“The feeling of getting named was fantastic and also a little of a relief,” remembers recent senior debutant Tom Gleeson. “Germo [Coburg coach Peter German] had said that he thought I could make an impact. It was comforting knowing I earned my spot and had his full support and belief.”
The 25-year-old key forward’s debut came on the back of consistent form in Coburg’s development league squad, highlighted by regular goals and strong contested marking.
“I knew at some stage I was going to be given an opportunity,” Gleeson says. “I had an interrupted pre-season with shin issues so I knew it was going to take time for me to build my fitness level to where it will hold up at VFL level.”
Despite a loss to Collingwood, Gleeson’s senior debut – during which he kicked two goals and impressed up forward – underlines a period of rapid development by a footballer who gave the game away for years to concentrate on his tennis ambitions.
After playing junior football until under-14s, then-midfielder Gleeson took a break from football to allow himself to fully focus on an emerging tennis career – which culminated in a season spent playing college tennis for St. Leo’s University in Northern Florida. After returning from the United States, the coach of Gleeson’s local VAFA club St Bernard’s encouraged him to return to his other passion – football.
Unable to hold down key position roles as a junior due to his lack of size, Gleeson spent countless hours in the gym to transform his slim, tennis player’s physique into that of a key forward. He quickly impressed and was signed as a VFL-listed player by Footscray in 2014. Despite limited opportunities with the Bulldogs (who went on to become VFL premiers), Gleeson made the most of a great learning experience and strong pre-season at Whitten Oval to finish amongst the top 10 goalkickers in the highly-competitive VAFA Premier Division while playing for St Bernard’s.
It was Gleeson’s desire to continue improving, helped by encouraging words from close friend and Coburg strength coach Stefan Romeo, which sparked his move to the Lions.
“[He] had spoken so highly of Peter German and the direction the club was going in. It was also appealing as I thought there would be more of an opportunity given I put the work in to play senior footy, which was what I was looking for,” Gleeson explains.
“The easy and probably most tempting option for guys these days is to play local footy and earn bucket loads of cash, but I really wanted to try and play the highest level of footy I could.”
Even after reaching his goal of playing senior football, Gleeson remains grounded and acknowledges that he needs to continue improving to consolidate his spot.
“Defensive transition is something I need to make sure I continue to work on, as well as getting as many team involvements as I can,” he says. “Kicking efficiency in front of goal in the past has been a key strength of mine, I need to get back to there.”
Marking and his often-underrated leg speed are two other fundamental strengths of Gleeson’s game, which he bases on the work ethic of two Richmond forwards – club legend Matthew Richardson and current spearhead Jack Riewoldt – and the versatility of the Western Bulldogs’ Jake Stringer.
Gleeson also has a knack for kicking the opening goal – having done so three times in the development squad so far this season.
“I think it’s very important to start the game off on the right foot and come prepared to go from the very first bounce,” Gleeson says.
“My starts to games have been reasonably good so I’m hoping to continue that throughout the rest of the year.”
