Advertisement
Aussie

'This year was tough, I’m after learning a lot': Gleeson aiming to recapture the magic of 2016

Waterford star Austin Gleeson has big plans for 2018, but is his future at centre-back?

WATERFORD TOOK A massive leap forward in 2017 by making it to their first All-Ireland final in a decade.

Austin Gleeson, by his own admission, failed to hit the stunning heights he reached in 2016. Last year, at just 21, Gleeson swept all before him and landed Hurler of the Year, Young Hurler of the Year and All-Star honours in a break-out campaign.

Austin Gleeson celebrates scoring a point James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

2017 wasn’t a bad year by any means and he was among the All-Star nominees for a third time, but the problem is this: When you are Austin Gleeson, you get judged by Austin Gleeson standards.

Stephen Cluxton has been the best goalkeeper in the country over the past couple of years but we became accustomed to his greatness, and he was overlooked at award season in 2016 and 2017.

The Mount Sion youngster was always going to be a marked man this time around. Tony Kelly will testify to that. The Clare man was 19 when he picked up both player of the year accolades in 2013 and wasn’t even nominated for an All-Star the following season.

Gleeson reckons the pressure of living up to the awards he picked up affected him on the field.

“This year was tough enough I suppose,” he tells The42. “I’m after learning a lot.

“Personally I was disappointed enough to be honest. 2016 was a lot better and it was hard to get back up to those standards. I put a lot of pressure on myself. Next year I’ll have to try and go back up to the 2016 heights.”

Austin Gleeson dejected after the game James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

He might have under-performed, but Gleeson still left a memorable mark on the championship. His stylish pick-up in the Munster semi-final against Cork and his wonder goal in the All-Ireland semi-final against the same opposition were moments of undoubted genius.

But a quiet All-Ireland final performance left him open to criticism from some quarters.

It’s worth asking the question: Is Derek McGrath’s system suited to getting the best out of the once-in-a-generation talent?

Kilkenny legend Tommy Walsh believes Gleeson’s future is at centre-back, particularly if Waterford continue to play with numbers around the middle third and just two or three forwards left up front.

“It’s hard for their forwards to stand out,” Walsh told Off The Ball AM last week.

“When you’ve four forwards against six backs, it’s very difficult to do what he’s trying to do. Whereas if he was playing in the orthodox six vs six, maybe the same pressure wouldn’t be on him.

“If he was put back in centre-back in that kind of formation they’re playing, I’d imagine he’d be on a mountain of ball. His strength is his ability to read the game, so he’s just going to be where that ball is. He’s so strong so good in the air that he’ll win it if he’s there.

David Burke and Austin Gleeson Cathal Noonan / INPHO Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO

“If we want to see Austin Gleeson being the best hurler in Ireland day-in day-out, then centre-back is where he should play. I just don’t think anyone can be the best hurler in Ireland when you’re playing in a forward division of four vs six or three vs six. You’re just going to be outnumbered, unless you win that ball first time.

“In their current formation, if you want to see Austin Gleeson Hurler of the Year again, I would say (he has to play) back in the backs somewhere, maybe centre-back.”

When Gleeson exploded into the national consciousness as a minor in 2013, it was at number six where he led the Deise to the All-Ireland minor title.

He made his senior debut at wing-forward the following year, but it was always thought in Waterford that he was a natural successor to Ken McGrath at centre-back for the county side.

While he won Hurler of the Year in 2016 playing mostly at centre-forward, he’s found it more difficult to come by space this year. The majority of teams have deployed a specific man-marker to track his every move.

Waterford played more expansive game in the Munster semi-final against the Rebels, with Gleeson dropping out from corner-forward as a third-midfielder. The problem was, Colm Spillane followed him out the field and didn’t give him a sniff.

When the sides met again the the last four of the All-Ireland, it was Stephen McDonnell who man-marked Gleeson, safe in the knowledge that Cork had at least one spare defender to protect the middle.

James Owens issues Damien Cahalane with a red card following a second yellow card James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

McDonnell did his job for 50-odd minutes until his team-mate Damien Cahalane was sent-off. Gleeson capitalised on the extra space by producing one of the goals of the season. But when they took on Galway in the final, Gearoid McInerney and spare defender Aidan Harte ensured there would be no repeat of his semi-final heroics.

Being man-marked around the middle third is a difficult prospect for flair players to deal with. In the All-Ireland club final last March, Cuala put wing-back John Sheanon into midfield to watch Ballyea’s Kelly. Sheanon had little interest in anything other than shuttding Kelly down, and he didn’t give the Clare star a sniff.

It’s something Joe Canning found to his detriment too, but once Galway found the right home for him at centre-forward – and produced a few scoring forwards to compliment him – he enjoyed his most consistent campaign this year.

Canning can relate to the sort of pressure Gleeson on the back of 2016. The Galway talisman was the original David Clifford – a household name before he even pucked a ball at senior level.

Canning declined the chance to join the Galway seniors in both his minor years of 2006 and 2007. Then in 2008, aged 19, he exploded onto the scene. His fame reached new heights when he scored 2-12 of Galway’s 2-15 tally against Cork in the qualifiers that year.

“It put more expectation on me that I realised at the time,” he told Ryan Tubridy on the Late Late Show last weekend.

“As a 19-year-old you thought you were invincible in a way and you could do it everyday. When we weren’t winning for the next couple of years it felt that I was expected to score the 2-12 everyday. It’s obviously not as easy as that.

Joe Canning arrives for the game Donall Farmer / INPHO Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO

“(The pressure) was coming from media and supporters and if things don’t go right on a day it’s normally, ‘Why didn’t you do that’ or ‘Why didn’t you score?’ That’s life and that’s fine too. You learn to live with it in a way. The good days are good but the bad days are worse.”

Canning eventually learned that he didn’t need to shoot the lights out in every game for Galway to win. Gleeson realises he doesn’t need to live up to the Hurler of the Year billing for Waterford to succeed, just do his bit and let the rest flow.

Wayward shooting and better dealing with mistakes are areas he understands he can easily improve. He doesn’t plan on seeking the help of a sports psychologist, but he’s got a pair of ears he trusts in Derek McGrath.

“Derek is a an English teacher so he’s very clued in at how he could help,” he says. ”So if you ever need anything you always approach him.

“There are always things you have to improve on no matter whether you play 10/10 games every day. It’s something that nobody is ever going to be perfect so there are always more highs that you can reach and new levels of fitness and new levels of hurling.

“You can always improve and that is how everyone has to look at it. You can always learn. After having a few weeks break and after being knocked out of the club championship, you get to evaluate the year you were after having.

A dejected Derek McGrath Cathal Noonan / INPHO Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO

“You get to sit down and see what happened. You’re always going to learn, you never know everything. It’s a year that I’m after learning a lot and can hopefully bring it into next year.

“The week after the All-Ireland there was one thing that I said I was going to work on this year, and that’s to go out and just play and play as well as I possibly can, instead of beating myself up if I miss a ball or something like that.

“That’s one thing I’m definitely going to look at and hopefully it can turn around.”

In the meantime, Gleeson is going to do what any normal 22-year-old would and enjoy the Christmas festivities.

“The stuff you missing throughout the year, friends’ birthday parties, different weddings and different things like that that you wouldn’t be going to just because of the inter-county scene.

“It’s something that you choose to do and something that you love doing so it’s good to get the couple of weeks (to enjoy). But once you get back into it you have to go at it hard and get bigger, fitter and stronger.”

The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):

21 of our favourite sports books from 2017

So what do you want for Irish sport this Christmas?

Your Voice
Readers Comments
22
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

    Leave a commentcancel