The matter was discussed at the meeting on Monday night.

Carl said that the clock on the small scoreboard in the east stand is normally stopped when there are hold ups in play but that scoreboard wasn't working on Sunday.

All the players are aware that the Big Screen time clock isn't likely to be accurate so that won't be influencing their on-field decisions. Richard Horne normally sits next to the official timekeeper so accurate messages about the time remaining are passed onto the players.

Whilst the east stand clock isn't the 'official clock', it's the one that gives us the best guide as to how long is left. It should be working at future home games.

It isn't actually possible to link directly to the 'official clock' though. This would seem to be the best solution. The club are required by the RFL to make an announcement to ensure no one is misled into believing the stadium clocks are 'official', which I believe we do.

Personally, I'd like to see the RFL have an initiative to sort this whereby all grounds outside Super League are linked to the 'official clock'.

Jane Keighley will be writing the full minutes of the meeting shortly. Either Baz, Wanderer, or myself will post the minutes when we receive them.

Thanks DM for raising the issue. It is frustrating that there are only a few people in attendance at a RL game that know accurately how long has been played and how long is remaining given the man in the middles decision(s).

Well they get it right to the second on the TV.
What's wrong with a stop/start clock that the timekeeper has control over and we can all see?
Is it all done on a stopwatch?
Because just starting a digital clock off at the start of each half and leaving it to run irrespective of stoppages is pants in this day and age.

Anyway ... they announce the score ... ie communication exists ... so at the end of 80 minutes on the clock/s why can't they announce the stoppage time thus far?
Is that so hard?

There's obviously some technology used in Super League games to link the 'official clock' to the scoreboards. The RFL haven't had the foresight to use the same technology at our level. That would solve the problem once and for all.

Super League have GPS monitoring of players. I suspect there's a computer program linked to this monitoring that also includes keeps track of the time. When the cup semi-finals have been played at the Keepmoat the main scoreboard has shown the correct time remaining then. Maybe the timekeepers at our level do still have stopwatches?



Providing the east stand clock is working, and stopped when there are injuries, we should be able to get the time right to within a few seconds normally. It's just frustrating when the game seems to go on forever after the 80 minutes appear to be up, as was the case last weekend.

Indeed ... when your side is under the pump and leaking tries and holding on ... time left is vital info.
I was going incandescent ....

That sort or this sort

You can bet Sky foot the bill for that accuracy. The RFL may stump up an egg timer for League 1

I couldn't stop laughing at the egg timer thought!

Yes the timekeepers have their own stopwatches for official timing of the game. That is the ones who have them, many teams turn up without one these days, we have even been to away games where the home team didn't have one. Don;t know what they do when the away team don't bring theirs. Luckily ours is a trooper and a stalwart

Personally I would turn the clocks off in the stadium with 5 minutes to go if they can't be accurate. I believe the score board operating system isn't as close to a place you can view the pitch as you'd imagine

This is true.

Also, to operate both the screen clock, and the scoreboard clock, to any degree of accuracy, would require two operators.

The latter.

We only need ONE clock though.

How is that a help to inform the crowd how much extra will be played?
Stopping and starting the CLOCK rather than a stopwatch might help!
People always have an objection to any initiative ... it's a wonder we even evolved from apes ... well I know I didn't!
Get the clock wired up to someone that can see the pitch/ref then I would say.
It's your brother isn't it?

What do the Rovers do?
Why don't we have a man with a board showing the extra time like in footy?

Bring back Tommy Fletcher

It's my dad.

Yes if they can get the stadium clock to be the timekeepers stop watch that seems the most obvious solution, presume would need some re-wiring. If that costs more than £1.50 it won't happen. My suggestion was more what to do in the mean time to avoid confusion

The Rovers set the clock going and it doesn't stop regardless of how long the game goes on. They announce injury time but that's a rule of football that they must. RL doesn't have that rule, in fact most grounds don't have any clock of any note.

Fans Panel Meeting
Monday 30th July 2018


Attendees: Phil Buxton, Carol Green, Mike Lindley, Carol Lindley, Gary Fox, Stewart Thompson, Phil Scorah, Barry Brown, Scott Goddard, Carl Hall, Gavin Baldwin, Shaun Lockwood, Ray Green, Jackie Green, Mark Hughesman, Jane Keightley

Apologies: Tracy Armstrong, David Stewart, Chris Scorah, Stewart Piper


Welcome

• CH approved the Minutes of the last meeting.

