This thread is noticable for the deafening silence from G1 re Kirke's contribution this week when he really needed to step up & be counted.
Though he did feel obliged to comment on the Singleton thread since it suited that particular argument.

I have been critical of Kirke in previous posts although have always thought he was a good squad member. He definately stood up on friday and what the stats do not give are some of the big hits he also made

Don't be daft... tvoc added an extra 1 accidentally



Anyway, it just shows how poor Salfords pack were when every starting pack member made 100+ metres and the bench were all 70+. can't say I remember seeing that before.

Good response from all the pack, and for the second week Hauraki tops the metres/carry.

Occasionally GH gets it right.

And as for the deafening silence from certain bombastic posters......savour the silence people. It wont last!

To be fair he did actually comment after the game on Friday that Kirke had put in a much better effort, i the absence of stats.

To be fairer still the comments about Kirke have always been that performances like Friday happen far too rarely. Lets see if he can back it up over a few weeks before calling people out on it.

Thing is with Kirke is that it won't last. Did he not get heaps of praise against Hull then only to put an average display against Quins and Wire. When Leeds are up against it he can do it, I just hope he puts in a similar performance against Saints and kicks on from there....but I do have doubts. He does have the potential to fill the boots of Kylie when he retires.

14 errors, oh dear

Kirke is a worthy scapegoat for when Leeds lose



I hope he can continue to justify his place in the 17.......but nobody should be exempt from de-selection after a non-performance in the hope that in the next match he can make amends, particularly if there is a more than capable "young un" waiting in the proverbial wings.

When (if) we have a fully fit squad Kirke drops to 6th choice prop and probably 5th/6th choice 2nd row. Is there any need to keep someone of his age on our books after his contract expires?

Thanks Gotcha.

Unlike some I didn't need to wait for the stats to support my argument. I actually watch the game. As you say I have already praised Kirke's display but, for balance, pointed out Singleton's work rate (with ball) easily eclipsed the usual Kirke "effort".

Just like the week before when I didn't need to wait for the stats thread to point out Kirke made less than 5 carries against Wire.

As others have pointed out, decent efforts from Kirke are all too rare. Optimistically the coaching staff recognise this and get him to improve or drop him.

It's not difficult to actually watch the games and form an opinion, rather than jump on the back of a stats thread. Well, it's not difficult for some.

Yours in sport,

Mr Bombastic.

Shaggeee

Good points J and tbh i agree especially with Ambler and hopefully Amor "stepping up" in the front row and the likes of Clarkson ,Abbo ,Hauraki and hopefully Stewart and Pitts it'll be time for Kirke and some of the other older squad members to move on.

Judging by the stats, if Kirke did move on, Leeds could do a lot worse than bring in Adam Neal if they're looking for a like for like replacement.

From my own p.o.v i'd hope that in the event of Kirke departing we'd promote from within.

I had a similar problem last week with a Worzel Gummidge type who was also having difficulty in dealing with reality!
Although to be fair, stats are probably a tad more reliable than the chicken entrails he was useing.....

Excellent new sig BTW

That's exactly my theory too Harrigan.

I mean you're looking at JP, Kylie, Bailey, Burgess, Cross, JJB, Ali, Hauraki, Pitts, Delaney, Clarkson, Ablett, Singleton, Amor, Ambler & Kirke.

That's 16 people fighting for 8 spots (2 prop, 2 SR, max of 4 bench).

Of those, JP, Kylie, Bailey, Burgess, Ali & Kirke are all out of contact (according to the thread on here!) after 2011. I'm assuming JP & TMFMISL are shoo-ins to renew?! Kylie & Ali may well decide not to, and there's been a million and one rumours about Biffa & the Bunnies (that sounds like a kids book!).

I'd suggest Kirke would be one we didn't even need to attempt to renew.

Both of the penalties that JJB conceeded were for dissent. I really thought, given the Quins disciplinary record over the McDermott years he would have stamped this out.

He's been doing it for most of his career, nothing Mcdermott can stop from the touchline in the heat of the game you say things that you wouldn't normally say. I'm no sure how you are expecting him to stop it other than fines etc after the game.

One of them was for off-side. And he wasn't offside.

He has in general. I noticed from the first game that when a penalty was blen against us the players just got back to their positions without saying a thing. Under coach McClennan they questioned everything. The only players who seem to have trouble with this are JJB and Senior but they have always been the mouthy types.

You forgot Brent Webb, who seems incapable of accepting any decision that goes against him without opening his mouth and having a chat with the officials.

Add that to the skipper's penchant for slowing the game down by asking for "clarification" on a regular basis and you can see why some fans of other teams were less than enamoured with Leeds under McLennan.

Why would Leeds want to replace one crap player with a replacement who if he was "like for like" would also be crap?

wooooosh

Andy, since when have fans of other teams ever been anything less than enamoured with Leeds anyway?

I'd like to remind everyone that this whole discussion about an issue with "dissent" is based upon Chorley Rhino's inaccurate post that JJB was penalised twice for this. He wasn't.

My point stood though. You can see there has been an effort made by the coaching staff this season to eradicate the backchat/decent and for them to just get on with it. Thats how it was Post Powell and Pre McClennan.

I agree J.
Up until Uncle Alibert took charge i don't think we've conceded a dissent penalty oh and Chorley the dissent penalties were against Webb and Jjb and both original calls were wrong to start with.