nev morrison is to sign for the seagulls,potts on his way to batley, spavin unlikley to commit to the dons, thanks for your efforts lads

Disappointing news but not surprising i suppose. At the end of the day this will always be the case with limited finances. A big thankyou to the lads for their efforts this year, and also thanks to the sporting public of Doncaster for NOT getting off their backsides and supporting the club! Compared with the prices charged by the Rovers etc watching the Dons is an absolute bargain, especially with the ST special offer we had. It makes you wonder if there will be any spectator sport left in ten years other than people watching Man Utd on the telly!

Sometimes it looked like Spaven wasnt interested eg Keighley away & Workington home.

Cannot blame the other 2 going to top Championship sides.

I think spaven had a mare at Keighley, at home to Workington and the second half vs Rochdale in the last game.
I don't believe for one second that he wasn't interested, he's a trier is the lad.
I just thought that he ran out of ideas AND a decent partner to share the play making with.

When that happened Spav resorted to little chips over the top, none of which came off and speculative punts, most of which were wasted too.

He's a good player though and will be a big loss if he goes.

But it is no surprise that the sides who WILL go up have proper mature, SKILLED and EXPERIENCED half back pairings.

DONS PLEASE NOTE!!!

So maybe thats why Aston was at one of our games.

The cheeky monkey, thought it was to watch the Dons & have a natter with Ray .

Hi guys,

What are your thoughts about Gareth Potts as he's supposedly signing for us for 2012?

Heard he's pretty nippy but never actually seen him in action.

Cheers in advance.

Yep , pretty nippy impressed in his loan period at the Dons .

Heads up, keep building and don't be tempted to go for goal to quickly, Sheffield Eagles are a good example.

We are a feeder club ... hadn't you noticed?

Good luck to the lads who are moving on. Thanks for your efforts at Doncaster. We appreciate them greatly.

We also understand that you have to do what's best for your own careers. We'll miss you and keep an eye on your progress.

One day, when the Doncaster public realise what they're missing, we'll be getting crowds of 1500 and be able to pay you the wages you deserve.

In the meantime we'll have to keep working on the Donny folk and try to build support levels so we can move to the level you're aspiring to go to.

All the best guys!!

That's precisely why we have dropped a cobbler staying in this division.
We needed as a matter of urgency to be playing, among others, .... Sheffield, Batley, Featherstone, Halifax, Hunslet, and York to create some local interest.
There is none in the division we are in.
And our crowds will stay at 500.

It is important to stay in the black, that at least is what Donny are doing, but we could be treading water for years at this rate.
We find good players, we lose them, how is that building?
We have had a very good season, but we have won nothing and our crowds are no better and we approach next season with many unknowns. The extrapolation is that we will do even better. Other sides will have similar ideas so there is no guarantee of that.

However these uncertainties could be thought of as exciting ...
If we sort out the half backs and forwards, I will get excited too.

COYD

PS
Playing devils advocate here ... If we are in the black, then why didn't we strengthen in key areas, we would probably have got promoted.

Thats what some of us said on here when there was all the stuff sprouted about Super- League a couple of seasons ago.

The objectives must be:

1) Financial stability - only spend what can easily be afforded
2) Build up the income levels in whatever way possible
3) Increase attendance levels by better marketing and promotion of the club
4) Improve public relations by keeping everyone better informed

Within severe budget limitations it isn't easy to do any of the things listed. The club are doing a very good job in difficult circumstances.

I would recommend that as suggested at the fans' meeting, the club utilise Doncaster college and get some media savvy youngsters to bring the club website up to speed, and promote the club through You Tube. It'd look good on their cvs so I'm sure there must be someone eager to do it.

I bought two tickets for the Challenge Cup semi-final at the Keepmoat. The RFL have been e-mailing me every other day with offers of Grand Final tickets. The Dons need to utilise e-mail marketing and 21st century communication technology - Keep people informed.

The ultimate key is whether we can generate sufficient income to be able to offer contracts to players, and pay wages similar to other clubs. In my view this will only be possible if we can get attendance levels up to 1500.

I appreciate it's a chicken and egg situation: Fans don't want to attend matches/watch lower league rugby especially if we're not winning; the club can't move forwards without the fans.

As S/O said, another problem is that we have no local games in Championship 1. This makes atmosphere building more difficult too.

Regarding finances: I think we've got to trust the club to spend the money they have got wisely. Only they know what can and can't be afforded. I'm sure they'd like more cash to spend.

I would make a passionate plea to the people of Doncaster:

[iPlease get behind the Dons for next season. Let's try to help the club build a team we can all be proud of ... and be good enough to get into the Championship and stay there.[/i

If you're not going to go to matches next season, and you're reading this, please tell us what needs to change to get you on board. Someone from the club will probably read the replies and the issues may be able to be addressed.

Adam Scott signed for Batley.

Good luck !

I'll be honest, i've never heard of Nev Morrison. What position does he play and is he any good?!

Plays centre, ok in C1.

Yeah, it looks like we will need it!



Seriously ... Adam has been our best forward of the season.
He has stayed relatively injury free and has great potential.
We will miss him loads.
Still ... we have enlisted Bibb as a replacement. Is he better??

This contagion is spreading like measles ... who is next to go?

one of the unsigned players who i would like to stay is mike emmet always gives 100% EVERY game,good player

I like him too.
I thought he had a great first half vs Rochdale in our losing play-off game. He was involved in everything.
In fact bringing Kesik on (who I also like) for Emmet was a mistake. Emmet was playing that well.

I think olddon is the man in the know !
Any more announcements due this coming week.

I know ourplayers play for match fees but does this type of contract stop us signing them for 2 or maybe 3 years so if other clubs do want them we get somthing or am I being daft

Yes it may do , we could pay loads of money , and go bust .

The club have to be congratulated on controlling the money side of things .

will update you if i hear owt mate