Pipped by Newcastle ... not even a playoff game.

Feel free to post your thoughts on a wonderful season.

Finishing 6th in a poor league isn't acceptable for a club with aspirations.

Problem is, the buck doesn't seem to stop anywhere...

We didn't deserve to reach the play offs.

Things that I see where we went wrong:-
1)Poor recruitment , including signing on injured players.
2) Poor coach(GT) & the players didn't seem to want to play for him .
3) Format of the league ,but that was the same for everyone .
4) Too much spin about budgets & players abilities .
Hopes:-
1) RH is given a chance to pick his own squad .
2) We do not retain too many of the 2017 team even if some are on 2 year contracts .
3) Not too much spin about record budgets & season ticket sales .
4) Better communication between management & fans .
5) Scrap ITD
6) Ditch the Dual Reg policy.
7) The RFL change the format for C1 in 2018 , having home & away fixtures , even if it means reducing the number of clubs .

Its only the Dual reg/ loans with Hull fc that will get you out of that division
It was the young Hull players in the team yesterday who despite playing behind a lightweight pack put in a really good shift
Without doubt Thornton and his poor coaching/recruitment is where your criticism should be levied.

I have never liked D-Reg , we should bring on & play our own players .
Its nothing to do with Hull , any way the players we had yesterday were on loan, none had qualified by dual reg not even Rawsthorne .

Hull & other SL clubs should have reserve teams to bring on their own players after playing U19.

Just my humble opinion Bonaire .

We probably finished where we deserved to finish. We’ve been holding onto hopes of getting into the play-offs but in our heart of hearts most of us haven’t been convinced all season that we were amongst the best two teams in the league.

Fundamentally, the recruitment wasn’t good enough. If ever we needed evidence to show what we’ve been missing in the halves, Miloudi showed it to us last night in the Toronto game. The half-backs simply haven’t produced the goods. Jordon Howden was our main hope and he was never fit.

To play the expansive game that Richard Horne wants to play, it’s critical to have pace out wide and players who have a side-step. We really need to be looking to bring in players of the calibre of Craig Hall and Liam Kaye at Toronto as they’re the types who can change games.

We’ve improved defensively since Richard Horne’s arrival. We were very poor under GT. Whilst we’ve tried to play a more entertaining, expansive style of rugby we’ve not been able to find a way to win the close matches.

We tried the youth route with Paul Cooke and it failed. We tried the experienced forwards route under GT and that failed. We've got to sign enough players with sufficient class as well as finding the right blend of youth and experience.

We've certainly benefited from our links with Hull but the weakness of relying on players on D/R and Loans is that you can never be sure they're going to be available to play. If they're key players in your team, in critical positions, it causes mayhem when they're recalled.

It'd be great if we could get Monsieur Miloudi on a year long loan, as I'm sure that would help Hull in the long-term too, but what happens if Albert Kelly, Mark Sneyd, or Jamie Shaul gets injured? We end up having a huge void to fill.

I fully agree the poor recruitment of Gary Thornton is why we've under-performed this season.

We need to try to build a team that isn't dependent on DR/Loans and then use DR/Loans to supplement a strong squad of our own.

Excellent points, Weighman.

Not sure we should ditch DR totally but we shouldn't be dependent on it.

Most were bemoaning the arrival of Toronto this time last year but next season won't be much different with the mighty Bulls, a decent Oldham side, at least two Cumbrian clubs, York, Keighley and Newcastle most of whom are at least as good as the Dons. Even sixth place next season may be tricky....

Spot on Sanjunien.

It's going to be an incredibly tough league next season which is why we must aim high with our recruitment or else we run the risk of coming up short again.

May be a change of format , rumoured 14 in C & C1 for 2018.

And i'll still bang on about changing the policy of signing OAPs instead of young hopefuls and/or experienced senior players with still a lot to offer. For example, I was speaking with an ex French international player last evening who is looking for a job next year after maybe a French season in their Elite division from october to april. However, I could never imagine a club like Donny taking such an initiative..
Recruitment is the key of course and i'm confident RH will deliver IF he's allowed a bit freedom to operate.

The fact is to top this division a club has to construct a side that would challenge for honours in the league above.
That should be the benchmark ... a team that could beat such as Batley and Dewsbury and give the likes of Halifax and Featherstone a game.
I'm serious!

We can't afford that, I bet, so the other simple fact is we need to negotiate some season long class from Hull to help us. With its drawbacks to boot.

Barrow can get twice the crowd we get, so they at least they have a start.

I honestly can't see how Donny can top this league without Club Doncaster going out on a limb and going for it.

Don't think they will after this awful year.

So I think we are in the shiite! .....

