www.thestar.co.uk/sport/rugby-le ... _1_3242287

www.thestar.co.uk/sport/rugby-le ... _1_3242287

Early Handicap Betting ... Dons -10pts 10/11 ... Bet365 & Skybet.

Match Betting ... Dons 2/7 Skybet, 1/4 Bet365.

Would need some positive team news to consider giving 10 points up on the handicap personally. We're probably just about ok in the forwards (assuming the registraion for Tony Miller and Neil Barron has gone through



) but appear to be struggling for backs if all the 'doubts' don't make it.

Hills also -10pts 10/11 ... 1/4 for the home win.

Good interview with Tony, including team news and confirmation on Aaron Dobek www.doncasterrugbyleague.co.uk/a ... hp?id=4362

Good interview with Tony, including team news and confirmation on Aaron Dobek www.doncasterrugbyleague.co.uk/a ... hp?id=4362

The Rochdale Observer reports that (free scoring centre) Wayne McHugh and (former Don) Dean Gorton are major doubts for Hornets.

them players missing wont make any difference i predict to dons sitting on top of the league 2nite,come on you dons, i have not looked 4ward 2 watching the dons so much since corrie laurie was here

Well let's hope that's right and McHugh doesn't play ... he's good.

Yes, I'd view it as a bonus.

Be aware that Swinton have Gateshead at home ... so it's very unlikely.

FT Dons 8 Rochdale 24.

What a bizarre afternoon ... bright sunshine followed by torrential rain followed by bright sunshine ... and that's before I even mention the game.

I came away with many thoughts ... lets get the referee out of the way first ... awful in the extreme but sadly the Red Card to Jamie Bovill for leading with the elbow, never in doubt.

The result ... disappointing after last weeks heroic effort against Workington but frankly Rochdale looked the better side for long periods and I for one can't really have any complaints.

The performance ... just seemed flat compared to last week. Many of the good things from 7 days ago were either missing or weren't fully replicated. The enthusiasm didn't seem up to the same standard nor did the energy levels (linespeed in defence nowhere near last weeks level). We lacked the same level of creativity and that was reflected in the fact that having scored one try early and missed a good chance just after Rochdale had done the same minutes earlier we rarely looked like adding further scores ... indeed the only other points came from a Rochdale mistake.

One final thought which troubled me from early in the match. The club had a good idea where the oppositions tries might well come from i.e. the McHugh / Saywell combination (ultimately responsible for 3 out of todays 4 Rochdale tries) and yet all our SL-trained players Coady, Morrison and Green were defending the other flank ... but then I'm not a qualified coach to be fair.

Well what can i say, the Ref... well thats another shocking story, the linesmen again another very poor performance.

I felt our performance seemed to lack leadership or direction today, compared to last week.

Rochdale seemed to be more up for the battle today, and won the game with some easy yards. Again our discipline in certain areas let Rochdale gain easy field position.
The one right decision the ref made was the red card to Jamie it was totally clear to most people in the ground that he led with his forearm ( 2-3 match ban i think).

Lets hope this was a blip and we can hopefully get some players back from holiday and injuries, and kick on in the next game which will not be an easy one.

Dont think Stankibitch would be complaining about the ref today, but must admit his comments about the clown in the middle from a previous game were right.

Attendance 589

Very dissapointed about the way we lost todays game, after bossing the game in every position last week this week we looked amatuer all over the paddock.
Whats the point of taking Coady from Leeds if the only ball he gets is when he goes in at acting half himself.
Bovill has no complaints about getting a straight red, it was shocking, stupid and totally un-called for he should get five matches and for me should also get his D.C.M. (don't come monday)
Think having a free week next is a god send as there looked to be alot of tired bodies out there even in the first half.

The better team won today. They were better organised than us and i think they wanted it more.

Yes the ref was crap but we cant look at him for excuses for today.In the second half it looked like there was no one in charge on the field for us as we seemed to go to pot.

Thought there No.1 (apart from his error late on) was class today and we couldnt get hold of him most of the time.

Hope today is a good wake up call as we will be up against it next time out up at Haven.

I think weve had a great start to season probably better than anyone imagined so although unhappy bout losing its always going to happen what will be intresting is to see how we bounce back!

Think it's clear who most of the influential players are at dons and they weren't on the pitch today. Shocking ref but I wouldn't say that's an excuse. Hope for improvement at Whitehaven once the full team is back.

For me I think that the club will not miss Bovill during his long ban. So much so that I think we shoudl let him go.

He adds nothing to the side. He dies as soon as he gets the ball, and just gives away penalties. He is one of the worst offenders in the side.

I really do wonder about whether a team can ever deserve a victory without the other team being rubbish and the ref being ****. Most have said the Red Card was deserved and to be honest I didn't see what happened, although refs these days rarely use that saction unless it is deserved. After that's put to bed all I can say is that our team, having had the mother and father of pastings from Stanky this week responded as he was hoping!

