Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng wasn't getting carried away after his side comfortably saw off Galway in their Leinster round-robin opener on Saturday.
The Cats are going for provincial title number 77 in June, and their sixth on the spin, with the two sides who met at UPMC Nowlan Park on Saturday being the favourites to reach the Leinster final.
There'll be a lot of hurling to be played between then and now, but Saturday's fare suggests that Kilkenny will be very difficult to stop in the eastern province.
And this was a Noreside outfit competing without the likes of TJ Reid - from the start - and Adrian Mullen and Shane Murphy from early in the game, with the trio all suffering injuries.
But it didn't appear to bother them, as they made their move before half-time, and never looked back, with second-half Eoin Cody and Mossy Keoghan goals putting some real daylight between the sides.
"It's always nice to start off with a win," Lyng told RTÉ Sport afterwards.
"I'm happy with that and we've a couple of points on the board now and it's a case of getting ready now for next weekend.
"I think we started the second half fairly well and we upped the work rate, which is really important and all throughout I thought we were quite consistent there.
"There's a long way to go yet and we have to keep working on that. It wasn't perfect, but look, like I said, it was a good start and it's game one of five now, so we'll get ready for next week."
On the injuries his side picked up, the Kilkenny manager added: "It's tough going, especially when it's week-to-week and even a slight knock can take out two or three games.
"It's hard on players when they give up a lot of the time and you're planning all year for a championship. But look, fingers crossed, there's nothing too serious.
"We'll just have to wait and see in the next few weeks. But again, we've got lads that came in today, we've got lads that are working on the 26. It's a panel game now.
"Big game up in Belfast next week, so we have to get ready for that now."
For opposite number Micheál Donoghue, it was a frustrating championship return to Galway, having been in charge of Dublin in last year's Leinster campaign.
Six down at the break, the Tribesmen never threatened a comeback in the second half and will now go to Tullamore next weekend looking to get their campaign back on track.
"What a disappointment, we know that's not an acceptable performance for a Galway team," was Donoghue's assessment afterwards.
"I thought we started well second quarter, then Kilkenny got on top and they turned it into a six-point lead going into half-time. Then for the second half obviously we're chasing it and you're leaving yourself open.
"When you get turned over against a quality team, they punish you and ultimately that's what it is.
"It's early after the game but I think when we reflect on it, we contributed to it ourselves with some individual and collective mistakes and look, we have to move on from it now. We just can't feel sorry for ourselves. We've got to regroup again tomorrow, get recovery going and focus again for next week."
Trying to put a bit of perspective on it, Donoghue - the man who guided Galway to their only All-Ireland since 1988 - added: "It's a marathon, not a sprint. We have to take it on the chin as I said, focus on our recovery now and get back at it Tuesday night and get ready again for next weekend."
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