By John Harrington

Waterford hurler Austin Gleeson does not strike you as the sort of person who suffers from much self-doubt.

The fact that he won both the GAA/GPA Opel Hurler and Young Hurler of the Year awards is a testament to his confident, swashbuckling style of play that has made him a household name.

That’s why it was so surprising to hear him admit yesterday he briefly considered walking away from the Waterford panel last year because the burden of expectation on his shoulders weighed so heavily.

He was down in the dumps after a fancied Waterford were surprisingly beaten by Clare in the 2015 Munster U-21 Championship. On the day he played what he describes as “one of the worst games I’ve nearly ever played.”

Afterwards he was at a friend’s 21st birthday party, and in the heat of an emotional moment sent a text to Waterford manager Derek McGrath suggesting he’d had enough of being an inter-county hurler.

“It was just the pressure kind of after the first year, I wasn’t really able for it,” admits Gleeson. “I sent a stupid text when I had a few drinks on me.

“It was literally 10 minutes later, five minutes later, he text me back, 'I'll ring you in the morning'. That was it, he rang me in the morning and we went for a drive and I just explained that it was a stupid text that just came from a loss that maybe we shouldn't have had and that was basically it. It was finished by then.

“It was just a lot of pressure was being put on from myself more than anything. I just felt in that moment that the demands, I just couldn't be able to cope with them.

“The second he started talking I knew that it was the wrong decision to make, that I was never going to kind of leave the set up so it was just one of those stupid decisions that I kind of regret.”

It’s no surprise that McGrath was able to quickly talk Gleeson around. The two of them have a close bond that goes back to their days together in De La Salle College Secondary School where McGrath was both Gleeson’s teacher and hurling mentor.

The canny way in which McGrath has handled his most precocious talent is a big reason why Gleeson has so quickly fulfilled his massive potential as a hurler.

“His man management is just incredible so the second he got me in that car I knew straight away that no matter what happened he'd always kind of be there,” admits Gleeson.

“Everyone would tell you that, there's stuff after happening and no-one knows about it on the panel, it's between him and the player and that's it, he won't tell anyone and the player knows it's going to stay confidential between the two of them and that's the way it is.

“I know him since I went into secondary school. He was one of my teachers in secondary school, playing Dean Ryan and Harty Cup and it was easy to see how much he loved the game and wanted to develop everyone that was involved.

“He never, like, you could have 50 on the panel, he never dropped anyone ever from a Harty panel, no matter who you were. You might have picked up a hurley two weeks earlier and decided to go out training, he said, 'no problem'.

“He just always wanted to keep everyone's morale up and keep everyone together and that's the reason you'd be so fond of him and stuff like that. He's after developing my career more so than anyone I'd say and thank God he has.”

After Waterford’s defeat to Kilkenny in the replayed All-Ireland SHC Semi-Final this year, rumours were rife in the county that McGrath was seriously considering stepping down as manager.

The players were worried by them, and Gleeson admits that for a while there was a chance McGrath might decide enough was enough after three years in charge.

“There was, in ways,” he says. “He has a young family, two young kids there, that was the way he was thinking. And it was basically up to the family, more so than anything.

“He didn't want to be going for a fourth year, out of the house, having meetings and on the phone the whole time but look, the family are after giving him the full backing.

“We are delighted that he is staying and we all believe that he is the man who can lead us the whole way.”

It’s hard to imagine this Waterford side without McGrath at the helm because they’re very much his team. Most of the panel were handed their first senior Waterford jersey by McGrath, and he’s carefully developed and refined their system of play over the course of the last three years. Gleeson admits it would have been a big blow had he decided to step down as manager.

“It would have took its toll a good bit,” he says. “I would have hated to be the man stepping into his shoes and being the next manager because his man-management is probably his best attribute.

“He has everyone on that team playing for him and that's the main thing. So whoever stepped in would have to be a serious, serious manager. He is an unbelievable man and unbelievable manager.”

The possibility that McGrath might not have committed again for the 2017 campaign underlines that he won’t be around to lead this young team forever.

If this group as we know it with McGrath at the helm are to win provincial and All-Ireland titles together, it may have to be in 2017 or not at all.

“Now, basically, yeah,” agrees Gleeson. “The first year, the second year actually, we played Wexford in the last group game in the league, the year we won the league, and at half-time Michael Walsh stood up in the middle of the dressing-room and gave a speech.

“He said he'd after been around teams that said, 'ah, we'll do it next year, we'll do it next year'.

“He said basically, 'our time is now to do it'. Ever since then we're saying 'do it now, do it now and don't be waiting'. Maybe this year it's more important than ever to do it now basically.

“We don't want to be waiting around (another) couple of years, the years are going by so fast that it could be 10 years' time and we're still saying 'now'."

“Look, we just want to have that medal in our pocket as soon as we can.”

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Austin Gleeson was speaking at the launch of the launch of the 2016 GAA/GPA Opel All-Stars jersey, which will continue to support the Childhood Cancer Foundation.