No, Doncaster probably didn't uproot any trees today but there were numerous occasions when you had possession on our line and only determined defence held you out. I have no problems with the ref disallowing our 'scores' they were clearly knock-ons and our forward passes were forward. If we dropped the ball or missed a tackle that was also us, not the ref.

John Stankevitch is an excellent coach and if we had the money to give him that other clubs in this division seem to be chucking about we might not be coming from behind, believe me that's comforting.

From what I've seen today Doncaster will be up there or thereabouts at the business end of the season and good luck to you except when you meet us, of course. It looks like Swinton had their hands full with Gateshead this afternoon.

See you at Spotland on Cake Day???

Pugwash.

Poor performance today from a dons side with little direction not much clue in attack and a very poor defence.No leader on the field and I think Kyles absence was one reason.He always lifts the side and leads from the front and thankfully he was only given the one match and will be back next time.
Have to feel sorry for Carl Hall who is trying his best to keep things going but was obviously as dissapointed as the rest of us and as in the past whenever the club appears to be on the up and a few of the missing supporters return the side don't turn up.Rochdale played well but no better than Workington last week.We could have pushed for a bonus point and yet with about 5 mins remaining we were given a penalty and instead of kicking to the corner and attacking from 10 metres out we took the tap and it came to nothing.Some hard work to do or we are in for a pasting on the long trip to Whitehaven.

Well we all seem to be tippy-toeing around with our assessments.
Let's not hurt anyone's feelings.

On a day when Warrington lost to Catalans, of course we should bear in mind that rugby is a funny old game and that a team can bounce back from set-backs like today.

However, let's be realistic here, not looking through rose-tinted glasses in the sort of way that is easy for true fans to look at their side.

I don't want to pick up a paper or read the RL Express and read about a catalogue of injuries being the reason that we lost today.
But I am pretty sure that is what will happen.

We started brightly, as far as I am concerned we had the chances to have Rochdale thinking that they were going to get stuffed, but could we hold the ball? Could we hell. It's like the players had never seen one before.

Rochdale quickly realised we were CLUELESS and INCOMPETENT and LEADERLESS and NOT UP FOR THE FIGHT.
The rest is history. We scored one good try in that entire game AT HOME after putting 40 points past Rochdale only a few weeks earlier on their own patch.

There's a grate near the bus stop where I catch the bus back into Doncaster and I felt like slipping my season ticket between the grids and calling it a day. But I didn't. But what I saw today was SHOCKING, and from being top of the league and winning three on the trot, I can pretty much guarantee we will lose three on the trot and be where we actually should be and that is middle of the table. Now I'm a die-hard supporter, but for anyone coming back all excited to watch a top-of-the-table side and having to suffer THAT, they are going to walk away aren't they?

Every single facet of our decision-making today was POOR.
It hurts me to say it, about someone who ratted on us, but well done Stanky and his team, they must have travelled back over the Pennines in party mood, thinking...'How easy was that?'
'We thought we would lose, but Donny were rubbish.'


If I have hurt anyone's feelings, tough luck ... Donny were rubbish today and they have got NO excuses. Now I wouldn't have put that if we hadn't been equal top of the league against a side we SHOULD have blown away.. So much for fortress Keepmoat. That little dream fell at the third hurdle.


PS Well done Green for his two tries.

PPS I also noted as scorer did about the penalty near the end. That just typified the addled thinking of our team. And also it's probably unfair on Green, but he could have gone under the sticks nearly. We had lost the game, our only objective was to get a bonus point. But we never threatened their line.
And more to the point, we let our heads drop way before then.
It wasn't nice to watch.

PPPS I was very vocal in my support against Workington, and I thought that I had better settle down for today's game.
I never realised how easy it was going to be.....

we have played three of the weakest sides to date, ithink that we may have set our expectations too high,agree that coady did not see any of the ball and he looks a big strong and fast player,the rest poor today,no leaders,and no folowers for that matter.

I think on any other occasion i would have wanted to rant on about the totally incompetant officials at todays game, however I think the performance from the DONS comparred to the previous week WAS VERY DISAPPOINTING.

I know we had players out and some away on social event, but that doesn't take away from the fact that the basics of rugby - tackling, passing and being quick at the play of the ball were all missing.

Our right hand side was again very week and when Leafy went off was like a collinder. Rochdale deserved the win; they out thought, out muscled and out played us right across the park.

I have distilled my views of the game down to one sentence at the moment until I have more time:

Rochdale were better than us

proberbly what needed was a reality check and we got it.we are good and lets not get to down about it we have got a decent squad and not set our sights to high.as much as i would like too.something to work on.

You sir are spot on!
Disappointing day allround.Week off, let's move on.