Also the management need to realise that the Dons have to be in the top two all the time ... and from the get go.
Otherwise they will NOT get an increase in the base crowd of 500 they command thus far.

Also the last few years including Paul Cooke's last were notable for recruitment that was not notable.

With only a few exceptions, and those being players who had played their best rugby some time back, as each player was signed, the question 'who?' came straight to mind.
We were dragging nobodies from wherever we could at basement money.
Hardly likely to build a great side or rev up support.
That has GOT to stop!

After constant periods of poor performance & under achievement in any business the buck stops at the Chief Executives door.

Very true but we all know this ain't an normal rugby league club! it's quite obvious the blame will be swept under the carpet and carl will continue to pick up his wage up whilst filling us with spin and lies! without sounding like a broke record we are well and truly a broken club

Perhaps you would like to specify the spin and lies which you accuse Carl of filling us with.

I offer no apology for once again pointing out that without Carl's efforts this forum would not exist because there would not be a club to attach it to. It was also through his efforts and contacts that sufficient local backing was made available to run the club. He also gathered together a group of reasonable standard players prepared to operate on a match fee basis to enable us to field a team each week.

I am not a fan of Dual Registration as I have said before but as long as it exists we should take full advantage of it. Under it we are linked with a good Super League club giving us access to good quality young players, at a key stage of their development, who otherwise we would not be able to persuade to come here. One penalty associated with that is that we cannot always be certain of their availability but when they are available, and on the whole they have been, they provide us with a superior class of player to what we have normally in our ranks. (The two, other than Miloudi, who played in Toronto were unknown to me but performed well.)

Whether we are among the 5 best teams in this league is a moot point not helped by the distortion caused by the imposition of Toronto on us. If we are to compete for 2 promotion places then it has to be on a reasonably level playing field and that has not been the case in the last 2 seasons. As for being in the top 2 teams on its day in a play-off competition any team can beat any other team. It does not need me to point out, I hope, how close we came to making the play-offs.

We now must look forward. My impression so far is that Richard Horne knows what he is about and must be given time to get the team moving in the right direction. Among his first jobs will be sorting out indiscipline which has been our main problem. It should not be too difficult for professional rugby league players to maintain their discipline and it is up to others on the field to point out their errors to the miscreants. However the coach must be expected to lay down the law on this.

No doubt there will be some in and outs among the squad but we have the basis there to build on. I have said before that it is not the quality of individual players we need to consider but how they operate together to form a team. It is a fine ideal to aim at a squad that would perform creditably in the Championship but I don't think that is realistic. If the coach has the personality to attract such a player all well and good. Otherwise we need squad capable of succeeding in League 1.

The present squad must have been encouraged by the performance in Toronto when everything was weighted against them. That is something to build on.

Quote ="Danensian"Perhaps you would like to specify the spin and lies which you accuse Carl of filling us with. I offer no apology for once again pointing out that without Carl's efforts this forum would not exist because there would not be a club to attach it to. It was also through his efforts and contacts that sufficient local backing was made available to run the club. He also gathered together a group of reasonable standard players prepared to operate on a match fee basis to enable us to field a team each week. I am not a fan of Dual Registration as I have said before but as long as it exists we should take full advantage of it. Under it we are linked with a good Super League club giving us access to good quality young players, at a key stage of their development, who otherwise we would not be able to persuade to come here. One penalty associated with that is that we cannot always be certain of their availability but when they are available, and on the whole they have been, they provide us with a superior class of player to what we have normally in our ranks. (The two, other than Miloudi, who played in Toronto were unknown to me but performed well.) Whether we are among the 5 best teams in this league is a moot point not helped by the distortion caused by the imposition of Toronto on us. If we are to compete for 2 promotion places then it has to be on a reasonably level playing field and that has not been the case in the last 2 seasons. As for being in the top 2 teams on its day in a play-off competition any team can beat any other team. It does not need me to point out, I hope, how close we came to making the play-offs. We now must look forward. My impression so far is that Richard Horne knows what he is about and must be given time to get the team moving in the right direction. Among his first jobs will be sorting out indiscipline which has been our main problem. It should not be too difficult for professional rugby league players to maintain their discipline and it is up to others on the field to point out their errors to the miscreants. However the coach must be expected to lay down the law on this. No doubt there will be some in and outs among the squad but we have the basis there to build on. I have said before that it is not the quality of individual players we need to consider but how they operate together to form a team. It is a fine ideal to aim at a squad that would perform creditably in the Championship but I don't think that is realistic. If the coach has the personality to attract such a player all well and good. Otherwise we need squad capable of succeeding in League 1. The present squad must have been encouraged by the performance in Toronto when everything was weighted against them. That is something to build on.'" www.doncasterrugbyleague.co.uk/a ... -statement

