Quote: rhinoms "Eagle-Whether Kirke is a "cheap option" or not when selected for the 1st 17 he should and will be judged as such.
Now having seen most of pre-season ,plenty of the acadamy games and knowing full well how kirke performed last season i stand by my post and opinion that the other "options" would be better choices.
Indeed at this moment in time i'm pretty sure Kirke earns more than Ambler ,Singleton and possibly Amor and Moore so we'd obviously get "bang for our buck" should they get the opportunity and take it.
No-one is expecting him match JP or Bailey for e.g just play Prop with some grunt and play his weight at this moment in time imo there are many better options within the squad and i see Kirke as someone "holding up" a youngsters progress OR preventing Moore playing who would add more impact and can do more minutes.'"
I think you're right in that he will probably be earning more than those mentioned. I don't inlcude Moore in comparisons. Some people seem to be wowwed by a couple of barnstorming runs and a couple of offloads. He is very much a go forward impact prop, but there are reasons why he's a journeyman, and his ranking at Leeds reflects that. The way I see it Kirke & Moore are joint 5th Prop for Leeds. Kirke if you want someone steady to fill a hole. Moore if you want to add some go forward.
Last year Kirke was regularly in the 17 as we had decided that Cross was a liability so got shut, and that Burgess was not committed to the team. This year those players have been replaced, and so he's correctly back as a squad member.
In terms of developing props, I don't think its as simple as some people seem to think. Certainly Leeds seem to take a very cautious approach. Burgess had to wait a long time to get his chance, as did Scruton before him. Amor & Ambler are on a similar path. I'm not sure Kirke is standing in their way, just keeping the seat warm for them. Certainly for Amor, he's doing better careerwise than if Kirke wasn't at Leeds, because I doubt he would be allowed out on loan if he was 5th in line.
I can see why people get frustrated by his poor shwoing with the ball. I wish he'd do more, but I think we as supporters, and even amateur players have a very one dimensional view on the positions and their roles. I would trust McDermott to know what he wants to get out of a prop more than anyone on here.