That's excellent, and not just for a debut.

What were Kirkes stats for his 5 drives?

He took the ball in off a couple of drop outs and and kick offs so that will distort those stats slightly.

I thought Baldwinson did very well on Friday night and he looked very strong taking the ball up, He definitely looked a SL quality player As we have all read previously regarding supposed NRL interest in him, this article in today's Y.E.P touches on it right at the end, It would be very sad day for the club if he left, but you can't blame anyone for trying their luck out there www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/s ... -1-5779766

I thought Baldwinson did very well on Friday night and he looked very strong taking the ball up, He definitely looked a SL quality player As we have all read previously regarding supposed NRL interest in him, this article in today's Y.E.P touches on it right at the end, It would be very sad day for the club if he left, but you can't blame anyone for trying their luck out there www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/s ... -1-5779766

I wonder who the other lads NZ are looking at are.

Hmm do you know that the club hasn't attempted to tie them down earlier?

To be fair if the player wants to go to Aus then the club can't do a lot; they won't compete on salary and if the lads already have it in their heads that this opportunity could be available then it's likely our attempts to offer a contract would fall on deaf ears.

That wasn't the issue. It is only recently that clubs from Aus have come over and spoken to players. It wasn't there earlier, and that was the point.

Probably gives some reasoning as to why Barrie McDermott was so dissapointed over these players not getting opportunities when I spoke to him at the Cas cup game.

Have the club (Leeds) not made him an offer?

The water carrier came on twice and made him change position at the kick off so he could take the first drive.

I was very impressed with the brief stint from Baldwinson. I get where Gotcha is coming from in terms of Leeds tying up the youngsters (ooh er) but aren't we constrained by salary cap limits on Academy prospects? What are the rules?

If the lad wants to try his hand over there I do not blame him one little bit. It's a no brainer from his point of view.

I do think the coach doesn't utilize his quad properly and I do think opportunities to young players are usually only given when forced upon him by injury. Had Baldwinson played a little more might it be harder for Australian clubs to lure him over?

One thing strikes me though. I get the Australian clubs have a lot more cash but what about there much vaunted junior development? There are no extra franchises and us Poms are taking up an awful lot of jerseys.

Which successful SL teams do more in this regard? Is this proposition evidence-based?

I don't recall specifically saying you were wrong. Point being why, after a game, people spend so much time blaming players for tries being conceded or mistakes made. Fair enough people have a right to say what they want, what I can't understand is why it's often so negative. There's so many like this in the South Stand who just seem to rip players. And it makes for an unenjoyable and frustrating match day for the people around.

Yeah, they'll make mistakes and some more than others. But I don't see the benefit of discussing it on here page after page. I, and people I've spoken with, thought Kirke played well. So I was surprised to see people analysing him so in depth.

That was my point G1. Lately these message boards just seem to be pure negative. Someone gives an opinion and they're shot down. If everyone in sport did everything right it would be pretty boring. So why not talk about Sutcliffe's steps for his try and setting up Robbie. Hardaker stepping up in the absence of Mags and Kev and having his best game in a while. Joel Moon's out the back pass to Ryan for his try. JJB being a monster all over the pitch. McShane controlling from dummy half. Robbie looking like the player of old and driving Widnes back with his kicks.

But then Barrie, as head of youth development, would say that wouldn't he? Whereas Brian Mac is responsible for producing more silverware in SL which means picking the side which offers the best chance of winning each game. Over a season there will always be injuries that give opportunities to the youngsters as we are now seeing.

I understand that the coaches and management rate Baldwinson highly and I will be most surprised if the lad doesn't know that. The backrow department in the 1st team squad is strong and therefore the coaches have been able to take time with his development, which so far looks to have been a good plan. If the lad wants to go to Oz then having a few extra 1st team games before now would not have changed his mind. In fact it would have showcased him off so that he may have received more offers from down under.

To fit into the Leeds Champion ethos we need not only talented young rugby players but also ones whose burning ambition is to win a place in the first team and to do this they need to also show patience, loyalty and perseverance. The mentality side of professional rugby cannot be underestimated and a Leeds 1st team place should not be offered too easily.

A discussion board is for discussion. If we all agreed, and used it to just backslap at how great we are this would be a boring place. As it happens theres always a thread about someone being poo, someone being better than expected, someone's pre-match prediction coming correct, someone being made a fool of. thats why its a popular board, because we can discuss things, and even if we don't agree, we can accept others opinions.

More of a calves man is he?