Dillon Quirke was a wonderful person and hurler - Colm Bonner

By Shane Brophy

Colm Bonnar’s time as Tipperary manager might have been brief but he will always be the man associated with Dillon Quirke making the breakthrough at senior level and reaching his potential.

“For the short time I knew Dillon, what a fantastic person he was and a wonderful hurler,” he began

While Dillon made the senior panel for the first time in 2020, this was the year he came of age, starting all four of Tipperary’s games in their all too short Munster Championship campaign, but the fact that Dillon played every minute of those four games shows just how important he had become to the team.

“His displays just grew and grew,” Bonner said.

“He was exceptional in terms of what he was bringing and once we started training you could see how much his confidence was growing and how much he wanted it.

“His fitness tests, he was always ranked in the top 5. He was ranked first in his lower body strength and would have been in the top 3 of his yo-yo fitness and bench pressing. In terms of the championship minutes played he was ranked number 1 and that is how much we thought of him.

“For me he was a player that led the fight for the Tipp team in terms of his workrate and the intensity level he was able to bring to him game, and his energy on the pitch,

“I remember against Limerick, himself and (Gearoid) Hegarty got embroiled in the middle of the field and he (Dillon) lost his footing and Hegarty got away from him but by the time Hegarty was hitting the ball, Dillon had gotten up off the ground and raced after him and nearly got in a hook. That was the type of player he was. He was the quickest man off the ground, quickest into the rucks, he just wanted the ball.

“I could see him growing in terms of what he was doing and where he was going.”

You could see he was going to become a crowd favourite as he relished the fight, particularly the physical exchanges and it was that Limerick game where he produced his best performance, starting at midfield and then into the half back line where he made the number 5 spot his own.

“He was very brave and very courageous,” Bonner added.

“He had that hardness and fight and huge resilience, but he always had very good hurling. He was constantly attacking when he had the ball and always looking to create options, he didn’t want to just hit it away. He did bring a real edge to his game.

“The one thing with Dillon is when he walked off the pitch was, he gave it everything he had and that is what I admired about him. There was never any second guessing would he bring the fight and the scrap, he always brought that.

“Once he got more confidence and you could see it in his display against Limerick was exactly what he showed he was about, whether at midfield or half back.”

Dillon Quirke led by example, and it was clear he was developing into a player of substance, but also a leader who teammates would respond to.

Bonner added: “He created great friendships and bonds with those players, and he really was connected with the players, and it was his unselfish workrate on the field and players knew if Dillon was beside you, he would help.

“He was made captain of the Clonoulty team, and I could understand why, and I would have seen him possibly being a future Tipperary captain the way he was going.

“He was bit of craic off the field as well. We were at Carton House, and he was able to pull a few stunts but that was always good for the team because as serious as it is with Tipperary, they are able to see the down time and have a bit of fun and craic.

“Dillon was well able to speak his mind but always in a calm and controlled manner. He learnt over the last year of putting focus in areas he can control. He was only going to grow into this and get better.

“After your first year at senior inter-county, there was always a question mark when you come in whether you are good enough to make it and then when you do make it, he was the top ranked player in terms of minutes played so that would have given him a huge confidence level going back to his club this year knowing he is an inter-county senior and playing for Tipperary, one of the best players in the county and the country, and that would do the world of good for any player. And I would have expected him to come back for 2023 even stronger and more confident player.

“Dan and Hazel were so proud of him and the 24 years they have had with him, I know it was very short when you look back on it, but they have been fantastic years. Everything you wanted in a son you couldn’t have asked for more. It’s such a huge loss for a family at such a young age with so much more to give.

“They always had huge confidence that he would make that Tipp hurler he wanted to be. It was a dream as every hurler has to play for Tipp and put on that jersey. Even though he had the dream he worked hard at it and when he did get the opportunity, he really grabbed it.

“His display against Kilruane, it takes a good player to be able to play in the half back line, midfield, half forward line and into the full forward line. What he brings to a game very few players have it. He was just courageous and the fight, energy, and intensity he brought to it, that is what you look for and is the type of player you want in any dressing room and is a huge loss to Clonoulty/Rossmore and Tipperary.