Match Day programme

• SL passed around a programme from Featherstone for people to look at - SL feels that the programme should be refreshed for next season to alter the format and make it more appealing to the younger audience. The fold out version would have key messages from the CEO and Head Coach, a Match Day guide and a giveaway voucher. All the information is on the website so it’s about finding fresh content that is worth while.
• SL advised that the current programme takes 2 days to prepare and for the amount we sell it isn’t cost effective so a fold out version with similar information would save time and be cheaper for supporters to buy. Most people at the meeting agreed that it was the way to go and CG said she didn’t particularly like the format but saw the need for change and would support the majority.
• ML suggested combining the revised programme with a half time draw ticket but this would cause a problem legally selling to under 18’s. Team sheets were discussed as supporters like to know in advance who is playing but PS is happy with their names being on the banner from 2pm on Match Day. The current programme goes to print on a Wednesday afternoon but MH will check the print run to see if the new version could contain both 19 men squads if it went to print on a Friday.

Newcastle Thunder game

• MH advised that we plan to have a Summer BBQ at the Newcastle Thunder game on 2nd September and is working with plate to have food, beer, a DJ and deck chairs outside the East Stand.
• There would be a build up in advance to promote it on social media and the website and BB offered to put the details on the forum.
• It was suggested that the BBQ starts at 1.30pm and MH will look at doing something after the game to improve the Match Day experience. CH requested support from the fans to get a good vibe.



eComms

• SL confirmed that ‘In the Dugout’ is fresher and the changes have been positively received. He would like to do 60 second highlight clips which would appeal to the younger audience. It needs to be time effective though so a member of staff isn’t taking much of a day cutting and editing so just the tries would be featured which are relatively quick to produce.
• More regular e-mails will be going out with news about The Dons – a designer is currently working on the format and the frequency of news hits will increase in the near future.
• SL is going to do a similar promotion with season tickets next season and will put something together that will increase revenue and add value to the supporters; SG suggested that a survey went to fans to see what they would like.

Whitehaven and Challenge Cup bus numbers

• We have had no enquiries about supporters wanting to travel to Whitehaven by coach. MH will promote the transport on social media and the website and all interest should be registered with JK. CH asked that fans help to get the bus full as the players need the support. The Whitehaven bus will be subsidised by the club and the cost will go out with the promotion that marketing have planned.

• There has been little interest so far for the Wembley trip but that will alter if Leeds get through.

Bus to Featherstone

• CH expressed his disappointment that more people didn’t take up the offer of a free bus to Featherstone after the Club had been asked to arrange transport as it was a home game at a different club. Only 6 supporters went by coach and the other 8 people were volunteers. We won’t be able to put free buses on in future if the uptake is so poor.

Questions from Barry Brown – SLO

• A supporter asked about if we have to have the clock as it is not accurate and CH said it has been that way for the last 12 years. The clock on the smaller scoreboard is stopped for injury time and both are just a guide for fans as the timekeeper monitors the actual game time and twitter is always accurate.
• BB asked about the status of Jack Miller and CH confirmed that he is still contracted to the Club. BB mentioned that Matty coming in has lifted Match Day experience.

CH read the questions from CS

• Bulls have had contract with Proper Sports to stream games but noticed this week York are now seemingly involved in this - is this an option for us?
SL confirmed that Bradford Bulls had video and audio streaming and York just had audio streaming and said that we would consider streaming in the future although it has its problems including affecting crowd numbers. We have a quote which SL will discuss with CH and then a decision will be taken on how we would charge supporters. It is very time consuming so we need to analyse how much benefit we would get from it and find a way that it would work.
• Facebook Official Page, this seems to be generating little interest at source. The number of likes on average is probably below the double figure mark. Comments are even less with most posts generating no discussion. When shared on the fans page they get more interest but nowhere near what I assume the Club should / would like. Never seen the Club respond to any comments it all seems a tad clinical. Hunslet Page is a bit less sleek but is a lot more encompassing to fans. The Hull page managed both styles pretty well.
SL and MH will look at the Facebook page but it is for the fans to get involved more.
• Mascot - any nearer a lion or are we stuck with a rescue version of Donny Dog; assume the Vila incident was the reason?
CH authorised Donny Dog to be used as Oldham were bringing their mascot and it was Junior Takeover Day.
• On the pitch side of things can we now look to keep squad as settled as possible. We now have 2 great half backs that need to bed in together. I know changes necessary and when we get the likes of Miloudi you're not going to turn it down but in the main the game management looked lost in final quarter as seemed to be too many chiefs.
CH responded by saying that it has always been our intention to have a settled squad and we are in a strong position as we have few injuries so Richard has a choice of players.
• CS mentioned that he loved the Takeover Day stuff and the back the bid focus everywhere.
Any Other Business

