Martin Gleeson

OVERALL STATISTICS

BIRTHAGESIGNED ONFROM
28-05-1980
N/A
16-10-2001
Huddersfield Giants
DEBUTLAST MATCHLEFT
10-02-2002 v Oldham
Castleford Tigers
2004- Warrington Wolves
CAREERAPPEARANCES (SUBS)
2002-2004
69 (1)
TRIESGOALSDGOALSPTS
31
0
0
124

Biography of Martin Gleeson



HERITAGE NO : 1114
Martin Gleeson by Dave Dooley:

Martin Gleeson was born on the 28th. of May, 1980 in Wigan. He moved to Australia as a boy returning to England when he signed for the Huddersfield Giants. Gleeson scored eight tries in 26 games for Huddersfield Giants in 2001 before signing a two year contract with Saints on 16th. October, 2001. He was highly rated by Saints new assistant coach Jon Sharp who had previously worked with Gleeson at the Giants. His performances for the Giants against the Saints in 2001 had also caught the eye of Ian Millward.

Martin toured South Africa with England U-21s in November, 2001 where he had a very successful tour in the centres. He made his debut for the Saints against Oldham in the fourth round of the Challenge Cup on the 10th. of February 2002. The match was played in atrocious conditions at Stalybridge with constant rain and the cold Pennines air limiting the opportunity for open play. Saints prevailed by 40 points to 6 and Martin immediately caught the eye of the knowledgeable Saints fans with his sound defence, nimble feet, evasive side-step and an ability to offload as he was being tackled.

His first points for the club came in the sixth round of the same competition in the away tie at Halifax. Martin scored a brace of tries in a top drawer performance as Saints moved into the Cup semi-finals with a winning score-line of 26 points to 20. Martin continued his run in the Cup with a try in the Final against Wigan at Murrayfield but he had to be content with a loser`s medal as below-par Saints fell to their deadly rivals.

Martin`s climax to his first season with the Saints came in the Grand Final against Bradford. As Saints prevailed in a pulsating encounter by 19 points to 18, Martin scored a second half try to become the first and only player to score tries in the Grand Final and Challenge Cup Final in the same season.

Gleeson continued to impress as the season progressed and it was no surprise when Martin was selected to join the full international squad that season. He featured prominently in the side that played out a drawn series against the Kiwis. In his first full season Martin was almost a permanent fixture in the side with 33 starts and one appearance as a playing substitute. He collected a very creditable 16 tries. Ian Millward also selected Martin to play at stand-off in the home matches against Castleford and New Zealand that season.

The highs and lows of a rugby league career were delivered to Martin in no uncertain terms during the 2004 season. Saints and Martin made a whirlwind start to the campaign playing some of the finest rugby ever witnessed at Knowsley Road. The Challenge Cup road to Cardiff saw Saints collecting the biggest scalps in the game. A stunning away victory against Bradford was followed up with home victories against Leeds and Hull both of whom showed tremendous resistance. A high flying and confident Huddersfield team were dumped by forty points in the glorious Warrington sunshine on semi-final day. Martin stood tall throughout this period exhibiting great flair in attack and defence.

As the entire rugby league fraternity were heralding the Saints side, revelations hit the national press about the involvement of Martin and Sean Long in a bet each player had made against Saints in the away match against Bradford when a young inexperienced Saints team were humbled by the rampaging Bulls. Martin played in the match and even scored a classy first try for the Saints.

The publicity and pressure were huge as the Saints met Wigan in the 2004 Challenge Cup Final. Both players managed to play `blinders` with Martin snuffing out any Wigan attacks on the right flank. A 32 points to 16 victory witnessed Martin collecting a precious Challenge Cup winner`s medal.

