added Daly. "He brought back six sliotars the last time, and lost them all in the snow one day. All he's been playing since is basketball. He'll be home for good now on Friday, but we'll have to think about what we'll do, because it will be hard to change around the team."

It's assumed all Daly has to do to inspire players such as Brian Lohan, Seanie McMahon and Colin Lynch is remind them that this is their last chance to go out in a blaze of glory.

"Sure, we've been talking like that to them for a few years," said Daly. "And Cyril Lyons would have been saying it before me. People have been saying it's their last year for the past three or four years, but they're all so dedicated, and they have looked after themselves over the past few years.

"In some ways, we've had to curtail their training a little bit. A lot of them were doing weights on the nights off, and you can't do everything at 32 or 33 that you did when you were 26 or 27. It's quality rather than quantity now for the ones that are moving on a bit.

"People still ask me how I'm going to get another year out of some of them, but I'm more concerned about getting the younger ones up to their standard, and give the same sort of commitment. All those lads have great personal drive. But if one of them has to be called ashore on Monday we'll do that.

"I ironed that issue out before I even started. I didn't like having to take Ollie Baker off after 20 minutes in Thurles last year, but that's the kind of decision we have to make."

Cody's selection dilemmas are a little different. Not only does it seem like Kilkenny have endless talent, but also endless versatility - and yet Cody doesn't view successful players in the county as merely falling off a conveyor belt.

"People constantly talk about this great talent that keeps coming through in Kilkenny. I think that's very much overrated. Many of the players we've picked up are players that hadn't been touted as going to come through.

"Eoin Larkin, for example, wasn't on the under-21 team last year even though he was eligible. The heartening thing for us is that there are so many players out there so determined to get on the panel."

Both managers are also spurred on by events of last year. Kilkenny saw their air of invincibility evaporate during the league, but Daly appeared the more hounded by what happened in the championship, and the infamous collapse against Waterford.

"You always know you can be beaten by anyone in Munster," he recalled. "But we just didn't see a flop like that. But I think I learnt a lot from that. We'll all make mistakes. Even Ger Loughnane made mistakes. At least we had the chance to come back, and it was absolutely brilliant to be able to hurl it out of your system.

"I'd been thinking about it all week, and then being able to go back training on the Friday, and just eat into them, have an unmerciful go at them. And they had a go at themselves. But 2004 was never a successful year as a result."