In the week leading up to round one, new West Preston Lakeside recruit was cleared to play for the club after a long and arduous process. After his release from former club Oak Park was rejected by the club twice, the AFL appeals board allowed his release. Gleeson said it was a long night, waiting for nearly an hour and a half for a result. He will now continue his role as assistant coach as well as player.
After playing for Oak Park all through his junior years and for 10 years of senior football, Gleeson’s best memories there are playing senior footy and in particular winning the EDFL premiership in 2009, a side which he captained. After not agreeing to terms with Oak Park, many players decided to walk out on the club including Alex. He was then offered an assistant coach-player role at West Preston and was immediately drawn to the club at his first training session, stating that the players seemed enthusiastic and that they were clearly a close bunch.
With a lot of finals experience, he hopes to bring some of that experience and leadership to the club, especially in finals. He also hopes to bring some on field direction to West alongside fellow recruit Xavier Clarke, whom he lined up against last season when Clarke was playing for Avondale Heights. Gleeson said that he saw the amount of direction and leadership that Clarke offered last season and believes he could be a real stand-out this season for West Preston Lakeside.
Along with his on-field duties, Gleeson will also be assistant coach under Frank Raso, whom he is good friends with. He is really looking forward to working with Frank and believes that, with injuries notwithstanding, Frank’s game plan will be a successful one for the club for this year and years beyond. Gleeson’s roles as assistant will be helping with team selection, applying the game plan and in particular helping the young players, including Mitch Tobin, whom he rates highly.
Alex’s pre-season was solid, missing the last couple of weeks but keeping up with running. He barely showed any ill-effects of lacking match fitness last weekend against Montmorency. He’s looking forward to the season all the success that will come with it.
Alex was one of the stand-outs in West’s round one loss to Montmorency. Although at times he appeared to be trying to do too much for the team, his skill and toughness really showed as he lead from the front all day.
West Preston are extremely pleased with the signing of Alex and are very much looking forward to both working with him and also seeing him in action. Football Manager Paul McInerney said “We were very keen to get Alex to West Preston Lakeside for what he is will bring to the club both on and off field…Alex has already developed a great repour with players and supporters and has impressed everyone with his professionalism."
Ryan Leaver
Last Modified on 12/09/2015 17:58