The meeting of Offaly and Kilkenny in Sunday's Leinster hurling final - the fourth championship date between the counties in the last three years - is set to renew a number of old rivalries between long-serving members of both panels.

Neither side can be regarded as a young and untested team but it terms of player turnover, Kilkenny have been the more active. For the three meetings in 1998 and 1999, as well as the starting 15 for Sunday, Kilkenny will have used a total of 28 players.

Offaly are not that far behind with a total of 24 players used although that figure is less reflective of their actual pool of players. According to long-serving selector Paudge Mulhare, it is deceptive to view Offaly as having the same depth of panel.

"We've always had up to 28 players on the panel in the last few years," he says. "But we were still dependent on a nucleus of 17 or 18 players. To be perfectly honest, we haven't had any outstanding talent coming through to us in the recent years and that comes down to the limited success at minor and under-21 level."

Kilkenny have won the last 10 Leinster minor titles in succession although this year Offaly will contest the final with Dublin in what is a major break in tradition. In recent years, however, Offaly have been forced to adapt the players available rather then bring in much young blood.

"Of course we are a relatively old team," adds Mulhare. "We've always brought on maybe two or three substitutes or replaced players in championship games but that was more because of injuries or tiredness in the starting players we have. The likes of Johnny Pilkington and John Troy mightn't be the oldest but they have a lot of mileage in the legs.

"And of course Joe Dooley and Joe Errity have been around a long time. In fact we've had a lot of injury problems in the last few years and that's more of an explanation as to why a certain amount of new players were brought in."

Two of the Offaly players in the last three meetings appeared only as substitutes. Daithi Regan and Ger Oakley were involved in last year's Leinster final but in none of the starting line-ups. Similarly, with Kilkenny, Sean Ryan and John Costelloe came on as substitutes in the 1998 All-Ireland final but haven't started in any of the other meetings.

While Kilkenny have won both battles for the Leinster title, Offaly claimed the only All-Ireland laurels when they came through the back door for victory in 1998.

For Sunday's game, Kilkenny will start with 11 of the players that started the Leinster final against the same opponents last year. Into the starting line-up come Noel Hickey, Philip Larkin, Peter Barry and Stephen Grehan while the players to move out of the picture are Tom Hickey, Canice Brennan, Paddy Mullally and Ken O'Shea.

Offaly, surprisingly, have made five changes. In come Niall Claffey, Barry Whelahan, Gary Hannify, Brendan Murphy and Joe Errity.