In mid-June Martin played in the match against Castleford before being banned for the remainder of the 2004 season. The following month Saints spectators were sent into a trauma as it was revealed that Saints had sold Gleeson to Warrington for a £200 000 fee. Ian Millward was clearly disappointed as his tutelage had turned Martin into one of the brightest prospects in the British game.
Martin`s 31 tries, solid defence, nimble feet and quick hands had helped Saints collect the major prizes in a short 69 game career. His career progressed via Warrington, Wigan and Hull up to 2011. These days, he has begun to carve himself a coaching career in rugby union.



SEASON STATISTICS

Season (Official Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
2002 16 0 0 34
200311 0 0 24
2004 4 0 0 11
TOTALS:31 0 0 69
Season (Other Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
20021002
20042002
TOTALS:3004

ALL MATCHES

DateMatchPosOpponentsCompVenueFTFTOTGDG
9th Jan 2002 --
L
 3 Warrington Wolves* Fr A 4 48 VIEW
28th Jan 2002 --
W
 4 Widnes Vikings* Fr H 24 10 1 VIEW
10th Feb 2002 1
W
 3 Oldham KNGCC4 A 40 6 VIEW
23rd Feb 2002 2
W
 3 Warrington Wolves KNGCC5 A 36 14 VIEW
2nd Mar 2002 3
W
 3 Widnes Vikings SL A 15 14 VIEW
8th Mar 2002 4
W
 3 Salford Reds SL H 34 2 VIEW
17th Mar 2002 5
W
 3 Halifax Blue Sox KNGCC6 A 26 20 2 VIEW
22nd Mar 2002 6
W
 3 Hull SL H 33 14 VIEW
28th Mar 2002 7
L
 3 London Broncos SL A 6 40 VIEW
1st Apr 2002 8
W
 3 Wigan Warriors SL H 19 0 VIEW
6th Apr 2002 9
W
 3 Leeds Rhinos SL H 30 26 1 VIEW
14th Apr 2002 10
W
 3 Leeds Rhinos KNGCCSF N 42 16 VIEW
27th Apr 2002 11
L
 3 Wigan Warriors KNGCCF N 12 21 1 VIEW
3rd May 2002 12
W
 3 Halifax Blue Sox SL H 38 6 VIEW
7th May 2002 13
L
 3 Castleford Tigers SL A 22 36 2 VIEW
12th May 2002 14
W
 3 Warrington Wolves SL A 44 36 VIEW
19th May 2002 15
W
 3 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats SL A 48 6 VIEW
24th May 2002 16
W
 3 Widnes Vikings SL H 56 6 VIEW
1st Jun 2002 17
W
 3 Salford Reds SL A 28 24 1 VIEW
7th Jun 2002 18
W
 3 Leeds Rhinos SL A 41 14 VIEW
21st Jun 2002 19
W
 6 Castleford Tigers SL H 26 16 VIEW
28th Jun 2002 20
W
 3 Bradford Bulls SL H 34 26 VIEW
4th Jul 2002 21
W
 3 Hull SL A 32 30 1 VIEW
19th Jul 2002 22
W
 3 London Broncos SL H 22 14 1 VIEW
26th Jul 2002 23
W
 3 Halifax Blue Sox SL A 21 18 1 VIEW
30th Jul 2002 24
L
 3 Wigan Warriors SL A 8 22 VIEW
9th Aug 2002 25
W
 15 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats SL H 34 2 1 VIEW
16th Aug 2002 26
W
 3 Bradford Bulls SL A 50 22 1 VIEW
23rd Aug 2002 27
W
 3 Halifax Blue Sox SL H 64 0 VIEW
30th Aug 2002 28
