I don't think anyone has a problem with having cheerleaders and there is no doubt that the community aspect, encouraging youngsters to get involved, has done a tremendous amount of good for the club over the years.
However, there do seem to be some issues around how they were "employed" by the club etc, etc.

I always thought the dancers before the last dolls had better routines and were more entertaining.

I "enjoyed aspects" of the dolls, however i can easily live without them.
As other posters have suggested kids playing RL on the famous BV pitch for me would be preferable. I can see how those involved with kids in the kittens and stuff may see it differently.
What i will say though is if we cant afford them now, we clearly could not afford them then and this simply adds to the belief thast the dolls served only/mainly a "private purpose".
I wonder what AG XIII makes of that?

Never really notice them much tbh, it's the rugby I go to watch.

Was having a discussion at the weekend whether the Dolls were employed by the club and if they were receiving payment.

It's a luxury we can do without if it was costing the club money, however tidy they were!

I'm sure some young fans could do a good job at it, surely the name wakefield wildcats is owned by the club?

Exactly... the Wakefield Wildcats Dancers, nothing wrong with that.

The Dolls were always going to leave or depart whichever the polite way of saying it. It was the Nuts Magazine Strippers little empire and as soon as she was given the boot from her Community Role or whatever it was within the club then her little empire (or bat and ball) were gonna go with her.

That said, they seem to dance more at other events than actually at Wakefield's ground these days anyway. I'm sure there will be a dance school somewhere in the Wakefield area which will jump at the chance of becoming the Wakefield Wildcats Dancers and with those little 10 or 20 girls coming to dance each week will bring 20-40 paying parents onto the gate to watch their little ones in action.

Their dancing was just part of the benefits they brought to the club. But sadly we simply can't afford them anymore but their work on the community side of things around the area, plus events like sponsored car washes and the like and also attending RFL events etc will be missed and it will have a degree of impact. Running with a skeleton staff we will find it tough to take up the slack and don't be surprised to see other clubs in the area invading our patch.

I expect to see Martin Hopkins and Mark Winder dancing on the pitch in their pants at the first home game of next season.

It's a shame - the Dolls always appeared to provide added value and whilst I don't know the financial arrangements, it's a pity something couldn't be salvaged; the girls themselves did nothing wrong. One thing's for sure - a lot fewer first try-scorer cards will be sold on match days!

The girls themselves earned a pittance for what they did and I'm surprised, or would be if, no-one has contacted one of the more vocal/senior girls with a view to them carrying on without Sarah Elston. She may own the moniker "wildcat dolls" but she doesn't own the girls.

The whole dancing side of the club is being reorganised since the recent departure of SE.

Younger girls are still attending dance classes at the club on Monday and Wednesday evenings and a member of the backroom staff has been tasked with the job of finding a new teacher/teachers to deliver the classes.

Credit to the club this as this has been done quickly and proffesionally (with clear comunication with the parents). These younger girls will still be dancing at games.

The Wildcat Dolls was something very different. From what a gather this was a group of older dances run by SE herself as a private bussines (hence they have now changed their name). The dancers were older (often college students) who made some money dancing at games and other corporate events. I'm surprised some folk believed these girls to be dancing for free. Why should they. I doubt that most were interested in Rugby let alone Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.

The value of the dancers is surely the community work, and cynically the funding that goes with it. Newmarket will have targets to meet regarding engagement with the community, kids dancing is part of it. Not a fan of the dancing myself, prefer to see kids on the pitch playing but I see the value of engaging more people at an earlier age and connecting the club with the community. Regarding the Wildcat dolls they attracted a reasonable amount of publicity and appartently weren't paid that much either. Its was luxury and we can afford to cut it. Jobs for family is something seperate altogether.

I don't think anyone did, just maybe surprised that a) they were making money for other individuals linked to the club, and b) the decision to use them would have been a conflict of interest (see point a) and not based on whether we could afford them or needed them.
I'm pleased to see there is still some work going on behind the scenes and that they will hopefully be involved as I'm sure they add value to the club on some level and a lot of kids get involved, i just hope the mistakes of the past are not repeated and they are used in a sustainable and hopefully profitable way for the club.

Can't be many of those left. The guy who runs the lottery has gone now as well.

Ant?