For the second week in a row, Waterford's young dynamo Austin Gleeson has been voted the GAA.ie Player of the Week.

The Mount Sion wunderkind is still just 20 years old, but he has made a stunning start to the new season for the Déise, delivering Man of the Match - and Player of the Week - displays in Waterford's opening round wins over Kilkenny and Cork.

Gleeson romped home in our vote, clocking 44 per cent of the votes cast on the GAA's official Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages, leaving him well clear of his nearest rivals James Maher (Kilkenny) and Shane Dooley (Offaly).

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GAA.ie HURLING PLAYER OF THE WEEK

1. Austin Gleeson (Waterford) - 2153 votes - 44%
2. James Maher (Kilkenny) - 1571 votes - 32%
**3. **Shane Dooley (Offaly) - 1168 votes - 24%

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Last week’s Player of the Week, it says a lot about the start to the season Austin Gleeson has enjoyed that he has won the award again this week - a spectacular achievement. After an eventful week, the Mount Sion man was, perhaps, lucky to avoid further sanction for a 56th minute challenge on Aidan Walsh, but it doesn’t detract from the sheer quality of the performance in Páirc Uí Rinn from the ever-maturing 20-year-old.

Playing in a slightly more advanced midfield role, Gleeson delivered a man-of-the-match winning performance packed with all the things we have come to expect from him: huge energy, ball-winning ability in the middle third and, of course, his box of tricks that allows him to bamboozle opponents. The profligacy and skittishness of shooting that detracted slightly from his display in Walsh Park six days earlier was all but eradicated six days later. Gleeson took 44 per cent of the vote.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable,” was the way James Maher began his interview with TG4’s Micheál Ó Domhnaill after being named man-of-the-match on his full senior debut for Kilkenny. Maher came on as a sub against Waterford in the first round but this was his chance to impress Brian Cody in a big game in front of a big crowd at Nowlan Park. And the manner he grabbed it was, well, unbelievable, as he put it himself.

Maher led St Kieran’s College to an All-Ireland title in 2014 and he showed all his class against Tipperary, giving the experienced Brendan Maher a torrid time. Scored four points, all from play, but it was his work-rate and his fetching ability under puck-outs that marked his performance out from the rest in a high-quality game. With Richie Power retired and Ger Aylward injured, Cody couldn’t have timed the blooming of this rosebud any better. Maher got 32 per cent of the vote.

In third place on 24 per cent was** Shane Dooley**. Scoring 0-12 of his side’s 1-17 total in the victory over Laois, Dooley demanded inclusion in this week’s nominations. On a difficult day for hurling, Dooley was masterful from placed balls, landing seven frees and a 65, as well as four points from play, all of which were brilliantly taken in the gluepot conditions.

“Shane is really coming into his own. He is getting fitter every week and he is a class act. He took his scores well,” Offaly manager Eamonn Kelly said of his star man after the game. Dooley’s extraordinary talents can sometimes be taken for granted, but it is fair to say his side would not have beaten Laois without him in Tullamore on Sunday.

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