Tipp's breakthrough boy Doyle just playing it whatever way it comes

When Robert Doyle thinks of the players who have come and gone without walking up the steps of the Hogan Stand, he knows he is fortunate.

Sat, 11 Oct, 2025 - 08:13

John Fogarty

Achievement is not always lost on youth.

Robert Doyle counts his blessings. He understands how his debut senior season reads: All-Ireland winner and young hurler of the year nominee. That is more than enough for him but an All Star is also likely to be coming his way next month.

When he thinks of the players who have come and gone without walking up the steps of the Hogan Stand, he knows he is fortunate. “When you start off, you don’t really know what to expect. The likes of Patrick Horgan, he’s hurled all his life and never won one. I’ll truly appreciate it when I'm older but I know it is a real honour.”

Liam Cahill had reason to believe he had lost Doyle last year. The invitation was extended to the Clonoulty-Rossmore man – a member of Tipperary’s U20 full-back line in 2023 – but he chose to respectfully decline it. Between work and the amount of commitment required, he didn’t see how he could sign up.

“Liam approached me and I turned him down. I just felt I wasn’t able to with work and everything. It was just too much for me. And then he gave me another chance there this year. He gave me a bell and I said, ‘Look, I'll give it a go and see how it goes.’ And I never really looked back since. Suir Engineering have been very good and accommodating to me throughout the year.”

Doyle’s opportunity came in the opening round of the league in January when Michael Corcoran went off injured at half-time. From that second half to the All-Ireland final, a total of 15 games, the 22-year-old was a fixture in the Tipperary full-back trio except for the second half of the preliminary quarter-final win over Laois.

In that time, he has dutifully marshalled the likes of Dessie Hutchinson and Tony Kelly. In the All-Ireland final, he for the most part shadowed Alan Connolly who finished with a point. He admits he is not one for swotting up on his markers.

“I try and keep away from watching matches back and stuff. I just play with instincts and try and play whatever way the ball comes.”

The All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny was only daunting because it was his first playing experience in Croke Park. Once the butterflies rested, he was fine. “I would have been more nervous in the semi-final than the final just because it was the first time playing there and the crowd.”

Doyle is promoting a special night in Cashel’s Halla na Féile on Sunday, October 26 in aid of The Dillon Quirke Foundation, the South Tipperary Hospice and the Tipperary GAA juvenile squads. Cahill and members of his All-Ireland winning team will be in attendance with Rebel Hearts performing in concert.

The memory of his late club-mate Dillon is honoured by the foundation’s nationwide cardiac screening programmes. Doyle has paid his own tribute to Dillon, following his lead in transforming himself from an excellent club forward to a tidy inter-county defender.

“Growing up, Dillon would have been my idol in Clonoulty and I had a chance to play with him for two years. We’d have gone to Premier League games in England with our fathers and Declan (Ryan). We would have been very close with everyone, so it was nice to be able to bring the Liam MacCarthy Cup back to Clonoulty for Dillon.”

On Thursday, Doyle toured with the treasured trophy around the local schools in Clonoulty and Rossmore. “Giant smiles on the kids’ faces. It was only a few years ago it was me looking up to Dillon and John O’Keeffe coming around with the Dan Breen Cup.”

Silverware, if not the ultimate prize, became a consideration for Doyle the more this year’s league progressed. Then, like his team-mates, beating Clare in their third Munster SHC game in Ennis after the defeat in Cork was a seminal day for this Tipperary group. “That was the one for me anyway. We got over the line there somehow and we didn't really look back after that.”

As for the sweeper tactic deployed in the All-Ireland final? “I remember playing the training match the Sunday before and it didn't go too good for us. The first half (v Cork), I know we were down by six at half-time but I felt a lot safer than the other two matches that we played against them. Going in at half-time, I felt that we were nearly in control of the game.”

Earlier this week, Doyle had to go to hospital with some cellulitis on his hand but he’s already working on a gym programme “to get a bit stronger for next year”. Talk of Tipperary winning back-to-back All-Ireland titles for the first time since the 1960s is lost on him when the county have yet to qualify from Munster’s group stages in successive seasons.

He never suffered the lows many of his team-mates did in 2021 and ’23 yet appreciates not every season is going to be like this one gone.

“It can change very quickly. You see what happened to a great team like Clare. You can never look too far ahead.”

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