Brian Cody was hugely impressed with Galway's effort in Saturday's absorbing Leinster SHC semi-final clash.
The Kilkenny boss also ruminated over the composure of his side as they continued their amazing sequence of championship victories.
The Cats edged John McIntyre's men by four points, but trailed by five early on and again in the second half.
"When we got really under pressure we hung in there. We got five points clear but we never got too far clear. They were capable, they were serious and they were coming at us in waves. We were tested in a big way," Cody recalled.
"You could sense that they felt we needed a goal and we went at Galway and took them on. Patience is vitally important, because five points of a lead is nothing in hurling.
"Eight, nine points is nothing in hurling really. You keep at it; you keep hurling and doing the basics well.
"You believe in what you see in front of you and you just grind it out. Both teams deserve tremendous credit. Galway were outstanding."
He added: "It lived up to all the expectations. Galway are, in my thoughts, potential All-Ireland winners. It's that simple and that's the way I'd look at them.
"They proved that out there. If they go away and build on this they're going to be serious down the line."
McIntyre, overall, was pleased with The Tribesmen's performance, albeit rueful that they made some elementary mistakes in the second half.
In particular, their short puck-out strategy back-fired, at least to the extent that blunders arising from it led to Kilkenny scores in the second half as the game swung away from Galway's favour.
"I think Kilkenny's composure in the last 20 minutes and their experience definitely gave them an edge because we had them on the ropes. I thought maybe a few of our players took the wrong options at the wrong time.
"We had a short puck-out strategy and while it worked up to a point, unfortunately on three or four times in the second half at crucial stages, the player who had the ball actually lost possession.
"That's why they are All-Ireland champions," McIntyre said of Kilkenny. "That's why no team up to now has gotten close to them for three years.
"The reality is that it looked at one stage with three or four minutes to go that they might win by eight or ten (points), but in fairness to our lads, even reduced to 14 men, they got two points near the end and we will all learn from it.
"We have obviously something to build on but the next round of the Qualifiers is a trap door for Galway.
"But at least we are going in with a little bit more knowledge of our players and they know they can compete at the highest level now because we weren't playing some team that hasn't won an All-Ireland in 15 years.
"We were in with the best team that maybe hurling has ever seen and we went hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder with them and gave the crowd good value for money."