All-Ireland SHC Final Kilkenny v Cork: Brian Cody says it's all about the final whistle. Always was. The moment that left him running around in circles, dancing, hopping, delirious. Only this time the moment should last for hours, days, possibly weeks. He's tasted it before and no doubt will again. The moment he'd been waiting for all year, yet many said would never arrive. That winning moment - who really knows what it means to Cody?

"Ah, sure, it's brilliant. That feeling at the final whistle. It's still there now, and probably will be for a while. And sure it's been a brilliant year, really, because I know we weren't scripted to do this at the start of it. Nor the middle of the year, even three quarters into the year.

"That's not being smart, because I said all along we're a team in transition. And still are. But sometimes you can do things while you're there. You can't pick and choose when you want to win All-Irelands. But this is just the most magnificent feeling in the world. The present one is the best one by a long shot. I suppose this is the first time we were looked on as a team that couldn't win it, a few months ago. That doesn't often happen in Kilkenny. And probably won't ever happen again."

How Kilkenny arrived at this moment is what makes it feel so special. The pain of losing a three-in-a-row to Cork two years ago, now rising above unfortunate circumstances to deny them the same prize.

"Well," adds Cody, "it wasn't about stopping the Cork three-in-a-row, at all. They set the standards and fought to the bitter end today. But the hunger to win an All-Ireland is the be-all and end-all for every player. And I've said the past few years that the cornerstone of our set-up is spirit, everything else emanates from that.

"There's massive honesty and talent in our panel. And I believe and the players would agree possibly the greatest skill in hurling is tackling, the ability to block, and put pressure on players. Anybody can hit the ball, and do lovely things with the ball, but the game is so seriously intense now, and fitness levels massive, and without that you won't win anything. And we could be still out there playing if we wanted to. That intent was there."

The intent was loaded though. Doing it for the injured JJ Delaney, Donnacha Cody. Richie Power, Michael Kavanagh, seizing the day. Noel Hickey, John Tennyson, back for the moment of glory. Tennyson wasn't even meant to be here, dislocating his shoulder in the semi-final, and yet holding the foundation of an unshakable Kilkenny defence.

"I did think the year was gone after the Clare match," he says, "but I just gathered my thoughts. We're in a final here, and we've worked so hard. Then last Monday I got a nice few hits at training, and knew I was ready.

"People were saying our defence lacked pace, but we knew that was a myth. But look, our forwards worked so hard as well. The likes of Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, he couldn't come out with the ball there was so much pressure on him. Two or three lads around him the whole time. And that gave us a fantastic lift. We wanted to prevent Cork from getting any rhythm, and I think we did that. I think we just wanted it more. We'd a higher work-rate.

"We won the Walsh Cup, the League, the Leinster championship, and now the All-Ireland. But I think if it was the Mickey Mouse Cup out there we'd have won that too. We want to win everything."

That intent was transmitted to the work-rate, throughout the field. Power wasn't fancied to make the starting line-up either: "Definitely," he says. "It's been a tough year, getting injured at the end of the league. I made it back for the Leinster final, then injured again. I got 10 minutes in the Clare match, and once that was done my mind was set on All-Ireland final day.

"We just set out to do everything we could to stop Cork. That meant our work-rate was number one. Every ball you run for that's on your mind. Work-rate. Work-rate. It's been drilled into us. We knew we had to stop Cork's running game and thankfully we did that.

"Losing JJ, though, was an extra motivation for us, because he hadn't missed a training session all year. And the same with Donnacha Cody. They did more training than me all year, I think we did it for ourselves, and those two guys."

Kavanagh was another defender with a question mark after his name - partly to do with his responsibility of taking over from Delaney. "There were a big pair of shoes to fill," he says, "and we're all delighted to get the result for him, and everyone on the panel. Brian is never into settled teams anyway, and maybe he's rewriting the manual on that one. All year people have been having a go at us for being unsettled, but it can't be that bad if we've won an All-Ireland out of it."

And finally to Hickey, who missed Kilkenny's biggest games last year, and marks their biggest game this year by keeping a certain Brian Corcoran scoreless.

"Well," he says, "I don't think either of us hit a ball really. There was a lot of pulling and dragging, tough going. We were just tuned into the game, because if Brian gets a point or two he can lift the whole team. And when he's kept quiet it helps too. If the desire and hunger is there, there are no limits. That's what we had to do if we'd any chance of beating Cork. We had to put their backs under pressure, stop them from giving the ball. The fitness and heart just drives you on.

"You don't feel tired when you're playing for an All-Ireland title. We were prepared for anything, and knew we'd get the reward at the end of the day."