Unfortunately though stress can quite easily be used to gain time off work. Do YOU believe Gleeson has stress ?

I admit to being very sceptical about it all. Whatever his troubles they are his own doing. I think this is a smokescreen for something.

That puts me in Sally's "you could regret your comments "group I'm afraid but I'm not a fan of the man. (Gleeson not Sally !)

In one respect, I think of Glesson as a disgrace to rugby league and he doesn't deserve the level of respect that people like Sally have given him (no offence Sally) just because he played well and/or for Warrinton.

But having been in a mind set where stress plays such a massive part in life, I can see that many of the things he has done may have been due to a mental condition.

There is a shocking amount of people in the UK that suffer from depression and anxiety; some obviously more than others. I also think that it is plausable that this is amplified within the sports and entertainment industry, as there is a more acute spotlight placed the actions taken and there is more accountability for the life led in those industries.

If we look to people like Robbie Williams. He went from being in a boy band at a young age to being a hell raiser drinker and drug taker; ultimately getting himself in a lot of bother. We know now he is a pretty severe Manic Depressive (or has a bipolar mental condition.)

We must remember that Gleeson has been one of the super stars of the super league era and is one of the most naturally gifted centres I have ever seen. His track record in the sport speaks to that.

However, although we can source a root for his behaviour and the reason he has taken a sick leave at Hull now, I know from my own experience that just cause there is a condition in the mind, there is not an excuse for someone to go off the rails. I am sure there are many people in the public eye and people I have met in my time that speak to this. For that reason I have no real sympathy for the place that Gleeson is in. However I am not surprised at the thought a mental condition could be at the root of his poor behaviour.

I know that it is a difficult ground I am covering and it may seem that I have not made a firm decision either way for the piece released from Hull. In summary, I think I would say that I don't excuse the things he has done (or allegedly done) however I am not surprised that they are the result of self medication or a chemical imbalance in the brain.

I certainly hope he can find his feet again, as I was hoping a fresh start in Hull would reawaken past talents.

Come on Gleese, just a hangover! You've probably had worse.

How is he a disgrace to rugby league?

He's done one thing which brought the game into disgrace, bet on it when he was at Saints. Warrington took advantage of that situation and signed him. There were no protests about him being a disgrace back then?

Les Boyd got banned from Aussie RL for eye gouging and we signed him on the back of that! I bet there were no protests in Warrington against getting a disgraced eye gouger over here!

Also I don't want to bring it up explicitly because he gets enough crap on here from our fans but one of our current squad served time inside for assault, again when we signed him there were no protests against getting a disgraced ex con?

OK Gleeson was done for drink driving....so were Morley and Briers, I am sure they all regret it, how many of us really hold that against Morley or Briers.

Now I am not saying we should be moralising about all those players, I'm just saying look if we want to hold the moral microscope against Gleeson there are a lot of our other players who will come up with more muck on them than Gleeson did.

The stuff people judge Gleeson for is just stuff that they've read on the internet and you can tell how reliable that is by how edgy people are about being sued, they know deep down its just hearsay and gossip that they are repeating to be mischievous about a player they don't like.

I bet your argument for Gleeson being a disgrace is based around
- you've read on the internet that he likes his beer (remember what Paul Cullen said at one of his early fans forums when he took over when asked about the 'drinking culture'....if you want to see a drinking culture you should have seen the 1980s. Read Mike Gregory's book and you will see the players back then who we remember fondly, enjoyed themselves off the pitch and played well on the pitch...like Gleeson)

- you've read on the internet that he does other 'substances'....he's a SL player so gets subject to testing for drugs. If he was caught doing illegal drugs he would have been banned like Hock or Sailor were. But he has never failed a drugs test

- you've read on the internet that 'he's a bit of a c0ck'....yes probably because some pie-eating fool from Wigan went over annoying him in a pub and he told him to get lost, just like we all would!

Same here as well..

you raise some good points and I said it was in my opinion I think the over arching thing we can gleen from this is Gleeson has, a lot of the time, put his foot wrong.

I think drink driving is the stupidiest thing anyone could do. Not only is it extremely dangerous to the person doing it but it is also the most selfish thing a person can do for putting innocent people at risk. I have held that against Moz and Briers in my mind. Also I am sure there are many other people who have done a daft things in super league. For example Ben Cockayne in a late night punch up, sama with Leon Pryce. However, what you almost comically fail to have noticed in your post is you say that Gleeson has done these bad things and then said how others have done the same, That doesn't make it okay to do so many bad things.

There is a lot of talk of how Hock deserves a second chance and I suppose he does he has only made one major cock up. However, there are people who think he should never play the game again because of what he has to its image. He has only done one thing wrong. He made a mistake and took drugs. Gleeson has repeatedly made mistakes. From betting on a game he has played in to being caught drink driving to the drinking culture he and longy partook in at Sts. You could be argue that it is apples and oranges, however, the point is that Gleeson has always found controversy. Every chance he has been given he has tarnished with scandal.

