Some folk are never happy! Kirke's stated he's prepared to fight for his place in the U20s, what more do you want?

As much as I share a lot of other posters feelings towards Kirke, I must admit, his hit on Solomona in the playoff last year was a beauty and sent a clear statement to Warringtons pack.

I forgot about that! It truly was an awesome hit....right up to the point where he went to help him back up! Still, set the tone for the game though.

How very dare you Madam! It is common knowledge within the Southstander intelligentsia that the only sensible gauge of a players worth is the number of Grand Final winners rings in his possession.

The Boy Kirke has 4, ergo he is beyond criticism, and in no way can be held to account for the dismal display of the other 12 spotty oiks who turned out at the weekend.

Perhaps they were overawed to have such an illuminary within their ranks?

I think we can all recount moments of excellence from Kirkey over the years. But these are very few and far between; all fans want is 100% effort for the team. I feel sorry for him that he does receive a lot of stick, but he rarely proves the doubters wrong.
I've said before that he should be the natural successor to JP. Sadly the fact that they are a similar size is where the comparison ends as JP has got the heart of a lion.
We would all love him to finally reach his potential; how long do we wait though?

I think a lot of Kirke's failure to reach his fullest potential might be down to ambition. Don't get me wrong, he has achieved plenty, but I think given his size and athleticism he could have been a real star rather than a steady-away interchange player. I'm not sure he really believed that though.

I retain some appreciation of his contribution, perhaps more than most, but his raw numbers didn't stack up last year and he certainly hasn't been as good as he, IMHO, could have been. Which given that he's still helped us win 4 titles is perhaps more sad for him than for us.

It would've been a better excuse than saying he didn't know x's name in the U20s.

if kirke is able to be a 80 minute player then his value to the team suddenly becomes more apparent, we know peacock and bailey can do long stints and kylie is only good in short bursts but kirke is still untested at the top level

its unfair to compare him to peacock as only a handful of props in super league share that passion,hunger and sheer bloody mindedness to do the stuff he does and thats why he's a legend
kirke is sound in defence and while not great at busting tackles he's pretty good at landing in a position to enable a quick play the ball
with 6 props he will get game time as we rotate to rest players and that will help the team in the long run

It sounds like the signings of Moore and Griffin (plus probably the impact of the reduction in interchanges and the ageing of Peacock and Leuluai) has moved the goalposts for Kirke. McDermott seems to be telling him that being 'solid' and low risk from the bench will no longer be enough to earn a spot. It also suggests that McDermott is well aware of issues around Kirke's workrate, but that his role was just not to mess things up whilst letting someone have a breather.

That makes sense.....but then why give the guy a ONE year contract ? A two year contract appears to be [ieven more[/i incomprehensible

You haven't watched him in a game then? Loses the collision, often ends up on his back and carries the ball in 5 times a game. I could go do that in my unfit, overweight carcass of a body right now against a SL team.

It will be interesting to watch how he goes on Sunday up in Whitehaven. He's playing against a load of lads who've just left the amateur ranks, so he should be outstanding against them, but he won't be!

It's really rather simple, a guy this size should be doing more.