W
 3 Leeds Rhinos SL H 38 18 1 VIEW
8th Sep 2002 29
L
 3 Wigan Warriors SL A 8 48 1 VIEW
22nd Sep 2002 30
W
 3 London Broncos SL A 18 16 VIEW
5th Oct 2002 31
L
 3 Bradford Bulls SLQSF H 26 28 VIEW
11th Oct 2002 32
W
 3 Wigan Warriors SLEF H 24 8 VIEW
19th Oct 2002 33
W
 3 Bradford Bulls SLGF N 19 18 1 VIEW
25th Oct 2002 34
L
 6 New Zealand Tour H 26 38 1 VIEW
8th Feb 2003 35
W
 3 Union Treiziste Catalane PCC4 A 70 6 1 VIEW
14th Feb 2003 36
L
 3 Sydney City Roosters WCC N 0 38 VIEW
21st Feb 2003 37
W
 3 Bradford Bulls SL H 46 22 VIEW
5th Apr 2003 38
L
 3 Leeds Rhinos SL H 16 24 1 VIEW
12th Apr 2003 39
L
 3 Leeds Rhinos PCCSF ** N 26 33 VIEW
18th Apr 2003 40
L
 3 Wigan Warriors SL A 22 24 VIEW
21st Apr 2003 41
W
 3 Warrington Wolves SL H 56 6 2 VIEW
2nd May 2003 42
W
 3 Halifax SL A 38 0 VIEW
9th May 2003 43
L
 3 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats SL H 10 16 1 VIEW
16th May 2003 44
W
 3 London Broncos SL H 62 16 1 VIEW
26th May 2003 45
L
 3 Hull FC SL A 6 30 VIEW
1st Jun 2003 46
D
 3 Warrington Wolves SL A 30 30 VIEW
6th Jun 2003 47
L
 3 Wigan Warriors SL H 34 38 1 VIEW
13th Jun 2003 48
L
 3 Leeds Rhinos SL A 14 20 VIEW
20th Jun 2003 49
W
 3 Halifax SL H 58 2 1 VIEW
27th Jun 2003 50
W
 3 Bradford Bulls SL A 35 0 VIEW
4th Jul 2003 51
W
 3 Widnes Vikings SL H 32 18 1 VIEW
11th Jul 2003 52
W
 3 Castleford Tigers SL A 46 32 2 VIEW
18th Jul 2003 53
W
 3 Huddersfield Giants SL H 22 18 VIEW
5th Sep 2003 54
L
 3 Wigan Warriors SL H 4 28 VIEW
12th Sep 2003 55
L
 3 Leeds Rhinos SL A 20 30 VIEW
19th Sep 2003 56
L
 3 Bradford Bulls SL H 18 22 VIEW
26th Sep 2003 57
W
 3 London Broncos SLEPO H 24 6 VIEW
3rd Oct 2003 58
L
 3 Wigan Warriors SLESF A 24 40 VIEW
6th Feb 2004 --
W
 3 Salford City Reds* Fr H 20 10 2 VIEW
12th Feb 2004 --
W
 3 Widnes Vikings* Fr H 36 14 VIEW
20th Feb 2004 59
W
 3 Hull FC SL H 30 16 VIEW
29th Feb 2004 60
W
 3 Bradford Bulls PCC4 A 30 10 1 VIEW
12th Apr 2004 61
L
 3 Bradford Bulls SL A 8 54 1 VIEW
25th Apr 2004 62
W
 3 Huddersfield Giants PCCSF N 46 6 VIEW
30th Apr 2004 63
W
 3 Leeds Rhinos SL H 56 10 VIEW
7th May 2004 64
W
 3 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats SL H 26 20 VIEW
15th May 2004 65
W
 3 Wigan Warriors PCCF N 32 16 VIEW
22nd May 2004 66
W
 3 Warrington Wolves SL A 50 20 1 VIEW
29th May 2004 67
W
 3 Bradford Bulls SL H 35 30 VIEW
4th Jun 2004 68
L
 3 Wigan Warriors SL A 14 30 1 VIEW
11th Jun 2004 69
W
 3 Castleford Tigers SL H 52 8 VIEW
*Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub.
WINS : 50 | LOSSES : 22 | DRAWS : 1

GALLERY





Copyright © Saints Heritage Society 1999-2024.