The flawed genius of Austin Gleeson
A moment of madness may deny Austin Gleeson his first All-Ireland final, but its a streak of madness sport has seen many times before.
The moment Austin Gleeson latched onto Luke Meade’s helmet, removing it from his head, a shiver of dread must have crawled down his and every other Waterford fan’s spine. After weeks of toing and froing over the status of Tadgh de Búrca, which left Gleeson and his teammates in a state of limbo until as recently as last Thursday night, it seemed utterly unfathomable that another player, not least a Waterford man, would find himself in such another compromising position.
The helmet was tugged off after a brief melee for the ball, in plain view on the sideline — in front of management, cameras and linesmen — but the Mount Sion centre-back somehow got away with it. Maybe the linesman was in such a state of disbelief that he witnessed yet another helmet-dragging incident, the third in three games, that he convinced himself he had dreamt it.
In the moments immediately after the incident, Gleeson played like a man with something else on his mind. He hit a bad wide and lost possession a couple of times and looked to be succumbing to a fate that at least he, if not his county, would not be playing in the All-Ireland final come the 4th of September.
Thankfully for the Déise his true genius sparked up and in utterly spectacular fashion. The goal in the second half which hammered the final nail in the Rebel coffin was executed from the depths of unimaginable level of hurling skill. It was a goal that will go down as one of the greatest ever; a mazy run and audacious finish that Lionel Messi would be lauded for. As the country roared pass, Gleeson heard go and danced through the Cork defence, shifting his weight left and right and batting the ball past the helpless Anthony Nash. Prior to this moment, he flung and popped over a point in one stylistic motion that made it look frustratingly easy. Another wide here and Gleeson may have lost his composure entirely.
Now comes the waiting game for Derek McGrath once again. There was something different about this incident compared to the Adrian Tuohy great escape last week, and even Tadgh de Burca’s against Wexford. The latter was unfortunate the referee handled it on the day — a red card and a subsequent one match ban which he has now atoned for. For Tuohy and Gleeson, they escaped punishment on the day and should this go any further, there’s an argument for Gleeson to escape sentencing just like the Galwayman did.
But Tuohy’s incident came in the heat of play. He was blinded behind him, reaching around to escape his marker and coming out with a loose helmet. Gleeson, on the other hand, was on the floor and the ball had scuttered over the sideline, signaling a stoppage in play. He may not have been looking, as the old excuse goes, but as Eddie Brennan said on the Sunday Game — Gleeson would have known he had a helmet in his clutch, and would have been well aware of the motion needed to yank it off Meade’s head in a moment of frustration rather than malice.
“What you have to look at is the actions of his hands — if your hands gets caught fair enough. But once you start clenching your fist and closing in, as if you are grabbing something, you are now in a situation where you are aware of what you are doing and you are aware of what you are holding on to.”
“It’s disappointing for Waterford to be facing into this — but it’s conclusive for me.”
Whether it was frustration or malice, the rules don’t differentiate for one or the other — a deliberate removal of the helmet is enough to rob Gleeson of a chance at his first All-Ireland final and looking at the replays it’s hard to argue that he wasn’t fully aware of his actions.
The spectacular goal and the moment of airheadedness perfectly sum up what we’re experiencing with Austin Gleeson. An amazing player with talent to die for, but with a mad streak that can be found in the genes of many sporting geniuses. The overawing will to win, and the frustration when that’s not happening, can get the better of any man and as we’ve seen moments of sheer madness across all spectrums of sport, from Zinedine Zidane to John McEnroe and Luis Suarez to Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Now, Gleeson’s fate lies on the hands of the CCC. They make look sympathetically on his case and not want to deny the current Hurler of the Year a chance at playing in the All-Ireland final. They may not want to do further damage to Waterford, with Conor Gleeson also facing a sideline view for the final. What is for certain is the helmet rule will be reviewed during the off-season when the dust has settled — but right now rules are rules, and that may be too late for the mad genius of Austin Gleeson.
