If Galway beat Limerick in the All Ireland hurling final, it will confirm the reigning champions as one of the sports' modern greats.

It will move them closer to matching the achievements of the county's first truly great side - the Galway golden generation of the 1980s who Cyril Farrell led to All Ireland victories in 1980, 1987 and 1988, winning three of the five titles that Galway have won up to now.

As the decider approaches, Joe Molloy was joined by Farrell for a nostalgia trip back to those times in a very different Ireland.

But he also looked ahead to the 2018 final to gauge how his native county will do against a talented young Limerick side. 

"It's a unique final in the sense that Limerick have come out of the blue. I tipped them earlier in the year as the dark horse," he said.

Galway's Joe Canning scores a late sideline cut against Clare ©INPHO/James Crombie

"They're playing lovely hurling. I saw them in the Munster league and they were developing this style of clipping the ball 30 yards, passes from corner back to wing back, getting to midfield, criss-crossing the ball, giving great space into the forwards."

However, he feels Galway's strengths and greater experience at this level may be telling.

"But Galway are very experienced. Between replays and all these guys have played in five All Ireland finals in the last few years," he said.

"Yet this year, they haven't put 70 minutes fully together. I expect them on Sunday, you've to put that 70 minutes together and on Sunday, they'll be extremely hard to beat because they have great ability and it's kind of their golden era if they can build on it.

"They've a lot of lads coming through so make hay when the sun shines. They're good enough to put it back-to-back." 

Given their depth should Geaorid McInerney start, he added that "it's still in Galway's hands".