He may have 21 Senior Championship appearances under his belt, and a host of displays in National League and Walsh Cup competitions, but 2008 All-Ireland SHC winning captain James 'Cha' Fitzpatrick believes that this weekend's clash with Tipperary will be the toughest yet.
"Without a doubt in my mind and in a lot of the players minds this will be the toughest game so far," he said.
"Tipperary are a year older and a year wiser and they came very close last year to beating us. I'm sure they will be out for revenge.
"Revenge is a serious motivating tool, and we are really expecting a tough one this time."
Last year Kilkenny edged the Premier County by five points in a gripping All-Ireland decider. Twelve months on as the Cats seek five-in-a-row little has changed in terms of the preparation by the Cats.
Fitzpatrick says his side are always seeking improvement, particularly after a disappointing National League campaign this year.
"Early on in the year we got a bit of a wake up call in the league and we didn't progress there. Come Championship we have progressed nicely without being pushed to the pin of our collars.
"We had a tough game against Galway alright, but still we are going to need an awful lot of improvement if we are to win this final.
"Tipperary were beaten by Cork earlier in the Championship — but I think that is after driving them on and making them a better team.
"They have grown in confidence all year — they are building momentum and they just have a nice mix of young players —very talented players, and experienced players as well.
"They are a formidable side and serious opposition for us."
Fitzpatrick believes Tipperary's loss to Cork in that Munster Championship clash, was a mere blip on the Premier County's part, and not an indication of their overall standard.
"Without a doubt it was. I'm sure Tipperary feel that they didn't do themselves justice against Cork that day.
"They have been very impressive since, in beating the Munster champions Waterford fairly comprehensively and I suppose if Tipperary build adrenaline inside themselves against us — that's very hard to stop and we'll have to pull out all the stops if we are going to beat them."
Casting his eye back to 2009 — despite All-Ireland, Leinster and National League titles coming his way it wasn't all rosy for 'Cha'.
Himself, Ballyhale colleague Michael Fennelly were caught by illness — over 12 months on, the Cats panel looked to be progressing well until injuries to Henry Shefflin, Tommy Walsh, John Tennyson and Brian Hogan began to grab the headlines in recent weeks.
Fitzpatrick would love to see all four play some part in this weekend's All-Ireland showpiece, but says that regardless of their availability this Cats squad can cope in the face of adversity.
"It's not an individual sport, it's a team sport and that's the nature of it," he says."We have a strong panel, I think everyone knows that. Tipperary have a strong panel too, and on a Championship day it's more than the 70 minutes — you are talking 75 minutes plus and the players on the line have put in as much effort as anyone else on the field so it can be a great opportunity for those as well."
