Re: Kirke confused : Wed Jan 28, 2015 3:14 am  

well if they were trying to move Bailey on for years then why did they keep offering him contracts? I wonder if he was disciplined when he missed training ?Final warning?I thought it was interesting what Delaney said when Bailey signed for HullKR 'I think this move could do his career a lot of good'

[Ex-Swarcliffe Rhino]

Re: Kirke confused : Wed Jan 28, 2015 6:42 am  

It should be. He always got the "only decent because he's at Leeds etc" noes a chance for him to stand on his own two feet, away from his comfort zone and I think he'll be just fine.

Re: Kirke confused : Wed Jan 28, 2015 9:29 am  

As a general point, I think Kirke came far closer to fulfilling his potential than RB. In a way, that's a shame but it's one of the reasons I'm reluctant to criticise Ian. I think he did his best.

Re: Kirke confused : Wed Jan 28, 2015 12:25 pm  

ThePrinter wrote:

I mean what has been arguably the biggest gripe with fans for the last few years? That the likes of Bailey and Kirke clog up the bench whilst youngsters don't get a chance......so what happens when he knows he needs to get fans back on a board? Gets rid of the deadwood that many fans have wanted rid of for a while and keeps harping on about and signing up youngsters to new deals.

Their departures were completely a result of how the season ended.

I don't think it will change anything with great impact.

Addressing bigger problems has yet to be overcome.

Reliant on JP - still a problem.

Kylie still playing - still an issue. (we tried and failed to sign Mossop, which shows we need a hole to plug. but yet to do so.

Then the replacement of the spine (mcGuire, Burrow, Sinfield).

Next year would we be happy if we just moved on JJB? No. bigger decisions need to be made.

Re: Kirke confused : Wed Jan 28, 2015 12:46 pm  

thebloodbath wrote:

I don't think it will change anything with great impact.

Addressing bigger problems has yet to be overcome.

Reliant on JP - still a problem.

Kylie still playing - still an issue. (we tried and failed to sign Mossop, which shows we need a hole to plug. but yet to do so.

Then the replacement of the spine (mcGuire, Burrow, Sinfield).

Next year would we be happy if we just moved on JJB? No. bigger decisions need to be made.

Exactly!

And with McDermott at the helm (alongside Peacock and Sinfield at least) can we see these decisions being (wheels?!?) made?

Interesting times of cyclical decline ahead

Re: Kirke confused : Wed Jan 28, 2015 1:18 pm  

Mac: Promote from within http://www1.skysports.com/rugby-league/ ... eds-rhinos (if the signings you attempt to make fall through)

Mac: Promote from within http://www1.skysports.com/rugby-league/ ... eds-rhinos (if the signings you attempt to make fall through)

Re: Kirke confused : Wed Jan 28, 2015 1:48 pm  

WRT signing Mossop, I reckon we've dodged a bullet there. As for promoting from within, I'm not sure that's the best source of quality props. It's an issue that both ourselves and wigan (probably the two sides with the best recent track records of unearthing young talent) have struggled over. And while our prop situation may look a bit dicey, I think wigan's might actually be worse. Whatever, it's surprising that between us we haven't produced more in the way of decent props.

Re: Kirke confused : Wed Jan 28, 2015 3:23 pm  

Clearwing wrote:

WRT signing Mossop, I reckon we've dodged a bullet there. As for promoting from within, I'm not sure that's the best source of quality props. It's an issue that both ourselves and wigan (probably the two sides with the best recent track records of unearthing young talent) have struggled over. And while our prop situation may look a bit dicey, I think wigan's might actually be worse. Whatever, it's surprising that between us we haven't produced more in the way of decent props.

I think it's a symptom of how the game has changed in the last few years. You can't get away with playing young props much anymore, the need for such strength and bulk can't be safely put on by youngsters. I think we'll see youngsters moving up through the pack ie from loose/second row to prop, as they get older rather than being a prop their entire career. I'm sure there'll be exceptions to that but I reckon they're few and far between.

[Bullseye]

Re: Kirke confused : Wed Jan 28, 2015 4:36 pm  

A lot of players get binned at 19 which is as a rule before most of them make it as props at 1st team level. A lot have to go via other clubs to get a chance to come through. I wonder how many are lost completely.

It's hard to call at such young age. John Bastian admits he made a mistake in allowing the Burgess twins to leave Leeds.

Would Jamie Peacock have come through under the present system? At 19 he showed no signs at all of the quality he was going to become.

Re: Kirke confused : Wed Jan 28, 2015 6:02 pm  

Spot on Bullseye. The current system isn't good at all for the future.

The Dual Reg system was supposed to take up the slack but it hasn't been fully accepted or utilised yet (understandably in some cases).

As you say under the current system Peacock would have been binned by Bradford.

I've always thought it'd be too costly for clubs to run a reserves team and whilst I'm sure it would for the "poorer" teams, I wonder how much it would actually cost to run and whether the top 8/9/10 clubs in SL could actually afford it?

If they could I think we have to do it, it's either that or fully integrate some Championships clubs with SL clubs as feeder clubs like in the NRL. As I firmly believe it's the NRL's biggest single advantage over SL.