We have a fans forum committee meeting Wednesday 23.11.16 please send me any questions that you would like me to ask on your behalf. Please send to bazzer1962@hotmail.com Thank you

We have a fans forum committee meeting Wednesday 23.11.16 please send me any questions that you would like me to ask on your behalf. Please send to bazzer1962@hotmail.com Thank you

No doubt most of the questions will be about the squad BUT will we know the final squad by the end of this week. I doubt it.

Any questions folks, please let me have them latest tomorrow. Thanks

Anything to report Barry?.

Fans Panel Meeting
Wednesday 23rd November 2016

Attendees: Gary Fox, Barry Brown, Phil Buxton, Stewart Thompson, Carol Green,
Keeley Thompson, Neil Barron
Carl Hall, John Scarrow, Gary Thornton, Gavin Baldwin, Mark Hughesman, Jon Warburton, Ray Green.

John Scarrow welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending.
It is now only 60 days until our first Friendly game.

Gary Thornton gave an update
27 players have been signed. Gary is happy with all the signings which shows flexibility in positions and the majority of last season squad have been re-signed. Matt Nicholson and Mike Kelly are included in the 27 although they will not be available for selection until May/June next year but it was felt it was important to include these two players in the squad.
Pre-season started last Saturday with the new Conditioning Coach, Rhys Lovegrove, being in place. 2 sessions have been delivered and it is looking very positive – the Players respect Rhys and he is working hard with them. The Players did come back in a good condition and we have a 14 week plan in place to take us up to the first friendly which is against Sheffield on the 22nd January.

David Foggin-Johnson didn’t take up our offer as it wasn’t for him and now the offer has lapsed. Brad Nicholson has signed for Keighley and George Milton has signed for Hull KR. Jack Walton has signed for Hunslet and Matty Welham has been released.

The Squad is a lot different to last year and the new signings will address the balance that was missing from last season. The average age of players is 26

Feka is a massive signing for us, Jamie Thackery has experience and Russ Spiers is a tough player also Connor Scott had a good first season for us.
We aim to proceed further in the Cup competitions and play-offs and the game against Toronto will be great experience for the players. The team that finishes first in the 8’s will get promotion then the second team from the playoffs.
We are overall pleased with the new signings and it shows we mean business next season.


Questions:

Why are some players being offered 1 year contracts and other 2 year?
CH: It is harder than ever to sign players with the competition and players being more demanding, we believe that the players we have signed are good for the Championship and if we get promotion they are here to play at that level. We are building the squad year on year. We have a good band of players here and getting players on 2 years deals gives us continuity as well.


Will there be a Meet the Players Night this Year?
CH: We are looking at a Season Launch Dinner to take place on the 10th February, which will be after the friendlies but before the season starts with the iPro Cup. We are hoping to get Robbie Paul as MC and Adrian Morley as Guest Speaker to attend and it will be a chance for all the players, families and supporters to meet and bond. This event will be promoted as soon as possible.

Will new season shirts be available to buy before Xmas ?
CH: Yes, we are hoping the merchandise will be available in the Club Shop from the 16th December. There will also be tracksuits, polos to follow There will be Junior sizes available and it would be a very good idea if people went to the shop and looked at the Rovers kit as the same sizes will apply for the Dons merchandise, starting we are told from size 6.

Why is it that the players play well for 60 minutes and then they go to sleep?
GT: Every game has its own momentum and is different. There is no particular pattern for every game. Looking back I don’t see that and I don’t agree but was disappointed with performance at some games. Stats don’t tell us this as well.

We need to get to a level of support as we have had in the past.
We have an older fan base and we need to look at attracting younger fans
MH: We did the Junior Takeover Day last season which was a great success and we know that a couple of participants are now Dons followers. We will be repeating this event this year.

Can Match day experience be made better e.g. Junior tournaments?
CH: Yes this is something we will look to improve on.

Can the Vila mascot be changed. Although older fans know the relevance the younger supporters don’t know who he is?
Perhaps a competition can be held to suggest a new mascot. Costs will have to be looked at.

Can a package for mascots to lead players out be introduced?
MH: Last season we held ‘Moments of Magic’ where a junior supporter was picked out from the crowd to lead the team onto the pitch but we can look at packages.

