Richard Wilkinson is confirmed as being out for at least six weeks following his knee surgery.

Half-back options for the start of the new season appear to include bringing someone in from Hull to cover:

[urlhttp://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/other-sports/rugby-league/doncaster-rlfc-richard-wilkinson-ruled-out-for-at-least-six-weeks-1-7084381[/url

Not good news, need to make sure when he is back, he back fully sorted! Can't afford him out again later in the season.

We have three options:
1) Get in a DR player in (whomever that may be)
2) Stick with one of the new players and hope they step up
3) Play Kes there

I don't like options 2 or 3 ....
Personally, I think we ought to push the boat out and buy one, we are seriously challenged in that position anyway!
If there is anyone left out there, a Superleague cast-off maybe.
Filling in and making do is going to cripple us (no pun intended).

We might as well not have Carr and Niklas for all the good they are.

And another thing while I'm moaning ... I ain't gonna believe any YouTube footage of players looking 'good' anymore ...if you see what I mean?

If option 1 is Jordan Abdull, then yes please.

He looks half decent, I'd settle for him ... He is chunky and robust enough for what we need.
Kitrick is not at the level required yet!

I've never trusted someones highlights reel. It's like when you watch a video of tries from a game and complain about how bad your defense was when, by definition, it is only showing the times your defense made mistake

I think we need help from Hull on this one.

I doubt there are any quality half-backs available for signing at this stage in proceedings.

That's the problem at this stage of the season, you could have all the money in the world but you're only picking from whats left

Well it is academic anyway ... we are not going to spend any more money by the look of it.
We might have had Andy Kain but he was too expensive ... and there WILL be class out there willing to change clubs at a price.
Contracts can be reassessed.

That in no way proves that what is left is not better than what we have.

Didn't say it did, nor does it prove the opposite, it was just a statement of fact

There is always some nuggets to find; such as Pas and Snitch (the UK's leading skiffle band). It's finding the right player in the right position at the right price and fits within our set up which is the key.

With respect, that was the implication and you know it.
Unless you've decided to start saying the bleeding obvious ... which is not you normally.

I doubt it was the implication, I know what he means though, and as he said afterwards, the quality is there, its just sometimes we need to look longer than some want..


[size=1I know I may get branded a club 'apologist' again, but, meh...[/size

The implication was that the pool to fish in is very small at this stage, there may still be some big fish left but they're harder to find and we need to have enough bait.

I do not know why I am talking in fishing analogies

Coming at it from that 'angle' was better ...
Perhaps we should cast our net wider ... to foreign ponds.
Nah!
We're skint, let's face it!

That's at the heart of this 'youngster' approach in my humble opinion, we can't afford owt better.
We should run a second team if that's what we hope to achieve ...
but we can't afford that either!

The DR with Hull should help meet our needs in situations like this.

PC should be having talks with Hull with regards to getting Jordon Abdull over for a couple of months whilst Richard Wilkinson regains his fitness.

I very much doubt we're going to sign anyone else on a permanent basis at this stage.

Tyson-Wilson is the other option.... the scrum half variety

Are you sure we're skint, and we can't afford a second team? We can't just decide to run a second team overnight, we're setting the stall out to have an 'academy/U19' team in the next 6 months, and from there we should be able to better utilise our extra players.

I'm aware of the other team plans ... not soon enough for me and we should have had a first team of more experienced players NOW.
They look like cast-offs some of them, which is what some of them are in reality.
The youngsters could then be brought on and introduced sensibly and more slowly.
If we'd have had the money we'd have done THAT ... or at least I would.
AND if we have some spare cash then this is the exact time to use some of it and that's not happening.
If we get Abdull and he is not just trotting about having a run out, I'll be assuaged for the present.

I'd sooner have a properly constituted side like Dewsbury's.
And no I am not going to bugger off and watch them or anyone else.
COYD

Regarding being skint, we were told that the money from the Eagles ground share "project" would be given to PC to spend on the squad. I don't think we've had a penny of that deal and its all gone to keeping the Rovers afloat and their loan signings.

I don't think we have had that marquee signing we all hoped for and while we have signed some good prospects that's what they are prospects.

Other clubs even ones from below us have recruited well and invested in a mix of youth and experience we just seem to have aimed for a pure youth policy and I worry it could backfire on us and leave us in a difficult league position.

Have you watched us yet Steve?
I haven't seen a player apart from some of the guys we already had that has got me out of my seat yet ...actually I lied, I did when Doherty scored.

I haven't ventured down yet and I am unlikely to due to my intense dislike of the ground share agreement, I will follow on here and via other media, but I am not funding our local rivals.

While this of course will mean less income for the Dons ultimately, until I can see some way that this arrangement supports my team and increases awareness of the club in Doncaster my opinion is unlikely to change.

But like you said,they are funding US, so I shouldn't worry about that.
It's what WE do that matters and we need fans.

Are they funding US or are they funding The Rovers.....the signings we have made don't indicate we have extra income from the ground share agreement. I wonder how many of the Rovers January dealings (loan and signings) were paid for by this fund?

I dare say that even the most average of League 1 players costs more than a decent Championship 1 RL player. Its something we are likely to never know but they have had a bit of a flurry of both loan and permanent signings while we seem to be struggling to sign anyone of note.