Veteran Socceroo up for World Cup fight
But with injured players returning and ambitious youngsters waiting in the wings, he will have to fight for his dream of taking the field on football's grandest stage.
Boyle was famously ruled out two days before the Qatar World Cup, requiring a full reconstruction of his right knee.
The popular winger was the Socceroos' vibes manager on crutches as they went on a barnstorming run to the round of 16.
But after helping Australia seal automatic qualification to next year's World Cup finals, Boyle, 32, wants more.
"I'm glad I got to experience it, I still had them special memories of being selected and being part of the qualifying campaign," Boyle told AAP.
"But to physically play and do your best and help the team is something that I'm really hungry to do.
"Obviously, I'm not getting any younger. This could be my last chance, so I really need to keep working hard at club level, keep scoring goals and assists and try to get better.
"Obviously, it'll be in the back of my mind that I want to play at the World Cup. But it's not a given.
"You have to earn the right to be there, and the competition for places is really difficult at the moment. So as long as I keep performing, then hopefully I can make it."
Jackson Irvine, Harry Souttar, Mathew Leckie, Craig Goodwin, Nishan Velupillay and Nestory Irankunda are among those who didn't feature against Japan and Saudi Arabia and will be pushing their cases.
"The boss has made that clear that he wants people performing and being at their best every camp," Boyle said.
"So it will be difficult. We've had a lot of boys missing. It's great competition."
Boyle, who has triggered another year at Scottish club Hibernian, had to fight his way into Tony Popovic's plans, after falling out of favour early.
"I came back swinging - not physically swinging, because he would knock me out," Boyle said of towering boss Popovic with a laugh.
"But it was quite difficult. I just came back from my wrist surgery, and I didn't feel like I was fully up to speed, and maybe that was a kick up the backside of 'I'm really in for a fight for my position'.
"I went back to my club level, and I was hungry, I was motivated. The results we were getting there at club level really spurred me on and pushed me on.
"I've started the last four (games), which has been brilliant."
While Boyle fondly remembers Australia's dramatic win over Peru on penalties four years ago, he is delighted to have the Socceroos' World Cup berth locked in a year out.
Popovic can use international windows in September, October, November, March and June to prepare.
"It's a great feeling, we don't have that stress. We don't have that in the back of our minds," Boyle said.
"We can fully prepare for a full year.
"I am not entirely sure what the games will be like, but I presume we'll have some good ties, and hopefully we can have a few ties over in the US and stuff like that.
"But it's definitely a relief. We're all on cloud nine at the moment."
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Working on the land, under the sun, alongside animals is exactly what's kept him going strong for close to a century. "You've got something to do every day and you're doing it yourself," Mr Holder told AAP from his property at Cootamundra in the NSW Riverina. "I've got something in my life, I haven't just wasted my life or walked around drinking grog all my life." Mr Holder is preparing to ride with the rope and tie team at Mount Isa Rodeo in outback Queensland from August 8, having competed in thousands of events across Australia and overseas for eight decades. Long known as the "Cootamundra cat" for his lithe riding skills and straight-talk, he is thought to be the oldest competing cowboy in the world. He began at Tumut rodeo in southern NSW after working with his drover father to break in rogues for farmers to ride. By 14, Mr Holder had little interest in calming the animals. He much preferred the wild ones. "I really like bucking horses ... so I thought, 'I'm gonna be a cowboy'," he said. "It gives you a thrill to stay on them, they're tough. "I love a horse that gets right up in the air and really bucks." In his first decade of competing, Mr Holder was a regular feature on the pages of the Cootamundra Herald, which proudly tracked his every move in the rodeo world. He made page two in a 1954 edition for winning a bareback championship and earned the affectionate description of "our local roughrider" when he set out for Queensland's Warwick Rodeo later that year. One of his early wins was relegated to the end of a story about a rare "lady rider" under the headline, Girl Rider Delights Rodeo Crowd. Mr Holder has seen plenty of welcome changes in the sport since those days, including the specialised breeding of rodeo horses that are treated with the same reverence as thoroughbred racers. After suffering minor riding injuries in his 50s and 60s, Mr Holder's peers urged him to retire. "They'd say, 'You have to give it up, you shouldn't be doing this kind of thing at your age'. "Oh, go away - it was a couple of broken bones, that's all." He has outridden those pleas by four decades and missed only one Mount Isa Rodeo in his storied career. "It's the best rodeo in Australia and any outdoor rodeo in the world. "It's well-run, perfect bucking stock, all spectators can get a hell of a good view, nobody can miss anything or get jammed in a corner. "You can't wish for anything better than that." The biggest rodeo in the southern hemisphere, itself a 65-year institution, was bolstered by a $1 million state government lifeline after it went into voluntary administration in late 2024. It prides itself on outback traditions, while giving young and Indigenous riders their start. Though Mr Holder has shared plenty of wisdom with those up-and-coming riders, their influence on him is just as vital. "You get too old, too quickly if you start mixing with older people," he said. "You mix with young people and you live longer." Bob Holder takes a break after a long day mustering and feeding his cattle, plumping them up before he leaves the farm to ride in an outback rodeo. The 95-year-old cowboy won't rest for very long. He never has. Working on the land, under the sun, alongside animals is exactly what's kept him going strong for close to a century. "You've got something to do every day and you're doing it yourself," Mr Holder told AAP from his property at Cootamundra in the NSW Riverina. "I've got something in my life, I haven't just wasted my life or walked around drinking grog all my life." Mr Holder is preparing to ride with the rope and tie team at Mount Isa Rodeo in outback Queensland from August 8, having competed in thousands of events across Australia and overseas for eight decades. Long known as the "Cootamundra cat" for his lithe riding skills and straight-talk, he is thought to be the oldest competing cowboy in the world. He began at Tumut rodeo in southern NSW after working with his drover father to break in rogues for farmers to ride. By 14, Mr Holder had little interest in calming the animals. He much preferred the wild ones. "I really like bucking horses ... so I thought, 'I'm gonna be a cowboy'," he said. "It gives you a thrill to stay on them, they're tough. "I love a horse that gets right up in the air and really bucks." In his first decade of competing, Mr Holder was a regular feature on the pages of the Cootamundra Herald, which proudly tracked his every move in the rodeo world. He made page two in a 1954 edition for winning a bareback championship and earned the affectionate description of "our local roughrider" when he set out for Queensland's Warwick Rodeo later that year. One of his early wins was relegated to the end of a story about a rare "lady rider" under the headline, Girl Rider Delights Rodeo Crowd. Mr Holder has seen plenty of welcome changes in the sport since those days, including the specialised breeding of rodeo horses that are treated with the same reverence as thoroughbred racers. After suffering minor riding injuries in his 50s and 60s, Mr Holder's peers urged him to retire. "They'd say, 'You have to give it up, you shouldn't be doing this kind of thing at your age'. "Oh, go away - it was a couple of broken bones, that's all." He has outridden those pleas by four decades and missed only one Mount Isa Rodeo in his storied career. "It's the best rodeo in Australia and any outdoor rodeo in the world. "It's well-run, perfect bucking stock, all spectators can get a hell of a good view, nobody can miss anything or get jammed in a corner. "You can't wish for anything better than that." The biggest rodeo in the southern hemisphere, itself a 65-year institution, was bolstered by a $1 million state government lifeline after it went into voluntary administration in late 2024. It prides itself on outback traditions, while giving young and Indigenous riders their start. Though Mr Holder has shared plenty of wisdom with those up-and-coming riders, their influence on him is just as vital. "You get too old, too quickly if you start mixing with older people," he said. "You mix with young people and you live longer."
