The appointment of the little All Black halfback, playing captain of the 1987 World Cup-winning All Blacks, didn't go down well in some areas of Wellington, and it could be said that the co-operation he received wasn't as great as it should have been as a result.
Even so, people were disappointed with the 1994 result, and Kirk says he was foremost amongst those. The team had started well enough in 1993, but slumped the following year mainly because some key players had left and the Kirk-led selection panel had problems in replacing them adequately.
Certainly the 1993 effort in finishing fifth - and in beating two of the top four teams and drawing with another - was the better of the two. In 1994, the only wins came over Waikato, Canterbury, King Country and the relegated Taranaki, and sixth was the final placing.
Kirk stood again for the 1995 job, was interviewed, but lost the spot to Petone's Frank Walker.
In making the initial appointment, union chairman David Gray says Kirk was sought because the struggling union felt it "had to try things that would make a difference."
The books were running dry, the team was struggling, and one of the major problems in recruiting was that Wellington was not perceived by players as a "place to go to."
So Kirk, at that time in Wellington as an advisor to Prime Minister Jim Bolger, was approached - clearly as one way of putting an appealing "big name" in front of potential sponsors and outside players.
He won the appointment. Kirk, now chief executive for a large printing and media services company in Australia, says he hadn't planned a coaching career, but felt he did have a contribution to make in that area - although he had no ambitions to coach beyond the status of Wellington.
"I still keep an interest in rugby, but you can't do everything in life, and my priorities are my family and work," Kirk said.
Whatever his level of interest now, he still feels some frustration about the fifth placing in 1993, but blames himself for the first NPC game loss to King Country, one that cost Wellington a semi-final spot.
"In retrospect there were some dubious selections for that match and I'm to blame because I was still feeling my way."
The team rebounded, beating Waikato in Hamilton in a superb performance, and third-placed North Harbour 39-6. But the brilliant Jeff Wilson scored a last-minute try and kicked the conversion from the sideline into a stiff Athletic Park wind to deny Wellington a win against Otago - and that was that.
Kirk says the loss of lock Tiwini Hemi, hooker Tala Leiasamaivao (injury), and Huia Gordon in the forwards and the consistent injuries to Marty Berry, Alama Ieremia and Steve Cottrell in the midfield upset the 1994 rhythm a lot.
"We scored a lot of points, but we gave away a lot because the defence wasn't great. In many ways, though, because of the injuries and loss of players it was a year of trying to cobble together things."
So the experiment with an "outsider" didn't really work. But it has to be said from watching everything that went on that Kirk was not afforded the kind of support from clubs that he needed, and that there was almost a feeling of "hoping he would fail" from some.
Kirk says Wellington wasn't well-organised at the time, "although some officials were trying hard to build unity and professionalism. And certainly the clubs were not unified behind the aim of union success. All-in-all, Wellington was probably 10 years behind some other unions at the time."
Gray agrees there was a lack of club support.
"His biggest problem was the interference being run by the club coaches at the time. I remember going into the team room after the midweek match with the Springboks in 1994, saying to a couple of players they should come and have a beer to celebrate a top effort.
"But they told me they couldn't afford to relax because they had been told they wouldn't be chosen for club play on the Saturday if they didn't go straight to training. The coaches were making their point."
Kirk doesn't recall that one, but he says "there was a lot of passive resistance to my appointment and a lack of positive support. For example, the union didn't have a training ground with lights and we had a lot of trouble finding one that was available."
He talks about "self-serving positions taken by club officials and coaches", but admits they did have a point about his "lack of expertise and knowledge."
In many ways, though, David Kirk was ahead of his time for the Wellington of 1993-94, and his ideas and needs were maybe a little difficult for some to handle.
He had come from New Zealand's most professional union, Auckland. He was seen by many as taking a position which should have gone to a Wellingtonian. So it was an uneasy mix.
But he started several key players on their way, Tana Umaga amongst them, and he laid down the idea of a player academy for a union which was probably not ready for such a thought. His attempts to gain schooling for his players were the forerunner of the present day Academy now being run so successfully.
The Wellington Union has now grasped professionalism fully, and in some ways David Kirk did his bit to start that.