One of the great ironies of Kilkenny's preparation for tomorrow's Guinness All-Ireland hurling final is that despite the neurotic sensitivity to media coverage, the team ended up as the focus of that rare item, an All-Ireland week controversy. Stephen Grehan's decision to take part in a soccer match a week before an All-Ireland final was bizarre enough but the follow-up was equally strange.

Despite all the insistence that he was dropped for reasons of form, there remains the question of why he wasn't disciplined at all. Presumably there isn't the intention to condone such behaviour and if it was form which brought about his omission, no action was taken in respect of what was fairly irresponsible behaviour for a player days before such a big event.

There has also been the long-running saga of Brian McEvoy's injury. At present there seems very little chance of the player being able to line out without pain-killing injections and even then he has hardly held a stick in four weeks - a lengthy break at this time of the year - which has serious implications for touch and control.

These vexations arise against the backdrop of the one governing sensation of trepidation. History of a most unpleasant nature beckons Kilkenny. No county has lost three All-Ireland hurling finals on the run (Galway managed it in football in the 1940s) and making that sort of history will lead to the break-up of the current team. No wonder the county is so jumpy.

If Kilkenny are spooked there's no better county than Offaly to sense the fact and exploit it. Yet there is a positive side to this. If there had been more apprehension around the county 12 months ago before the final with Cork, Kilkenny might now be defending the title rather than hoping not to blow it again in record fashion.

Last year casts a shadow but it is the 1998 defeat by Offaly that casts a longer one. That year, as this, Kilkenny won the Leinster final but were turned over by Offaly in September. This unhappy - from a Kilkenny perspective - precedent has been exacerbated by Offaly's semi-final defeat of All-Ireland champions Cork. Offaly are impervious to the tyranny of form and that makes Kilkenny even jumpier.

On paper this should be a win for the Leinster champions. They have performed at a consistently higher level than Offaly all year. When the teams met in the provincial final, Kilkenny won easily and despite the talk of their opponents' throwing in the towel, this resignation didn't occur until the winners were already well on top.

The win over Cork should also be seen in its context. The champions played wretchedly in the second half and even if that was partly the result of Offaly's application, tomorrow will be far more testing. Offaly's economy was striking. Their defence cohered, Johnny Dooley lit up at midfield and the forwards took their chances clinically.

If Kilkenny are spooked there's no better county than Offaly to exploit it.

Kilkenny aren't helped by the ambiguity at centrefield but McEvoy did well on Dooley in July although his tendency to hurl his own ball could be risky if the Offaly captain gets a decent supply. If Canice Brennan comes in to replace McEvoy, he will play a defensive role sitting on Dooley and denying him space.

Offaly's defence is better balanced than when the teams last met. Joe Errity has liberated half backs Brian Whelahan and Kevin Martin and even if he doesn't hit the ball all over the place, will be happy to keep John Power tied down. But Offaly will struggle if Kilkenny get the right ball in.

Cork showed in the first half how vulnerable Kevin Kinahan was to low ball, just as they showed after the interval how good he is under high deliveries. Kinahan has marked DJ Carey well in the past but the Kilkenny full forward has still scored plenty off him. Two months ago Henry Shefflin dominated Simon Whelahan in the air and again with the right ball, can repeat that display.

If that happens it will create pressure for Whelahan's brother Brian who will have to worry about what's going on behind. But the Whelahans are big-match players and Brian in particular is due one of those awe-inspiring displays which have been his trademark in All-Ireland finals. Newcomer John Hoyne is tall and physical but few would envy him his task.

What happens at the other end can decide the match. If Offaly can disrupt Kilkenny's supply, their defence will clean up. There are also concerns about Kilkenny's backs. Eamonn Kennedy played Joe Rabbitte well in the semi-final but conceded three points to Gary Hanniffy in the Leinster final. Beside him, Philip Larkin was burned by Brendan Murphy but the feeling is that he has better in him and should use his personal second chance to good effect.

For Offaly to upset expectations yet again will require things to go well for them and badly for their opponents. If Kilkenny have mental frailties these will be exploited and they will probably lose. But the tension in the county is probably about right for the task in hand and with their minds right the Leinster champions have all the equipment to end their three-year torment in style.