Friendlies apart, I can't think of many times in recent years where Kirke has been named at anything other than prop when he's been in the starting lineup, or replaced anyone other than a prop when he's come off the bench.

IMO he was the perfect fit for the loose forward role that Bailey played for chunks of last season. Good tackler, mobile, decent footwork.

Agree that Clarkson deserves his chance and was by far the best forward against Bulls.
He ran some good angles and tackled well.
I also think Griffin should get the nod over Kirke for this one.

Did he not play there at least once last season ? Just the once is hardly a ringing endorsement ...

Would agree with all of this.......but somehow, unfortunately, I think it will be McShane that misses out

Sorry but can't agree with this. JP was easily our most consistent prop and also up with the best in SL. Apart from a wobble when he was not fully fit he put in consistent outstanding performances through out the season and not just in the play offs.

Whilst agreeing he should get some more rests, I believe that JP is a player that thrives on work rate which is a reason he has such stamina.

He cannot be compared with other lesser props who cannot keep up a performance for more than 15 minutes at a time.

I am not sure that keeping him on the bench for longer or having him rested for too many games will prolong his career. In fact this may lead to a loss of some match fitness and so some stamina and he could then just fade away.

I would prefer to see him keep playing his 110% game until his time to retire.

.....when Singleton gets back from his loan spell at Wakey then?

19s won 18-12, 2 try's for Josh Sunley.

I disagree far too often we flogged him in games that were lost causes failed to rotate him and kylie and he suffered form wise if not determination and fire wise.
What do we gain by playing hm against Widnes or keeping him on the pitch for an hour against Wigan at home or Wire and ST's away when we battered??
He was very very good in the P/O's and the CC games (final aside) but whatever numbers are put out he showed his age and battle wear and tear more than once as did Kylie.
I'm not saying he should have every other week off or just play 10 minutes a half but we need to manage his gametime better.
We have to get more out of the other Props because no matter what anybody thinks he's on borrowed time and we need to get others involved to take up some of the workload as to not lose so much when the inevitable happens.

Twitter said 20-12.
Good result either way they hammered York with most of that team.

If we have a fully fit squad do we really want to see JP carving through Widnes et al. The squad should be used effectively. That's where Moore/Achurch come in, hungry and wanting to impress. See who can step up when we will have to replace him, which isn't too far away. If JP stepped aside for a half a dozen dead rubbers during the season and it meant that someone like Singleton could be bled, who'd argue with that?

The spreadsheet says Kirke started at loose forward just the once in 2012 - the away loss at Belle Vue.

As they might say in parliament, he made 33% of all his starts last season in that position, which while not representing the majority, is still a significant number.

Heard Hull FC have sold out there allocation for this evening.

Oh joy.

Will look something like this:

Vile:

@LeagueFreak
Hey #HullFC fans, you ready to watch those c**ty #LeedsRhinos get fuc**** smashed? Let tear some ing goal posts down! #RugbyLeague
11:34 a.m. Fri, Feb 1

Don't take things too seriously

I keep hearing about how much we "flogged" Peacock last year and how this is going to have a detrimental effect on his performances.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in September and October last year he didn't look like a prop that had been "flogged" for the preceding 7-8 months,

Jamie Peacock can give you 60-70 minutes of solid impact, 32 weeks a year that will get you by at domestic level.

And Bloodbath, given League Freak's usual MO, that's just as likely to be a dig at FC fans as it is Leeds

Did Peacock's dip in form coincide with negotiation of his contract extension, perhaps under less favourable terms than he might have wished for?

I only ask because the fatigue theory isn't watertight for me. Why, for example, wasn't he most fatigued at the season's end?

he really isn't one of ours, in fact, I doubt anyone would admit to him being one of theirs, and he's too short to reach the porn shelf, which explains why he's such an angry vile little Aussie.

hope it's a great game tonight and enjoyed by all.

Thanks xx

(And it's "their"icon_wink.gif.

Leeds by 6 points tonight.

See what you make of my other predictions right here;

[urlhttp://www.johnstankevitch.com/site/this-weeks-betting-tips/[/url

You say he lacked consistency:
Yet JP was our best and most consistent forward last season with performances up with the best props in SL.

You say that he should be rested more because we overplayed him and that had a negative effect on his form and performance yet:
JP was our best offloader and 2nd best in SL
JP was our 2nd best metre maker (only 9m behind WBW Hall!)
JP made the 2nd most carries and the most of any of our forwards
JP was our 2nd best tackler (249 more than our next best prop who incidentally is Kylie the other one you think should not play as often)
JP was our 2nd best marker tackler making 75% more than our next best prop.

I say again JP thrives on work and will not improve sitting on the bench. You imply the coach was "flogging" him but JP flogs himself it is the way he has always played. Playing did not effect his form and the proof was his form at the end of the season which rather disproves your point.

You say we should bring other lesser players in so we are ready when JP hangs up his boots. Well you could argue the same for Sinfield Burrow and McGuire.

Sure we can rotate the bigger squad more this year but for the majority of games I say pick the best team.

He has pretty much been prop since Peacock & Burgess got injured at Castleford just before the 2010 CC Final. Before that in '09 and '10 the usual 4 props in the matchday 17 were -
Peacock
Leuluai
Bailey
Burgess

We saw out the end of 2010 with
Leuluai
Bailey
Kirke
Eastwood (also switching from second row.....and being much better)

When McDermott came in he clearly wasn't keen on Cross, and he wasn't playing a clearly-bound-for-Sydney Burgess too much. He played with
Leuluai
Bailey
Kirke
Cross/Burgess

As soon as Peacock returned then Cross and Burgess left the club.

JC-So by your reckoning his form never dropped then??
Well he looked way off against Wire (a) ST's(a) Wigan (h+a) ordinary at best against the likes of Wakey away ,Giants away etc etc.
The figures and stats dont show how he and our pack got battered at times last year and showed their age whether he thrives on 60mins+ a game last year showed he couldn't maintain it and the actual game footage shows that not numbers.
You can be good across the board in numbers but actual perfiormances are what count stats are a guideline not the be all and end all.
I stick by my opinion and the opinion of what i saw live at games last year we wont get away with it this year especially as both he and Kylie are 1 year closer to retirement and the brutal roles they play insists they cant go on forever.
Pre-planning prevents p!$$ poor performance and imo we should start the process to prepare for the loss of the 2 now.

Sitting on the bench a bit more may or may not help Peacock, but it clearly didn't help Griffin getting only 20 odd mins in games or Moore hardly getting a game. The forwards need to be viewed as a group, not as an individual and that has probably been Leeds' problem at times in the past. Too much looking towards Peacock and not sharing the workload, similar scenerio caught Saints out in GF's when they started to rely to heavily on James Graham and others didn't put their hand up.

With 4 props in a 17 you could share the workload 25% each, or going on the basis that your starters are usually better go for your starters doing 30% each and the 2 subs 20% each.

Doesn't or shouldn't have to be Peacock doing 50% of the workload and the other 3 sharing the other 50% between them.