Martin Gleeson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Martin Gleeson is a rugby league player from Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. He is rated as one of the top centres in international rugby league, his defining characteristic being an outstanding side-step; he also has a sound defensive technique.
Gleeson was born in Wigan on 28 May 1980. Much of his early rugby development took place in Australia, where he emigrated with his family at age 9 to live in Queensland. He returned to England aged 17 and embarked on a professional career, signing for Huddersfield Giants in 1999.
After three seasons with the Giants he left the club after their relegation from Super League in 2001, and signed for St Helens RFC. In 2002 he won the Super League Grand Final and made his debut for Great Britain against Australia in Sydney in July, also participating in the test series against New Zealand at the end of the season.
Injury lay off disrupted him in 2003 but he came back at the end of the season to win back his place in the Great Britain squad after a fine performance for England A against the touring Australians.
He opened the 2004 season in superb form for St Helens, and won the Challenge Cup against Wigan Warriors at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. However he was involved in the 2004 rugby league betting scandal and received a four month suspension and £7500 fine for breaking rugby league betting rules.
Whilst serving his suspension, Gleeson was signed by Warrington Wolves for a club record fee reported in the region of £200,000, and made his debut for the Wolves in the 2005 season. Gleeson enjoyed a fine first season for the Wolves, recording a personal best scoring tally of 17 tries in 27 Super League appearances, and he was named as a centre in the Super League Dream Team 2005. Gleeson was also heavily involved in providing scores for his winger partner, New Zealand international Henry Fa'afili.