Is Dual Registration with Hull FC still in place?
GT: We have a strong squad in place but the agreement is still in place for both Clubs. We have no dependency but if a player comes along we will look at the situation. Also we have less pressure as Hull run an under 23’s so this works in our favour as well so that any players not getting into the team can have some game time in the 23’s.





Jon Warburton, Commercial Manager, was introduced to the Group.
CH: The Commercial and Marketing departments put forward a presentation to me with plans they have fin terms of support off the field. Their support is phenomenal and amazing, the best I’ve known.
JW: It is clear to me the passion of the people here have for the Dons and on the pitch they want to see them as high as possible in the league. The improvements that can be made commercially will reflect what Gary and the team do on the pitch, so I would like fans to take away this thought and think of potential ideas on what we can do with regard to sponsoring matches, players and hospitality and what supporters would like to see. Ultimately whatever we bring in commercially, whether it be £10, £50 or £10,000 it all goes to the Dons.
Something we are looking at is offering a Hospitality box for £200 for 10 people so fans can get together and will cost £20 each. What we don’t want to do is create packages that fans don’t want.
Sponsorship packages can be found on the website.

When will the season tickets be ready?
MH: These will be available middle of December ready for Christmas.

Mark Hughesman asked that all supporters check that their current email address is registered with the Box Office.


In summary John Scarrow thanked everyone for their attendance and stated that Club Doncaster was essential to the Dons for its sustainability and support resulting in a stronger squad next season. Looking at other Clubs in difficulty we can go forward with optimism.

Thank you to everyone who attended.

The next meeting will be organised for after the Friendlies in around 70 days time.

Sorry Richard, your question was asked but for some reason not added to the minutes. I will enquire why.

Thanks Barry .

Out of interest GT stated we have 27 players signed up . On the RL Fans site Gary has 24 named . From the minutes I assume Matt Nicholson has signed but not announced that leaves 2 others.

No mention of Aizue as yet ! & another new signing may be ?

Matt has signed and yes 2 more 1 resigning (MA) and 1 new signing. It will be released tomorrow, but i didnt tell you haha

Thanks again Baz , glad Matty has re signed a good player .

Thanks again Baz , glad Matty has re signed a good player .

Re the re-signing (MA), I've been advised that Carl had this on twitter on Nov 17 - having checked, I can confirm.

Why is it that the players play well for 60 minutes and then they go to sleep?
GT: Every game has its own momentum and is different. There is no particular pattern for every game. Looking back I don’t see that and I don’t agree but was disappointed with performance at some games. Stats don’t tell us this as well.

Whoever asked this question must have questioned their sanity ....
"Did I really attend those games?"
"Did I really notice this effect?"
"Have I just asked a question that I dreamed up?"

I would imagine the person who asked the question must have thought, "well what do the stats show then about our second half performances?"
"Martians were shining funky lasers in our eyes?

Gary Thornton wasn't aware there was a series of disastrous second halves, cos it just didn't happen?
The stats say so?
Well sack the stat man then and the person who can't analyse stats properly Gary and then get real!
Or was it you?

This is why I stopped attending meetings like this.
As a coach, or any manager for that matter, it is your job to be AWARE of trends.

A sensible response IMHO would have been ..." Yes we noticed that and we worked hard and will be working hard to address it."
"This is one of the reasons for getting Rhys Lovegrove onboard to work on fitness."
But no ........

Hi all, we have the next fans forum committee meeting on Wed 1st March 17. Is there any questions you would like to give me to take and ask on the night. Please comment on here or email me at bazzer1962@hotmail.com Thanks Baz

Hi all, we have the next fans forum committee meeting on Wed 1st March 17. Is there any questions you would like to give me to take and ask on the night. Please comment on here or email me at bazzer1962@hotmail.com Thanks Baz

Have E Mailed a couple of questions .

Fans Panel Meeting
Wednesday 1st March 2017

Attendees: Carol Green, Gary Fox, Barry Brown, Phil Buxton, Stewart Thompson,
Carl Hall, Gary Thornton, Gavin Baldwin, Mark Hughesman, Ray Green.


Carl Hall welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending.


Questions:

To Gary Thornton
What is your thinking behind having 3 props on the bench for the Keighley and Myton games? For the Keighley game we had 6 props in the 17.
GT: For the Keighley game the condition of the field was taken into consideration – it is not the best pitch so we went with 3 props on the bench as it would be a forward battle so we went with the game plan.
We have a big mobile pack and in the 2 Cup games all the players have been involved.

