Martin Gleeson

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Martin Gleeson
Personal information
Full name Martin Gleeson
Date of birth May 25, 1980 (1980-05-25) (age 28)
Place of birth Wigan, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 15 st 5 lbs (96 kg)
Nickname(s) Gleese
Club information
Position(s) Centre
Current club Warrington Wolves
Number 3
Youth clubs
Years Club
Brisbane
Senior clubs*
Years Club Apps (points)
1999 ‐ 01
2001 ‐ 04
2004 ‐		 Huddersfield Giants
St Helens
Warrington Wolves		 56(72)
69 (124)
72 (128)
Representative teams
2002 ‐ Great Britain 17 (12)

* Professional club appearances and points
counted for domestic first grade only.

Martin Gleeson is a rugby league player from Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. He is rated as one of the best players 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 25 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 for St Helens, and won the Challenge Cup against Wigan Warriors at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.

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. Gleeson has just signed a two year extension until 2011.

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