This brings me onto my final point.

Sts- removed for a betting scandal
Wire- I can't remember the resons why we let him go
Wigan- removed amidst a cloud of controversy (although you can't tell me that Wigan wanted to move Tomkins into the centres to cover him this year)
and in the same year; Hull- time off from playing for stress (blanket term; more will come to light soon I am sure)

Apart from at Wire (strangely enough) he has not spent a great deal of time at a club without being moved on amidtst a cloud of controversy.

You raise a point about why I think this of Gleeson. I hope I have disproved that in my previous points. However, as a final thought; I don't follow the rumours about Gleeson. As I have said previously I don't have a great deal of respect for him. However, ask yourself; why do people believe these rumours about Gleeson? Would you believe that the reason why Chris Riley has been moved to Quins was because he was taking drugs or he was in deep with a gang or had stolen the crown jewels or whatever things have been made up about Gleeson? No? thought as much. Gleeson attracts cause he has spent his career wallowing in it.

I wish him the best but his past will not be forgotten because of good intentions in the present. My overwriting thought of Gleeson as a player and as a character is of wasted potential.

I hope he seeks medical help about any possible mental problems he has. I know that road well and wish him a the best.

Why do people believe the rumours about Warrington breaking the salary cap?

Nobody questions when Harlequins, Crusaders etc sign somebody but whenever Warrington sign a player it attracts controversy that we are over the cap.

It's because people have been spreading rumours and innuendos about us being over the cap for many years, despite there being no evidence to show that we are, that people believe it.

Just like Gleeson, if you spread enough rumours over enough years then you don't need evidence, people believe it.



This gets said about him a lot but he's got 25 GB/England caps; won 2 Grand Final winners medals and a Challenge Cup winners medal. Im not sure what more people expected him to achieve.

In terms of potential for winning honours, the only reason he wasted his potential was because he signed for us, otherwise at Saints he would have won 4 more major trophies.

Stress? The bad back of the 21st century.

And don't get me started on bi-polar...

Maybe we could make him a card.

Why because you such and expert it would take up all your time writing a thesis on it and wasting it on us and then miss out on the 18:00 at Newmarket, i bet what you know about bi-polar could be written on half a betting slip in permanent marker.

manic depression is bi polar disorder, hth


people make decisions in life, some good, some bad, some have an impact on ones mental health.
to call some one a disgrace however is a tad out of order imo.

making bad choices is to be human.

to stand in judgement kinda implies you've never made a wrong decission in your life. true you may not have made the same mistakes as MG but does that give you the right to make such harsh comments.

1/3 people will suffer from mental illness at one time or another which at times makes the choices people make i life appear less rational or thought through.

let he without sin and all that!

Cracking post.I have suffered from an anxiety/stress related illness for almost 20yrs resisting the temptation to take medication as i know some of the drugs have horrible side effects but that's not to say they don't work for everyone.I just choose to fight mine by running but even that can only help it to an extent.Anyone who has this type of illness has my full sympathy.

heres a random Wiganer posting a story.

All Martins stress started around the time o the Blackmail story that was freely printed by the Media.
What followed , is common knowledge in Wigan (not the club).......but the "common Knowledge" isnt something to be posted on here.
And im not the least bit surprised hes suffering from stress.
There are plenty people know "the real reason"........they just choose not to post anything that could get RLFans in trouble.


AND.......congratulations mods on keeping this thread open, as the Wigan mods have........ive no idea why it isny discussable on the Hull board

wpm signing off..

I have a lot of respect for anybody that plays rugby league at any level. I wish him the best of luck. He has an awful lot of ability and like so many people in all walks of life has chosen to make some pretty bad decisions along the way mainly because his head has not been in the right place. A small insight is highlighted in some of the pictures on the Perpignan 2006 thread. I think Paul Cullen had too much respect for players like Briers and Gleeson based on pure ability rather than the correct attitude. he has probably had people telling him how brilliant he is since he was playing under 8's. Tony smith obviously had his card marked from day one and I have a lot more respect for Lee Briers these days for the way he has appeared to use Tony smiths guidance to improve himself.
I hope he comes through it and ends up in a better place.

I know there isn't a distinction in the terms. I was using the medical term and the outdated more recognisable term I assumed that was obvious. Never mind.

I know full well about mental illness and certianly don't need you preaching to me about it. That is why I know that even in mental illness it is never excusable to commit certain actions.


I bet you believe Chris Benoit shouldn't be judged for killing his family because he had a mental condition. People make mistakes and I understand why they do them but there should be no excuse for committing them. I know this as well as anybody.