So McDermott has named the side that is hopefully going to bring the CC back to Headingley!



Hardaker

Briscoe

Watkins

Moon

Hall



Sinfield

Mcguire



Kylie

Burrow

Peacock

Ablett

Delaney

JJB



Bailey

Aiton

Kirke

Sutcliffe



Think Singleton is unlucky not to get a spot. Cant wait for Saturday to arrive now!

If that really is the 17, then he definitely lied the other day when he said two bench spots were open.

It rather undoes his claims of 'injuries' and 'doubts for the final' for those who didn't play yesterday.



Since 5pm yesterday they must have had delivery of a 'magic sponge' from the football a few years back that made players make miraculous recoveries from injury as soon as it was used.



Either that or the likes of Ablett's, Sinners', Delaney's and Burrow's injuries weren't particularly injuries at all.



Hey ho anyway. No excuses now for losing. If they mess it up on Sat then it is totally their own collective fault, no 'x was carrying a niggle' or 'y was out injured'.



Come on you Leeds.

If that is the seventeen i for one am in agreement with his selection , whether its good enough we will all wait and see ,

really hope for once at Wembley we can do ourselves justice and if we can i hope the players dedicate victory to our golden generation players who have moved on

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Not a Kirke knocker for the sake of it and he has been a valuable squad member over the years, but how he gets the nod over Singleton in particular on the past month's play is mystifying.

Mac does not trust Singleton yet and rightly so in my opinion , as well as he looks to play defensivley he has alot to learn

Well that shocked a few people.

The most predictable 17 the coach could have picked despite the performance and so called injuries over the weekend.

Kirke must have really ripped it up on Sunday.

I would have preferred Singleton or Achurch in there followed by Stevie Ward and Calrkson before I would have gone for Kirke.

But hey ho he has got a zillion GF rings to his name and every coach in the world has had him in his team so he must be good.

He has a habit of stopping dead in defence and letting players run at him, he also struggles to break tackles going forward.



Having said that I like the look of him for the future, he's willing and relatively quick. He'll bulk out more as he gets older too.

I can understand the decision not to play him as he's still very young for a prop.

I've been wary of Singleton's defence in the past but I think it has started to improve (probably not enough yet admittedly).



Will be interesting to see who does/doesn't make up the final 19. The other 2 spots are between Singleton, S.Ward, Achurch, Walters and Clarkson really and if Singleton doesn't even make the 19 (even though I know it doesn't really mean much in terms of the match) it would be quite harsh on him and a bit of a slap in the face.



Like I said it doesn't mean too much (unless we a have an injury in the warm-up) but think Singleton and Achurch should round off the 19 man squad when announced (I presume Thursday)

With the exception of Kirke that is the strongest/safest 17 McDermott could pick. If they can't beat Cas. then you have to question how well they will go in the play offs. Losing this will be a crushing blow that will be very tough to stomach.

You've spelled "would" wrong...

No I haven't

It bloody well will be

For me the bench is too lightweight having Aiton and Sutcliffe on there, Sutcliffe came on against Wire in the pack and had very little go forward, I would have preferred Achurch or Singleton

Pessimist.







I'm not going, so we're definitely going to win.

The most experienced 17 he could pick I guess.



Like most I would have preferred almost anyone to Kirke but I didn't see Saturday's game so his 6 carries for an average of 4 metres per carry must have impressed McDermott more than Singleton's 16 carries for an average of 6 metres per carry. In fairness 6 carries is an increased workload for Kirke.

Kirke has had 1 good game this year just 1 his selection proves that the Coach clearly has "favourites" who can do no wrong I hope the other 16 manage to carry him yet again.

Whilst I too would have Singleton in over Kirke.....



.....if by how the responses have been so far to the named 17, where Kirke is the biggest/sole issue for most fans then we really aren't doing too bad.



A sub prop who'll come on and hardly do huge minutes and is usually defensively sound (note the word SOUND, not great, fantastic or amazing....sound) but won't carry the ball much. Given that people have complained we cart the ball down the middle too much and don't spread it wide to Watkins etc. then really is Kirke's inclusion really that big an issue?



And before people jump and say it's a defence of Kirke (like I said he wouldn't make my 17) is it really all that bad? Note that McDermott asks a different role of Kirke/Singleton. For all the 'favouritism' of Kirke he was a sub and Singleton was a starter (which he's had a few goes at this year). Singleton is seen IMO as an attacking prop, Kirke a defending prop.....comparing the two at times when it's obvious they have different roles expected of them even if both are classified as 'props' is flawed.

Kirke is seen as never having let the side down in the biggest games, and three coaches have picked him on the bench in those games for that reason.



His selection speaks a lot more to the lack of faith in potential replacements - and that in itself is an indictment of the quality of the other options.

I think they will win - law of averages alone suggests they can keep losing!!



This has been a great side that deserves to win at least one CC final - fingers crossed

Indeed! It does make you wonder why McDermott would state that 'bench places are up for grabs' giving hope to the likes of Singleton, Achurch, Ward etc when he had obviously already made up his mind.



The defence always seems to be that Kirke is "safe and dependable" and "does not make mistakes"....even if true that is an indictment in itself. Don't enthuse; don't engage; avoid the ball....and hey you will get a place at Wembley. But it's not true: Kirke has been far from 'safe and dependable' in his more recent matches if my memory serves me well. Warrington away immediately springs to mind....



Rhinoms is correct: McDermott has his favourites (Keinhorst at Wembley). He makes the selections....including when to make the subs ....and that is why the buck must always stop with the coach. He was responsible for the debacles of Wakefield, Bradford and London; he should take the criticism or plaudits here too.



Got to feel sorry for the likes of Singleton/Achurch/Ward etc though.

I believe Leeds will win too...the players are more focused than ever on winning this one: witness the recent contrast in league form as opposed to the Warrington cup game. We also have Hardaker at FB so no more Joel Tomkins type tries

People can slag Kirke off all they want but no one can deny Kirke doesn't make mistakes, especially in these massive games. That warrants selection. You need a very high completion rate with the basics done to a very high standard and that is what Kirke gives you. Yes Achurch can damage the line better, as can Singleton but I'd be much more comfortable with Kirke in there, especially when all the forwards were rested last week.

Kirke doesn't make mistakes in big games, only if you ignore Wembley 2010.