Given it looks like Watson Boas is having a full off season with us this year and will be fit for the start of the campaign (fingers crossed for the friendlies) I’m going to say we have an improved chance on last year. A settled squad at the start of the season with Watson in it I hope means we won’t misfire early and spend the rest of the season playing catch up.

We will have a fully fit internationally recognized half, who would I'm sure not be out of place in any Super League side returning from a serious injury, this will be like a new signing alone and with the addition of Elliott Hall a proven Championship full back they both have pace to burn, I guarantee they will be racking up the points.

I work with two diehard Batley fans, and they could not believe they had missed out on Hall's signature as he was very highly regarded at Mount Pleasant while on loan from Bradford, scoring some spectacular length of the field tries along the way.

I feel that after retaining most of last year's team they will know the structures the coach wants to play and with a few quality additions we will go one better than last year.

The club are making the right noises but as we all know talk is cheap and now, they have to deliver.

Bradley Knowles, Brad hey and a 35yr old forward who has not played in a long time due to injury concerns is hardly bums off seat stuff, i agree Elliott hall could be very good for us but joining the hype train is dangerous as a quite a few of us have been on it for a while! Unless we add 2 big quality signings i honestly don't see us stronger because Ruan will he a big miss. Also agree Boas is our standout player as for him being able to pick his super league team that's a bold statement

Knowles is highly regarded as a tough nonsense Championship forward, Hey and James both have plenty of Championship experience and while at the latter stages of their careers will no doubt add to the group if they stay fit.

Your comment about Ruan makes him sound like a world beater, he never impressed me, and I thought his work rate was poor as were his defensive qualities, ....................... yes, Leeds must have seen something in him to warrant a three-year deal but saying he will be a big miss is questionable.
There is always the possibility we have him back on loan as I can't see him breaking into the Rhinos side any time soon and a spell playing regular football in the Championship or league 1 could be route Leeds follow as they did with Liam Tindall.

I think they have seen potential in the lad and working in a full-time environment will only help see what he is capable of.

The very minute after the hooter at swinton we we're promised definitely no more play offs and that automatic was the only option, a simple yes or no answer does our signings up to now have us in the automatic places?

The very minute after the hooter at swinton we we're promised definitely no more play offs and that automatic was the only option, a simple yes or no answer does our signings up to now have us in the automatic places?

No - I don't see us having strengthened enough to win the league.

Elliot Hall is a solid signing that will improve us in the backs and give us a recognised quality full back something we've been missing for two years.

Knowles is well regarded and will no doubt do a job for us. I see him as a direct replacement for Ruan.

The other two do not inspire confidence Hey hardly played last year and bringing someone out of retirement is never ideal, we lost Storey and we haven't picked up a new centre I can only see the play will be to play Hall there or Misi - while I admire Misi for his dedication, he is in a place now where he should be a bit part player, not the major focus. We seem very light in the backs I think we only have 2 wingers and 2 centres on the books. We lack any form of a punch in the forwards I don't feel the two we've brought in are going to be anything more than "solid" and are not going to set the division alight with tackle-busting runs or great offloads.

Its been proved over 3 seasons now that Horne has no plan B if were not dominant in the forwards he is lost and has no other way of playing. I know I keep coming back to it but after we defeated the Cougars 2 years ago they took stock and went hard on recruitment we lost in two finals and rewarded failure, I personally think the side we had when we lost to Town in the final was better than the side that lost to Swinton, we have gone backwards not forwards.

Other teams seem to be recruiting better - you cannot be critical on Bookface you have to be a happy clapper.

Very good and well balanced assessment, it's like zombies on facebook if they get in your head or bite you then you become one of them! If your honest or question the top brass you are villified, we absolutely are not stronger currently than last year and i do believe the league will be harder this season. Once again we're looking at 3rd despite the promise of no more play offs

Don't forget you need to go every week and also have played previously to have a valid opinion

The seasons launch and the bluster spoken on the night are a smokescreen to another failed campaign, every fan in that room will have been conned into thinking 'we have got it right now and this is our year' these nights are designed to sell season tickets and nothing more! I've been to so many of these only to be left robbed at the end of the season, if people are happy with false promises good luck to them.

