Before his injury, I must have been watching some other Donaldson, then.

Donno is crap
Too far up his own
Macca rated him- no one else does
Him being in the England knights squad is laughable! When potter puts a prop -koppy in instead of donno that sums up how little he contributes to bulls.

this is the sort of non-rugby related, malicious asswipe comment that makes me puke. I don't know Donaldson personally but when I've met him he seems like a very grounded young chap, and this seems to be backed up by the Bullbuilder interview [urlhttp://www.bullbuilder.co.uk/news.php?arc=2[/url which didn't seem to find him "up his own booty" at all. Not that if he was, it would have any bearing on his ability to play rugby.


Ah yes, forgot that. Yet more of the country's most experienced and knowledgeable selectors dropping a bollock, by failing to have the true and real in-depth knowledge of players that your sort do. Shame that. Funny how, in Donaldson's case, there are so many of them.




Still, having suffered ruptured knee ligaments in the Bulls cause, and battled his way over a year to something like fitness again, all at the tender age of 18, I should think if he reads your comments he'll be glad he did. 'Supporters' like you are the feelgood factor that make it all worthwhile.

Potter putting in Koppy instead of Donaldson says more about Potter than Donno imo.

You're entitled to your opinion on his playing abilities (which I strongly disagree with) but this comment is complete garbage.

His feet are firmly on the ground. I've met his Mum and sister (now an England International back rower) and they were lovely too. He's been brought up very well.

As for "contributing little to the bulls" - you are aware that he made his first team debut during an injury crisis. At the same time his brother was involved in an accident on the family's farm that saw him wheelchair bound for the rest of his life. Despite the club telling him to go home you are aware he decided (as a 17/18 year old kid and with his parents blessing) to stay and continue playing for the club?

I think following his injury a bit of loyalty is owed to him.

All true, but I have the feeling that you're wasting your breath on this nasty piece of work.

Have you met the lad? Spoken with him? Spent several hours in his company?

I have. As have a number who post on here.

And for that reason, I can say with absolute confidence that you are talking total utter and complete bollox.

You'd struggle to meet a nicer, more decent lad IMO. And you can add the likes of Olbi and Koppy in there too.

Now, given we have demonstrated THAT part of what you posted is garbage, I suggest it is probable that so is the rest?

Unfortunately for your mother you maybe slightly dimwitted. He may not have torn things up since his return from injury but he has the makings of a very good player and played his heart out in a poorly coached and injury hit team last year before his injury.

I have met him on a couple of occasions and he is a smashing lad, not in the least how you describe him. Therefore, I conclude you know very little about what your talking about and should try living up to your own sense of self importance by actually going out and doing something useful rather than annoying people on here.

I'm just amazed by how many people on here seem to have met James Donaldson



I can honestly say that I feel somewhat left out ** pouts **

I said I've met his mum and his sister.

They were at the England vs New Zealand Four nations match at the Galpharm in 2009. They'd been helping him move into his flat. It was in the drinks queue Direct Golf UK stand Upper tier.

Can't resist biting and again I'm annoyed at myself for it. Donaldson and family are the nicest people you could meet. I've mentioned him before, but my younger Brother has Downs Syndrome and James chats to him all the time on facebook, supports him in all the sport he plays, wished him well going into independent living, and always comes over to say hi whenever he sees us at Odsal. This includes times in the players lounge last season where he ran his blood to water in games we lost by 40+. I had to stop him going on the pitch to sort Ferriol out on Saturday!

In his first season, he was working in the club shop and Andrea jokingly shouted at him. I said "remember this when you get picked for England". As has been said he had the heartbreak of what happened to his Brother, and at the age of 18 managed to not let it affect his Rugby.

When he got his severe injury my Brother dedicated the hatrick he got at football that week, both him and his Mam told me how touched they were by the gesture.

If you think Donaldson is up himself I'd hate to meet your idea of a good bloke.

How old are you, 12? Grow up, ffs. Are you now trying to bluster to somehow deflect from the drivel you posted about Donaldson? If so - trust me, it isn't working. You need to drum it into your thick head that you posted malicious nonsense about Donaldson, and you've been found out. Simple as that. Deal with it, and stop making up imaginary friends.

Easy peasy.

Just had to come to Bullbuilder events.

Think Bullsfab's been well and truly owned on this one.

I don't think they've actually discovered a definition of owned that would be suitable to fully describe just how owned he has been

donaldson- total wally for sulking when he is brought off the pitch due to his inability to make an impact.
plus what has his mother got to do with him being a nice bloke or a decent player?
england squad- now that is a joke.
he was good at kiddies level but not SL im afraid. he has had his chances when sibbit, langley and olby were injured and has not shown his worth. get rid once his contract expires next year as he is way down in the pecking order. Sibbit and old horse compared to donno is miles ahead of him this year

it is amazing that people suggest who we get rid of and dont expect to be pushed on replacements. if you dont have any realistic replacements in mind then are you expecting us to simple use others in our current squad?

Absolutely.

Any fool - or shìt-strirrer - can do that. And we see too many of those.

Could have sworn the only time I saw Donaldson on the pitch he was wearing a blue T-shirt and carrying a kicking tee but I stand corrected.

Come on Adey, it's now surely apparent to us all that Donaldson and Donaldson alone is the reason we're having such a bad year. Over the hill and a terrible influence on the team, and this is coming from people who know him way better than we do.

doh im talking about catalans game
and yesterday he was playing his most valuble role as water boy!!!!

i wholeheartedly agree with bulls fab- get donno out!

ok, what criteria are we judging donaldson on here?? yards per carry? tackles? line breaks? and after we bin him off, which players shall we look at to come in on similar salary levels??

there seems to be not comparing of abilities going on here, or acceptance of age or his recovery from injury. are we getting value for money, im guessing so but could be wrong. obviously we d all prefer hoffman or o donnell, but im guessing they earn a little more and arent queing up to play at the bulls

Having looked at Donaldson's stats nothing really stands out, which you'd expect.

He doesn't contribute anything outstandingly good in terms of attack or defence. If anything his stats are on a par with those of someone like Ian Kirke and thats the same in 2010 as well as 2011. Kirke averages more metres per carry and even takes the ball up more but averages fewer tackles. I would say thats Donno's stats of an average of 5.3m per carry and 6 carries per game show a lacking of anything in attack even for someone feeling their way back. The stats weren't much better in 2010 where he averages 6.4m per carry, 7 carries per game and the same number of tackles.

Comparing him with other players of a similar age he's some way behind the likes of Liam Farrell and Liam Watts.

I'm not sure what he's sent out there to do. Is it to make heaps of tackles? It can't be to get us over the gain line and it certainly isn't to break tackles or to create tries.

Think we need to remember he's still a young kid and is coming back from a bad injury. His stats aren't anything to write home about but frankly neither are anyone's in the team and some players have far worse figures such as Whitehead and Ah Van.