Paul Cooke: I'd have dropped my mate Kirk Yeaman from Hull FC line-up

MANY fans were shocked last week when the Hull FC team news came through and Kirk Yeaman was missing from the side. I heard it on the radio as I drove home, and whilst some wondered whether he was injured, I knew straight away he had been dropped.

Quite simply, Kirk has not been playing well, and for me, he could quite easily have been left out of the side a month, or maybe even two months earlier.

The top and bottom of it is his form has been poor this season.

As everyone knows, Kirk is my mate, and I'm certain we won't fall out over me telling everyone my thoughts publicly.

I'd tell him to his face quite openly that he's been average for a number of weeks, and I believe coach Peter Gentle will have considered dropping him for the Catalan game in France after his poor decision not to pass when through against Leeds the previous week.

As it was, Kirk was given one last chance, and after a poor display individually and collectively, Gentle decided the time had come to leave him out.

Many will wonder what his reaction will be.

Firstly, I can say embarrassment, as being dropped from your hometown club, and then having to tell your family you are not playing, is not easy.

I am sure Kirk has had a sulk too – he's good at that I can assure you, as he sulked almost every play during the games I was alongside him if the ball didn't go left!.

He'll have looked for excuses too, looked for external blame, then realised after a few days that he's been skating on thin ice regarding performances and deserved to be left out.

Now, with that initial pain over, I have no doubt Kirk will have decided to work even harder to firstly get back in the team and secondly never let the embarrassment of being dropped happen to him again.

Looking at his recent form, I can see a number of factors that have contributed.

Injuries haven't helped in recent seasons, as he's not getting any younger and the game takes its toll on the body.

Week to week, the older you get the harder the game becomes, the more difficult the training becomes, especially with minor injuries which most players carry.

However, for me the biggest reason for his dip in form has perhaps been his well-deserved testimonial year – an off-field distraction which he has never had before.

For the 10 years previous Kirk's trained hard, gone home, seen his family, put up his feet and waited to train again.

He has concentrated fully on rugby league, on preparation for games, and on nothing but performance.

For the past two years, he's been planning then running his testimonial. He has been running around organising, collecting, preparing for singing and dancing events and stressing over things. The balance in his life has been turned upside down.

No matter how you may think as an individual this doesn't affect you, I'm afraid it does. I know Kirk has been so grateful for the support of his committee and FC fans this year, but without hesitation the most relieved person that his testimonial year is now over will be Kirk himself.

He can now get back to some normality and life balance, and that will perhaps see the Kirk Yeaman of old return.