He never developed knacks because he was so physicallly superior all the way up that he didnāt have to. When top class players figured him out they could stop him and he couldnāt find other ways
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Thatās probably right.
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The Under 21 Munster Final performance in 2016 was the best Iāve ever seen in the flesh.
The Senior replay against Kilkenny a few weeks later wasnāt far behind. Iāve never see spectators including neutrals and opposition to be as spellbound by one player as they were by Gleeson on that night.
Iād also be amazed if heās not back with Waterford before the end of the league.
Its a wishy washy enough statement and its pretty obvious he just has no interest in flogging himself in Carriganore for the next three months.
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You couldnāt but believe we were going to the promised land those nights.
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Even Loughnane was astonished by that young Waterford team at that point.
An issue for a lot of prodigious talents who were physically big underage .always think lads who are smaller at underage are forced to figure out the game a lot earlier than the big lads and it stands to them in long run .The cute corner forward etc.
I wouldnāt write him off yet. A year off and the right manager (not davy) could rejuvenate him. I hope it does because he was a sight to behold in full flight. .
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Iād add that his discipline wasnāt the best either.
A pure raw talent that somehow stayed pretty raw
Theres a beauty in that too. That the game became robotic and he did not should go down in the plus column for him.
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Yes the way the game went the last few years didnāt suit him either. Much fewer 50/50 duels
Austin made people feel alive.
He was Dan Shanahan, Ken McGrath, Paul Flynn, John Mullane and Eoin Kelly (Waterford) all rolled into one.
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Its not the hurling we grew up loving. When you have lads hurling with toothpicks and afraid to hit a ball on the ground you know weāve lost something.
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He probably had (has) the talent to be as good as any of them but has he even been as good as any of them?
Wingback was surely the place for him all along.
Last time I was really wowed by him was the AI semi final in winter 2020. Think he operated around the full forward line that day and sense that is where he will go when he comes back.
Ozzy, TDB, Mahony halfback line shouldāve suited the modern game with their striking but managers have to reinvent the wheel.
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He was better than Waterford Eoin Kelly in fairness
An unimprovable summary.
AG, with his better legs, had a small bit over Joe Canning, as a pure natural talent. But JC had far more, as a hurler, between his ears.
I always think of the story about Ryan Giggs starting out playing for Manchester United in March 1991. The first few times he went out, opponents tried to kick him up in the air. This treatment did not phase RG and actually prompted him to play better. So everyone stopping kicking him.
Someone ā Derek McGrath? ā should have told AG this story in the mid 2010s.
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We dared to dream.
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That could be it for Austin. He missed a fair part of the league last year and was a bit part player in the championship. He is a lovely fella and Iād say the break will do him good. He will be away from the demands and the hassle of it.
He has definitely lost the hunger for it. He has often struck me as a lad who happens to be extremely good at hurling but the game is not the be all and end all for him.
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He definitely wasnāt a centre-back in the modern game imo.
I would agree that a set position over a prolonged period of time would have suited him. I would have a certain amount of sympathy for managers not playing him at wing-back; if just because he was so talented and able to get scores, it must have felt like a waste (particularly in an inherently negative setup).
He did play very well in 2020 though, in fairness to him. Heās been fine in recent years, if not fantastic. As said above, a āmomentsā man rather than a player who would be consistently brilliant.
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