Derek Lyng has won nine Leinster titles, six All-Irelands, five Leagues and two All-Stars.
Fair to say then he knows his way around Croke Park.
But in two weeks time he will back there as a manager for the first time - all the eyes of the hurling world focused on him and each of his decisions.
That is a scrutiny he has yet to face in his career.
And to make it worse, Limerick will be ones applying the questions, Limerick, the best team hurling has produced since Lyng was one of Cody’s Cats that dominanted the Noughties.
He said: "It's about getting the bodies right and the heads right again. It's a massive challenge. They're a fantastic team, obviously going for the four-in-a-row and rightly so. They've been the form team for many years now, but that's the challenge that's ahead of us and we'll look forward to it."
In his post-match interview with RTE, Eoin Cody - Kilkenny’s man of the match - felt sore that Kilkenny had been written off this year. Did Lyng feel similarly aggrieved?
"I wouldn't be paying too much attention to what was said about us, to be honest. But I think it's fair to say we were outsiders. We're in the final now but we're not just happy with that. We want to go and perform now in two weeks.
“I'd prefer to be in the final and challenging myself than the other way and not being in the Championship. That's why you play sport. You want to be challenged and you want to take it on. That's where we are and that's what we'll do.
“It's been very satisfying this year. I've really enjoyed it. We have a great team, a squad of players and management team. Look, we're in a final, it's about getting ready for that now and getting ready to focus on putting in a performance."
Yesterday he made good calls, his bench all making valuable contributions.
“They brought a freshness to it. Maybe got us set up a little bit better. They gave Eoin a few more options from puckouts, as well. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. All those players that came on have been showing form in training. We found it hard to pick the 15. It just shows we have a competitive squad. But you need that impact from players when they come in.”
They also needed players to step up to the plate and no one did that more than Mikey Butler who was given the difficult task of marking Tony Kelly, the Clare dangerman. He did that job commendably.
“It wasn't just about Mikey on Tony Kelly. It was a collective. He can't be expected to do it by himself. Fantastic player, but they have excellent forwards, as well, outside of Tony Kelly. From one to seven, eight, nine, I think we managed it pretty well. Overall, I am really happy.”
He had every reason to be happy in the first half as Clare opted to play with a sweeper.
Surprised they did so?
“A little bit,” said Lyng. “We haven't seen that this year with them. I think we coped pretty well with it. But they changed things around for the second half, got more of a run at us and posed more questions for us at that stage. We just saw it through and just managed the game out.”