• GF asked about the Club’s position about where we are now, what will be success for this season and how will we manage supporter expectations as at the pre season Launch it was suggested that we had the team to get promoted.
CH responded by saying that it has always been our aim and intention to be
promoted and although we are still in with a chance and feeling positive it is live
sport and we can’t influence what happens on the pitch. CH acknowledged that we
did dip mid season for various reasons and perhaps didn’t communicate the
reasons quite as well as we could have done but we have won the last three games
and still have a chance to be in the play offs.
SL advised that communicating with fans is a challenge as if we give too much information it raises expectations but if we don’t give enough supporters are negative so it’s all about getting the balance right. SL confirmed that we would communicate as often as possible and try to be honest as if there is a vacuum it will be filled with noise from others.
• GB responded to GF’s questions by saying that our objective is still to get promotion but if we don’t this season we will analyse the reasons we didn’t achieve our goal and put the necessary resources in place to ensure next season we have a better chance. GB confirmed that he had confidence in CH and Richard Horne so if the reason is stadium, players or training we will make the required changes. CH advised that there is still money in the budget for players but Richard only wants the right players like Matty who will make a positive difference to the team.
• ML asked how many players are qualified and CH confirmed that there are 7 and that players who have been released from other Clubs are keen to come to The Dons because of the way that we treat them.
• CH was asked about the structure of the league and he confirmed that currently we genuinely don’t know what will happen but hopefully it will stay the same for next season at least.
• CG mentioned Kyle Kesik’s testimonial and CH said that although it will be supported by the Club the directors can’t get involved for various reasons. He has been awarded a 12 month testimonial which will start from January 2019 he will put his committee together and I’m sure they will include things like, a race night, a golf day, a dinner and a friendly game plus many other events for Kyle.
• ST asked if there was an update about ladies rugby and CH confirmed that it is something we are looking into but to what level we don’t know yet, and that we could have a ladies game prior to a match at a home game next season. CH also advised that he has had a detailed discussion for another team for the Dons with local community coaches to bridge the gap between the Foundation and first team. We haven’t put a time scale on when this will happen but so far the talks have been very positive. Again we need to know what the RFL structure and future plans are first.
• PS asked if crowds are what we expected and SL responded by saying that we are happy with the increase in ticket sales but we would like more people especially children as they are the future but it takes 11 years to convert them to adult fans.
• ML asked about whether ‘Dons For Life’ is still active and CH confirmed that it was but it was agreed that we should give a clear reason for the funds. Previously the money was allocated to building the squad but going forward it could be used for the reserve or ladies team.
• PS asked if the car park numbers had increased as a result of the lower season ticket price as he now pays £4 to park at the stadium rather than walk from Lakeside as he doesn’t have the cost of the ticket.

Can someone kindly verify please that the question from ML regarding qualified players and there being 7 refers to DR or is it something else entirely? Thanks.

My question was specifically relating to which DR players are eligible from Hull.

Carl gave a list of names and said that the players who are with us on loan are automatically qualified until the end of the season. I was particularly concerned about Lewis Bienek as he didn't play many games before getting injured and as I understand it, he wouldn't have been eligible under the normal DR 'games played' requirement. Jack Logan is on loan, so he's clear to play. Ross Osborne is now ours so there's no problem there.

From memory, I think Carl confirmed Jordan Lane, Jez Litten, Jack Downs, Hakim Miloudi and Jack Sanderson satisfy the rules. Including Lewis Bienek, it looks like we can pick any five from:

Lewis Bienek, Jack Logan, Jordan Lane, Jez Litten, Jack Downs, Hakim Miloudi, and Jack Sanderson.

Harris would also be eligible

Well spotted, Jemmo. I knew I'd miss somebody out!

Cameron Scott too I believe.

We've got 7 and 7 and any advance on 7? Yes it's 8, 8, and 8 and any advance on 8? There's 9 over there, thank you, Wanderer. Is there any advance on 9? There must be 10 somewhere? Do I see 10? All done? We're all done at 9. Going once, going twice....

Thanks DM, that is an impressive list at this level.

We, of course, couldn't play them all in a game

I'd guess it's doubtful that Liam Harris will be made available as Lee Radford may want to give him some more first team experience in the Super 8s.

Hakim seems to have dropped down the Hull pecking order so I think we could see him here for the rest of the season. If he is available that would leave four other potential slots for DR/Loan players.

I think we really need Jez Litten in the side and Lewis Bienek when he's fit. That leaves two other places free. There's certainly some competition for those remaining places.