Quote ="Danensian"Perhaps you would like to specify the spin and lies which you accuse Carl of filling us with. I offer no apology for once again pointing out that without Carl's efforts this forum would not exist because there would not be a club to attach it to. It was also through his efforts and contacts that sufficient local backing was made available to run the club. He also gathered together a group of reasonable standard players prepared to operate on a match fee basis to enable us to field a team each week. I am not a fan of Dual Registration as I have said before but as long as it exists we should take full advantage of it. Under it we are linked with a good Super League club giving us access to good quality young players, at a key stage of their development, who otherwise we would not be able to persuade to come here. One penalty associated with that is that we cannot always be certain of their availability but when they are available, and on the whole they have been, they provide us with a superior class of player to what we have normally in our ranks. (The two, other than Miloudi, who played in Toronto were unknown to me but performed well.) Whether we are among the 5 best teams in this league is a moot point not helped by the distortion caused by the imposition of Toronto on us. If we are to compete for 2 promotion places then it has to be on a reasonably level playing field and that has not been the case in the last 2 seasons. As for being in the top 2 teams on its day in a play-off competition any team can beat any other team. It does not need me to point out, I hope, how close we came to making the play-offs. We now must look forward. My impression so far is that Richard Horne knows what he is about and must be given time to get the team moving in the right direction. Among his first jobs will be sorting out indiscipline which has been our main problem. It should not be too difficult for professional rugby league players to maintain their discipline and it is up to others on the field to point out their errors to the miscreants. However the coach must be expected to lay down the law on this. No doubt there will be some in and outs among the squad but we have the basis there to build on. I have said before that it is not the quality of individual players we need to consider but how they operate together to form a team. It is a fine ideal to aim at a squad that would perform creditably in the Championship but I don't think that is realistic. If the coach has the personality to attract such a player all well and good. Otherwise we need squad capable of succeeding in League 1. The present squad must have been encouraged by the performance in Toronto when everything was weighted against them. That is something to build on.'" www.doncasterrugbyleague.co.uk/a ... -statement

Got to take issue Danensian over a few points
1) I think a fair few of the players were on contract money .
2) We need a good clear out even ones who have 2 year contracts .
3) It wouldn't have mattered this season if 4 spots had been available we have not been good enough to get promotion .

This from a so called happy clapper , who is not happy the way the season has panned out .

Will still be here in 2018 hoping for better !!!!
COYD

The statement 2 posts up was written nearly 4 yrs ago, can you hand on heart tell me we've have improved on the field as a team? each of those 4yrs we've been told the budget is getting higher or we are targeting promotion so to me that was 100% spin or lies.

1. When I referred to match fees only it was the situation which pertained when the club was re-established under Carl. That position has changed in the years since then.
2. To throw out the baby with the bath water achieves nothing at all. All it means is that you have to start again from scratch. The core of a squad is there at the moment and it should be used to build around.
3. That statement is a matter of opinion.

Hi Danensian I respect what you say could you tell me the players you would build the side around .
We will see in time who are retained , at the moment we know we will be without Feka.

With regard to the post put on here by Geoff Roebuck it amounts to this. The club ran out of money at the end of the 2013 season and was purchased by DRFC from Carl Hall and Steve Scholes for £100k thus putting it under the Club Doncaster brolly. The purchase of the Dons by the Rovers caused a right 2 and 8 (John Ryan was not an happy bunny) and is well documented on Page 57 of this board under Takeover Talks. So the paragraph regarding Carl Hall saving the club and thus this branch of RL Fans forum is not entirely descriptive in my opinion.

As for the play offs or Super 8 to sex it up, we ended the normal season on 20 points and after the playoffs we have 23, you do the maths. We all agree I think that the term disappointing hardly cuts the mustard when it comes to summarising up this season.

Can we trust that there will be changes, its a matter of conjecture, I hope so but faith is not at an all time high on this matter.

I appreciate that there is a budget to stick to and not exceed which is crucial for any club and my one big hope is that RH spends wisely and well and the tie up with Hull is a godsend regarding that matter. (there is a rumour on the Barrow site that they are well in debt)

Barrow have an EGM in October , rumoured to be over finances .

Here are a few posts from the Barrow fans forum:

Is this something that we as Barrow fans should be worried about?
Financial Situation/Update!

[iIt does appear (if the rumours flying around are true) that there are major financial issues at the club. With hopefully 2 big home matches over the next 2 weeks imagine difference it would make if everyone who normally goes to the games could take 1 extra/new supporter with them.
If not already taken I will offer to sponsor the match ball. [/i

If we both win our semis next week could possibly be over 3k for the final if its barrow v haven

[ithere was a small article in the RL press regarding possible potential investors interested in the club ???? Anyone know any more on this?[/i