In the local press you stated we haven’t a discipline problem. Then you said Hedges sin binning let in 3 tries. Could you clarify?
GT: There is no discipline problem – Jordie’s tackle was bad technique not aggressive. It was poor tackle technique and you have to suffer the consequences – and sometimes the officials don’t get things right. Jordie is not a dirty player and he is remorseful. We do not coach foul play. Jordie got it wrong, there was no malicious intent and we are considering appealing the 6 games.

Has Jordan Howden broken down again and any news on Mason Tonks and Corey Hanson?
GT: Jordan missed Sunday just as a precaution, with a completely different injury, but will be available this week. His hip problem will be managed week by week and it will be sorted out at the end of the season.
Cory has been very ill with the flu. He stayed away to stop this spreading. He was out for 2 weeks but has had 2 run outs with Hull 23’s. He is on the road to recovery and needs 2 weeks good training.
Mason has been very unlucky with injuries. Last season he had knee construction, broke his leg and suffered concussion. He has done well to get over this but now he has a problem with his back. A change of job to manual work has not helped this as he keeps getting spasms in his back. He is desperate to play and rushing back does not give time for injuries to heal but obviously he has to work. We need to slow him down.
This season we have 25 players so if they get a little knock it is not worth the risk playing them. This time last year we had 17 injuries. This year if the player is not 100% fit they will not be risked.

Stewart Thompson asked if players suffer from depression when not playing. This is often the case when players just want to play but can’t due to injuries. Carl Hall responded that at the Dons we are very big on player welfare – we are always there to help when a player is struggling and we are always on the phone to them to make sure they are OK. There are no issue at this Club.



To Carl Hall

I rely on the Official Site for news, the 19 man squad for the Keighley game wasn’t put on the Official Site. I note it was on for the Myton game. Can you assure me the squad will be included for future fixtures?
CH: Yes, the policy going forward will be for this to happen. There is communication between Gary and the Media Team and will be announced by 3pm on a Friday before the game.

Does anyone know when we are playing the Oxford game (26th March) seeing as the Rovers are at home on Sky that day?
CH: Oxford are still in both Cup competitions so there no free weekends yet but as soon as there is the game will be fixed, otherwise it could probably be mid-week.

Open Questions:

Why is ‘Dons News’ on the Total RFL site and news not on our forum?
CH: Dons News was set up about 6 years ago when Mark Turner was working as Media Manager and this was set up to auto link to the Total RL. This is happening automatically but Mark Hughesman will look into this and get it stopped.
GB: We should make the website good and would prefer that everyone uses the Official Club Website for information because the higher number of users, the more advertising we can attract which will increase revenue which can be spent on improving the club.
CH: We aim to be more consistent with our reporting by planning a schedule of events; in the Dugout will now on the website by Friday 5pm and the Coaches comments on after the game. From Tuesday we will be looking at previews of up coming games.

Is Dual Reg still an option and would we be able to have senior players?
CH: We cannot have any 1st team players with a contract of over £50K.
GT: We will have to go with any players that have been made available.

Are you looking at signing any other Half Back? What about Brad Delany?
GT: He is less experienced than those we have. We have Jordan Howden, Jack Miller and Kieran Cross and whoever is available from Hull FC.
CH: A few years ago we won the league with 2 half back from Leeds Academy aged 19 and 20.

How is team spirit progressing?
GT: Very good, the players get together when they can and go out for meals. The team spirit here is the best I have experienced since I started coaching.



Can we train on a small pitch in preparation of games on Athletics pitch?
GT: Yes, if there is the opportunity as last year.
CH: Hunslet game has been changed so we can play the game on the main pitch instead of the Athletics. If possible we shall see if we can bring forward the Barrow and Newcastle games.
GT: Also with lighter nights coming more outside training can take place.


We really need to get bums on seats and increase attendances?
CH: Connor Scott is now in Schools every day and through Sky Try we will doing deals with Schools to attend matches. Junior Takeover Day will take place on the Keighley game (21st May) and there is a lot more to come.




In conclusion, Carl stated that these players want to do their best and play their best every week for the Club. We want to win our games and get out of this League. We are aiming for promotion.

Thank you to everyone who attended.