Had
it not been for an unscrupulous act of deception by his parents, Martin
Gleeson’s glittering Super League career might never have happened. Having been whisked away with brother
Mark from his Wigan home as a ten-year-old when his family embarked on a new life in Australia, Gleeson quickly adapted to the warmer climate of his new habitat and continued from where he’d left off with Orrell St James, playing junior Rugby League with Logan Brothers, the club that also produced former Bradford Bulls star Brad Meyers. But six years later his parents decided to
return to the north west of England and take back with them their two footy-mad sons, who by then had developed a taste for the Antipodean lifestyle and had one eye on a career in the NRL. “I was gutted when my parents told me
we’d be returning to the UK to be honest,” said Gleeson. “My coach at Logan Brothers actually offered me the chance to stay in Australia living at his house, which was a huge decision for me to make as I was only 16 at the time. “I was swung by my parents in the end
though. They promised me a car for when I passed my driving test in the UK, so I came back with them. They never came up with the goods though!” Hoodwinked into returning to the UK,
the elder of the Gleeson brothers’ enthusiasm for the sport remained undiminished. He juggled a dual-code career before signing professional papers with Huddersfield, playing rugby union with Orrell and Rugby League with Wigan St Patrick’s. “I trained on Tuesdays and Thursdays
with St Pats, and Wednesdays and Fridays with Orrell, and then I played both days of the weekend. It was exhausting. “I thought that my chance to make it as a
professional player had gone. A lot of the other guys my age had been snapped up, and Mark had already been signed by Warrington, who had rejected me.” Gleeson was forced to content himself
with a career in the amateur game, and he took a job outside of the sport. But, following a chance encounter with then Huddersfield Giants youth coach Nigel Wright, he was offered a trial and quickly found himself back on the path to Super League stardom. “I drove over there and trained with the
under-18s a few times and I guess I did enough in two trial matches to convince Mal Reilly, who was the coach at the time, to sign me for the club. I’m not sure whether or not my development as a junior player in Australia made much of a difference, but I remember not having much of a pre-season in my first year as I’d signed up fairly late. “All the young lads there at time were
sort of in the shadow of Paul Reilly, who was rated as the next big thing for the Giants. I played about ten games for the second team before I got picked for the senior squad, I got my chance because the team was really struggling at the bottom of the table. “There was a bit of a lack of depth there and that helped me. If it was a stronger club
30 APRIL 2011 - RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD Glee club
then I probably wouldn’t have got anywhere near.”
Gleeson’s first opportunity came against the mighty Bradford Bulls, who were riding high on the wave of Bullmania and enjoying a fine season. That contrasted heavily with the fortunes of the Giants, who were rooted to the bottom of the table, as they had been for the previous four seasons. “It was a massive step up for me. Three
months earlier I’d been playing amateur rugby and had pretty much given up the dream before Huddersfield came in. Stuart Fielden had just arrived on the scene for Bradford, and I remember that he was in their squad that day. He was the new kid on the block. There were also the Paul brothers, Stuart Spruce, Brad Mackay, Michael Withers, Jimmy Lowes, Mick Forshaw - It was when Bradford were at their best, they had an awesome team. “If I remember rightly I had a bit of a
shocker, but we only just lost. Wins were few and far between for us but I remember that we put in a pretty decent performance as a team.”
Gleeson would go on to make 55 more appearance for the struggling West Yorkshire outfit, before their relegation to Northern Ford Premiership ahead of the 2002 season sealed his exit.
“I left Huddersfield to join Saints after it was decided that they were going to be relegated and Ian Millward came in for me. “My first year at Saints was fantastic. It was like a different sport to be honest, with all the superstars they had at the club. “To play in a team alongside guys like
Paul Sculthorpe, Paul Wellens, Sean Long and Keiron Cunningham was an absolute dream come true. I remember that Darren Albert was my regular winger that year and it was a real privilege to play inside him.” Saints were beaten 21-12 in the Challenge Cup Final at Murrayfield that year by Wigan Warriors, but made amends
TOM COATES chats to Wigan Warriors star Martin Gleeson about his Rugby League career.
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