Wasps attack coach Martin Gleeson says he was delighted to sign his new contract after being granted a proper say over tactical operations under head coach Lee Blackett.
While fellow Rugby Leaguer and close friend Sean Long cited a lack of genuine input as one of the reasons behind his decision to quit Harlequins, former St Helens, Warrington, Wigan and Great Britain centre Gleeson has been fully embraced by Wasps.
Wasps narrowly failed to overcome Exeter in last month's Premiership final but ahead of today's season opener against Bristol, Gleeson told The Rugby Paper: “I'm really happy with the new contract. Lee's got faith in all the boys and we're a pretty tight group.
“The coaching group has blossomed over the last few months and we work together really well, which was a big factor in my re-signing.
“When I first came in under Dai Young last year, Lee had his systems already in place so we spilt things up and I did a lot of opposition reviews and looked at the detail of our phase play and counter-attack, but when Lee took over as head coach, I took the attack.
“Lee's obviously a very smart, intelligent coach so if I need to run something by him I will. We both may slightly differ on how we get the best outcome, but he's been a really good influence and since he's taken over he's just let me crack on with the attack.
“If I ever need advice he's there and Ian Costello's a good man as well when it comes to defence, so we're an open group and that breeds a lot of confidence.”
With Blackett, Costello, forwards guru Richard Blaze and skills and breakdown coach Matt Everard all penning new deals, Gleeson says Wasps have quickly put their Exeter loss behind them.
He said: “Exeter impress me the most of any side with how multi-faceted they are in attack. Their kick-chase and all the little things they do off the ball are really good and they're so rounded as a team; scoring from deep or being ruthless from close in.
“There are some teams where you stop one aspect of their game and that's it, but Exeter come at you in different ways.
“While losing the final was disappointing, we had a chance to win it at the end and that's the learning we must take into this season.
“We put the final to bed on day one and spoke about what we want to do this season, continuing what we do well but also having a bit of improvement in us without changing anything drastically.”
While star centre Malakai Fekitoa is not yet fully recovered from the groin injury that scuppered his final hopes, Gleeson says fellow former All Black Lima Sopoaga is raring to throw himself into the fullback role.
“It's been a bit disappointing for Lima that after lockdown he just couldn't get a consistent run of games through injury,” Gleeson said. “Before that, when he was at full-back or coming off the bench, he was unreal so we'll probably look at him there again.
“With the way he moves, he just glides out there and playing at 15 allows him to show his skills. We're not discounting him as a No.10 but his skillset is so suited to being that second receiver in the wider channel or in sweeping up loose balls and counter-attacking that we'd be silly not to play to those strengths of his.
NEALE HARVEY