But Carl is a great guy (who totally didnt abandon the club when the club was in financial trouble) and Richard Horne is a tactical genius with a track record of winning finals and a solid tactical knowledge.

I am also from Mars!

My take on it all is this, the second half of last season we were the second best team in our league but the first half left us at the bad half of the play off system. Again. Starting the season with the same team that finished the last is better than we have been in the number of years (Out of all the players who have left only really Storey is a miss for me), but does highlight how we are reliant on a few key players, mainly Burns, Johnston and Tali. We paid a heavy price for losing the first 2 of those for most of the opening half of the campaign. We also have Boas from the start this year, Knowles is an excellent signing for me, on Thursday he looked fit, strong and mobile. The other 2 I didn't get a close look at but could go either way, so a risk.

I expected more turn around in the front row this close season, that for me has been the biggest disappointment. I also think we need a centre, I am imagining Misi might play there this year and allow Hall to play at 1, which for me would see both playing in positions which better suit their skill set. I know neither are spring chickens but defenders won't want Tali and Misi running at the them from the centres over 80 minutes. I was actually expecting another signing announced on Thursday, they have reported a squad of 24 but only announced 23.

This season comes down to the first 6 weeks for me, start like last year and we play catch up all year. Win them all and we need to do what Keighley did and double down

A fair assement Jemmo - I also think were lacking a centre still and some more midfield oomph but what do we know

Is Ben Howe still with the Dons or has he been released?

He hasn't been announced, however he was training with the squad before the launch event

I guess it would be reasonable to think that he is the other player in the squad of 24 then.

Feels like the most obvious conclusion

So that's it then, Ben Howe completes the squad. Hopes of a marquee signing gone. Carl Hall's prediction is a pipedream so it's play offs again. Just one major signing would have boosted season ticket sales but this backward thinking club hasn't got a clue

Told straight after the swinton game we ABSOLUTELY won't be going through the play offs for promotion next season, Once again been suckered into believing this! Hall and Knowles are ok signings but the lack of ambition shown and the fact we go into a tougher league next season with roughly same quality of squad as last year means the same fate will happen again. How are certain folk within the club untouchable and don't have any accountability put on them???

And now they sign a 37-year-old with a questionable disciplinary record.

You are not allowed an opinion on facebook before the happy clappers chime in and start with the personal attacks, I think I'll be binning off facebook come the new year, not just because of the Dons stuff, FB in general is just a cesspool of terrible things and irrelevant adverts.

Whilst i think ferres is a very good signing i fully agree about the FB sheep, the minute you question anything the do-gooders/ground troops/self righteous brigade team up to drown out your views. They will critise any other view that's not theirs but won't dare criticise the dons hierarchy that have year after year failed! It's a weird weird set up definitely akin to some kind of cult.

To be fair it’s about 2 or 3 people, it doesn’t help they’re not actually very good at constructive debate and just say “you can’t say that” though.

The irony is I’ve had this same debate the other way round. The dons fans, like all groups of people, are a bell curve. There will always be people at far ends but the majority are somewhere round the middle

Unfortunately, this platform is in terminal decline.
This is a platform where lengthy posts sat well and people felt that they could speak freely.
Disagreements and spats still occurred however and I contributed to a good few.
Facebook is not a platform where lengthy discussions tend to occur, certainly not reasoned ones.
It does stop me going on though even though I know I am disliked by certain folk.
Sod 'em I say, I will say what I like and Steve should do the same.

Belated Merry Christmas (been away) and a Happy grumpy, thoughtful, sad, miserable, negative, positive, social media free New Year to all our readers.

Thanks Wilf. I hope you've been somewhere nice!

Agree with S/O that this forum appears to be dying. There's only a few of us left who like an in-depth discussion and enjoy listening to all views - not just ones we 100% agree with.

For me, listening to other people is important especially as we all have a shared common goal of seeing the Dons be successful. The club needs to listen too.