Austin Gleeson was the Hurler of the Year in 2016 at the grand old age of 21.
A minor All-Ireland and an U21 All-Ireland winner, the world was at the Mount Sion man's feet.
Yet with great talent, comes great expectation.
Fast forward eight years, and a Celtic Cross and Munster medal have eluded the 29-year-old - though not for the want of trying.
Two All-Ireland final heartbreaks, injury issues and a host of unwarranted attention for reasons right and wrong - suddenly it all became a bit much for Gleeson. Time for a break.
Now rejuvenated and ready to pick up where he left off, the All-Star has grand ambitions to live up to the billing which he has had to carry on his shoulders for so long. It now represents an opportunity, as opposed to burden.
2024 has been a strange one for Gleeson, watching from the stands in Walsh Park rather than reveling in the cut and thrust of championship do-or-die, but it's better to miss a year, than to be missed for good.
"Yeah - it has been strange, no point in lying. Not being in Carriganore or Dungarvan with the lads, training with them a couple of days a week - it has been strange, but I can't lie, I've enjoyed the break. I feel like it's something that I needed."
"It's something that if I didn't do - I don't know, maybe - would I ever go back again? I suppose there's a thing like if I went back this year, I don't know, maybe I just would have begun to really resent hurling if you want to put it that way, I just wanted a good place with it."
"Taking the break really recovered that drive that I was hoping for", said Gleeson. "That was the biggest thing that I was hoping for out of the break was to want to hold a hurley again. I feel like I've got that back."
"At that stage, you kind of wanted to have a hurley in your hand again. You wanted to go back out on the field - so, yeah, looking forward to getting into the club and seeing how we are fixed - and if I'm capable of going back next year is the next thing."
From star to supporter
The morning of Sunday April 21st - Gleeson began to take stock of that personal decision. By the time he heard the final whistle blow, it was a strange sense of euphoria.
"The first game was extremely tough, the Cork game. We trained early that morning, with the club", he recalled. "I remember going home and getting set to go to the match. I was lying on the bed and it just hit me all of a sudden that I'm not meeting up with the lads and getting on the bus to go into Walsh Park and going out on the field. That was the first time that it really hit me, that was probably the hardest I felt for that couple of hours before the game."
"My head was completely gone, to be honest with you - but I suppose once the game started, as a fan, I was really into it. I was up shouting, screaming and stuff like that. I didn't think I'd be like that, to be honest with you. I thought I'd just watch the game and be quiet enough - but I was completely the opposite!".
13 May 2023; Austin Gleeson of Waterford reacts during the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 3 match between Waterford and Clare at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
"After that game, not that it didn't hurt as much, it probably didn't have as much of an effect in the next three games", admitted Gleeson. "Just that first game, especially in Walsh Park, it was tough."
"Going through a few of the games, I did probably think to myself, I do wish I was out there, but I don't regret it. I 100% don't regret the decision. I'd done it for me and it was something that I needed to do for me to get myself going again, physically and mentally more so."
"I don't regret it", he said defiantly. "I got what I wanted out of it - so I'm happy enough that I've done it. Hopefully, I'm able to get back there and get back to a level of fitness that I need to get there."
Regrets and reflections
The commitment involved in playing inter-county GAA remains something taken for granted by many. Still in his twenties, Gleeson has had to sacrifice many social occasions and put that side to life on the back-burner to fulfil his sporting dreams. Being able to do things that had become seldom in his personal life has been a huge source of joy to the Mount Sion man.
It's five or six days a week. It's another job outside your job, and that's being completely honest with you - but it's something you do because you love it. I didn't love it last year, and that's why I stepped away. I know for a fact there's going to be other people that do it over the next couple of years as well. Maybe five or six years ago, I would have been saying to myself, if someone had done it, why are they doing that? You only have a short amount of time. When you're in this situation, that's when you'll understand, yeah, they're doing the right thing for themselves."
13 May 2023; Austin Gleeson of Waterford arrives before the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 3 match between Waterford and Clare at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
Being afforded the opportunity to reflect on your achievements in the middle of your playing career is somewhat of a rare phenomenon. When asked if the time away from the game allowed Gleeson to positively reflect on what he has done in a Deise jersey - the answer was in fact the opposite.
"I've probably not looked at the things that I've achieved", said Gleeson. "I probably look at the things that I maybe haven't achieved or things that I've done wrong, to be honest, more so. I suppose I have a small bit of regret on certain things. That's probably the way I looked at it. The negative more than the positives. Small little things that I'd love to rectify in the next couple of years, if the body allows it to go that long between club and county."
