Martin Gleeson clears major hurdle in return to rugby union

Martin Gleeson has removed a major obstacle in his way to a return to PREM Rugby with current champions Bath after announcing his departure from Super League outfit Warrington Wolves.

Gleeson confirmed on Friday evening that he is leaving the Wire by mutual consent, just hours after Fissler Confidential exclusively revealed that he had been recommended to Bath, who are looking for a new attack coach.

The former rugby league international has worked in union at Wasps and then as part of Eddie Jones’s England coaching set-up but lost his job after Steve Borthwick came in and brought in his own men.

Gleeson returned to his former club, Warrington, as assistant to Sam Burgess in September 2023, helping to guide the Wolves to two Challenge Cup finals as well as a Super League play-off semi-final last year.

He departs the Halliwell Jones Stadium following a disappointing Super League campaign that saw them finish 10 points outside the play-off places in eighth place.

“I’d like to thank Simon Moran for the opportunity to bring me back to the club. It’s been an incredible couple of years working with Sam [Burgess], who I’ve learnt so much off in a short space of time.

“I’d like to thank the players who I’ve worked with. With the youth coming through, under Sam’s leadership, the club is in a great place going forward, which the fans should be excited about,” he told the Wolves website.

He has been recommended to Bath boss Johann van Graan by Lee Blackett, who has left the Rec after being appointed to a full-time role by Borthwick following his latest reshuffle of his top team.

Blackett and Gleeson, who represented Great Britain on 20 occasions and won the Super League title twice, worked together at Wasps before he left to join England and revealed the influence Shaun Edwards had on him.

“Shaun Edwards was a big influence in me coming to rugby union. When he was the Wales coach, I used to go and see him throughout the year, and he’d ask me stuff about defences when I was still in league.

“I’d go to his house and we’d have some good conversations. That really started perking my interest in the game,” he told The Guardian.

“Shaun is obviously someone who played and had success at Wigan, where I’m from. I watched him as a kid growing up. He was a big influence.”