Following the first round of games in the 2016 Allianz Hurling League, it's time to select the GAA.ie Hurling Player of the Week.

Despite the awful conditions, there were a number of spectacular individual performances, but who stood out for you?

Austin Gleeson (Waterford), Jason Forde (Tipperary) and Paul Browne (Limerick) are all nominated for this week's award, the first of the 2016 season.

The voting process is simple: retweet the image of your chosen player on the GAA's official Twitter account (@officialgaa) or like their image on the GAA's official Facebook and Instagram pages.

Voting will close at 10am on Tuesday, February 16 and the winner will be announced on GAA.ie.

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Austin Gleeson (Waterford)

Austin Gleeson wore No. 5 in Walsh Park on Sunday, where Waterford secured a first competitive win over Kilkenny since 2009, but the Mount Sion man seemed to occupy just about every position at various stages of a low-scoring if compelling game. Gleeson has every skill required to operate at the very pinnacle of the game and he showed all of them off on Sunday, demonstrating exactly why his talent has been coveted for so long, and why Derek McGrath has made him such a cornerstone of his side at such a young age. Now, his remarkable energy and ability is now housed in a frame that has grown considerably over the winter months. Waterford’s profligacy was one of the main talking points – the only reason their winning margin wasn’t much greater was because they struck 18 wides – and Gleeson was complicit in that regard, shooting four wides of his own and finding the target just once. Gleeson is still learning and developing, which is a frightening thought in itself.

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Paul Browne (Limerick)

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Limerick opened their latest bid for freedom from Division 1B with a fairly comprehensive, 14-point dusting of Wexford at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday night. Leading by 0-16 to 0-4 at the break, the game was as good as put to bed, and nobody did more to help the Treaty County make the perfect start to the year than dynamic midfielder Paul Browne, who struck four points from play in the first half alone, before adding a fifth in the second half. Setanta’s man of the match, Browne was everywhere on a very difficult night for hurling, ensuring the absence of the now retired Donal O’Grady may not be felt as keenly as expected this year.   

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Jason Forde (Tipperary)

Tipperary already have two match-winners in John O’Dwyer and Séamus Callanan but the addition of a third killer attacker would make them a much more potent force. On Saturday night in Thurles, with Callanan out injured and O’Dwyer on the bench, Forde put forward his case for a lead role with a stunning performance. At times, Forde did little more than loiter around the fringes and pick up breaking ball from long, direct clearances, but he did so to stunning effect, picking off 1-5 from play in a brilliant performance. His goal was beautifully simple: a booming clearance down the throat of the Dublin defence was dropped by their full-back and Forde pounced, bounding on to the loose ball and crashing a low shot to the back of the net from the 21-yard line. Forde made hay in similar circumstances all evening and looks like he could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of a more direct approach under new manager Michael Ryan.

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Players of the Week are decided based on votes cast by followers of@officialgaa on Twitter, on the Official GAA Facebook Page and on theOfficial GAA Instagram page.