"A negative reflection, is the best way to put it - but hopefully I can make a positive spin on it."
Keyboard critics
"When I first started playing for Waterford, I was way worse than I was now in seeing things. That maybe it did sit in. I always said that it never really had a massive effect on me. Taking a step back, I've realised that it probably had more of an effect than I was realising."
"I always said I don't really care what people say about me as long as my family don't hear it and stuff like that. You hear so much and you see so much - that it's actually hard to just leave it go out of your head. Maybe that was taking a big toll and one of the main reasons that I did step away."
28 August 2022; Austin Gleeson of Mount Sion during the Waterford Senior Hurling Club Championship Quarter-Final match between Mount Sion and Lismore at Fraher Field in Dungarvan, Waterford. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
"I suppose that's one thing that I've looked back on and said, if I go back in next year, that it'll be a massive step back from social media and looking at things and reading things and stuff like that. I'll just have the blinkers on and take one direction and one direction only. That's focus on myself and focus on my teammates. I want to get the best out of myself and try to help them as much as possible. Maybe taking a step away from all social media might be the best way to do it for me personally. It's something that I'll have to figure out in the next couple of months and see what way it'd be best to go about it - but yeah, it definitely has had more of an affect than I've probably ever realised."
It doesn't stop with social media though - going for something as simple as a coffee, it's non-stop hurling talk with everyone you meet. While many mean well, Gleeson admits that it can all take a toll, and like anybody else - there are times when you just want to be left to your own devices.
"You can see that a lot of people, they mean good, but sometimes the good is just saying nothing, do you know what I mean? Then there's other people then that just think - OK, don't say nothing, just ask them how they're getting on and blah, blah, blah. You never get a person coming up to you and saying you're useless or you're this or that or the other thing. Even some of the nice things, you'd be kind of thinking, I just don't want to hear it today, do you know what I mean?".
"I wouldn't go to an accountant and say, well, how's the numbers today? You wouldn't go to another person and ask them how their job is going. It's just for people to realise that when you're outside of training or outside the circle, you kind of just want to step back and be a normal person and not talk about it as much as other people want to talk about it."
Back with a bang
"The mindset is in a good place. The more injury-free I stay, the fitter I get and the more confidence I get and stuff like that. That's what I'm hoping for, to stay injury-free. Stay injury-free for the club and I just feel like if I stay injury-free, the fitness will come and then the hurling will flow and then I'll just start getting that drive and that love again because I was just picking up regular injuries, coming back from an injury, getting another one, and that just drove me insane, to be honest. So, that's the aim, is just to have all that."
Gleeson is also now involved with juvenile GAA in Waterford, and has been busy coaching at Cul Camps. He says it's a wonderful thing to be able to give back and inspire the next generation.
"I'm absolutely loving the job. The biggest thrill I get is going into the schools and having the kids buzzing around and playing games. Sometimes it's not even hurling, sometimes it's not football. It's just little games at the start, maybe one little game. I don't think I've played as many Sharks and Fishes over as I've had in the last couple of months! They absolutely love it for some reason. I love it. They get some buzz off them, all different types of characters. Some of them are nearly worse than some of the pundits you'd meet when it comes to work - but it's good craic."
"I always said it, if I went into a sixth class, that's an 11 or 12 year old. If I was still 23 or 24, I could be playing with those kids in a few years' time. That's the big thing. Hopefully we start picking up a lot more players in every club that will wear the Waterford jersey in hurling, camogie, football and ladies' football over the next number of years."
While hopes are high for the next generation - irrespective of what talent will come from the conveyor belt, they'll have a long long way to go before they can ever be compared to the affable Austin Gleeson.
13 August 2017; Austin Gleeson of Waterford gets past Mark Ellis of Cork on his way to scoring his side's third goal during the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Semi-Final match between Cork and Waterford at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Armed with a smile, the Mount Sion maestro could yet be as dangerous as ever. As always, he'll let his hurling do the talking - and the gasps of awe will follow.
Austin Gleeson was speaking as part of Pinergy’s sponsorship of Mount Sion GAA, the Solar Panel Installation generates solar energy, supporting the needs of the club’s current infrastructure whilst also supporting the local community energy grid.
You can hear the full interview with Austin Gleeson and Jordan Norris on The Last Leg on WLR on Monday from 6pm.
For the latest Waterford News and Sport, tune into WLR News on the hour and download the WLR app for news on demand.
