A must win game for the Dons.

There are some key games being played before then

Sunday 9th July
Later games

Sunday 23rd JulyCurrent Table

Dews: 14, 27, +376
Dons: 12, 20, +154
Huns: 12, 18, +198
Oldh: 12, 17, +208
Work: 11, 14, +114

We could do with Midlands and N Wales doing us a favour this weekend by taking points off Hunslet and Oldham

The teams who started the day in 3rd, 4th & 5th all won

Midlands Hurricanes 22 Hunslet 54
Oldham 37 Crusaders 24
Workington 40 Rochdale 12

Nobody doing us any favours there then! Hunslet also improved their points diff by a nice margin.

N Wales seem to be improving and could well pose a serious threat when we go to their place.

Hunslet 2nd and with 76 more points difference...
OK a game in hand...
I warned of this possibility...but somebody said...'I'm not looking behind!'
I think Hunslet can beat Oldham and Dewsbury...and Dewsbury will come down to ours as champions...totally relaxed...like Keighley did last season.
We ain't gonna finish second.
And if we lose tricky games at Worky or North Wales or both...we certainly won't.
We can win...but we can't win big!
That could come and bite us once again.
Crap points difference!
I also think if we don't start properly...we will be 12 -18 points adrift of Hurricanes inside the first 20 mins.
Gloomy yes.....but we will see...

It’s never easy being a Dons fan, is it?

S/O, I can’t remember anyone saying we should only look up, not down. Ironically, they were right! We need to look up now to see if we can catch Hunslet!

The structure of our relatively uncompetitive 10 team league means that in order to win the league you can’t really afford to lose more than two matches. Although, we’ve won 10 out of 12, it feels as though we’re on the brink of failing should we lose another one.

In a post after the Hunslet defeat, I wrote:

I'd say Dewsbury have a 95% chance of going up with Dons, Oldham and Hunslet each having around a 35% chance. (95 + 35 +35 +35 = 200)

If my 35% assessment is about right, promotion is less likely than likely. This explains why most of us are probably feeling a little more downbeat than we’d like.

I think the underlying reasons for the way we feel is that we know from our performances that we’re more vulnerable than we perhaps look on paper. As S/O said, our points difference is inferior, we’re capable of leaking points to a 12-man Skolars team, and we don’t seem able to play to our best for a full 80 minutes.

It’s not all doom and gloom because should we avoid defeat in our remaining games, if Hunslet beat Dewsbury, we could still finish top providing we beat Dewsbury at home. It feels like a tough ask but it’s still possible.

If we drop points before Dewsbury, it’s quite likely that we might need to beat Dewsbury to finish second.

Considering how Hunslet had the upper-hand over us recently, we don’t want to have to play them at their place again. This is perhaps what would happen if we finished third. I thought we were a shade lucky when we narrowly beat them 18-16 at home earlier in the season.

The Hunslet v Oldham game is key next weekend. An Oldham win would probably be preferable for us.

We really need to do a job on Midlands and show we can play for 80 minutes, improve our points diff, and get on the front foot for the Worky and N Wales games. The N Wales concerns me most but Worky won’t be a pushover at their place.

If we’re going to get promoted, we need to improve match-by-match between now and the end of the season. If we don't, we could be consigned to this league for another season.

You wouldn't have seen that post DM it was on Facebook...the usual shut up post that you get when one strays from the party line.
But I was right....beware Hunslet I said...everyone was banging on about Oldham and the real threat was Hunslet.
Well as you say...the Skolars game took the wind out of my sails ...and Oldham away returned it...until Hunslet.

Horne and the old boys brigade at club doncaster know whatever happens their jobs are safe, there's zero accountability hence very little communication and even less passion showed! There's too many people associated with the club that are bubble wrapped and untouchable. When changes are obvious or a bold statement is needed we put a plaster over a leaking dam!

Not sure about Horne thinking his job is safe....it's not.
Thornton got fired, granted Gary is no brown noser, and I could see a fall out with CH and him.
But RH is too amiable for a fall out and his record is the right side of average.
So I think he and CH will probably rub along well...
But if he fails this time...he can be looking at CH changing his mind.
Anyway I bet he has a back-up plan...

6 seasons of failure and were still no closer to promotion, which other club that sets it heart on moving up a division would of kept with the coach?

Our mission is self-sustainabilty...promotion would be a nice bonus.
We have a budget and when you pay peanuts you get monkeys as they say.
All the League 1 clubs are pretty much hand to mouth and none of them is going anywhere including who gets promoted this year.
The Dons are never going anywhere....that boat sailed years ago.
But we get to watch reasonably good rugby without looking over our shoulders.
I really don't know why I bang on about the Dons year after year...Doncaster is a backwater since it lost its industries...it's a place of warehouses....

PS
Self- sustainability means (in my book) making sure the management's salaries are not put in danger...

Still, good news about the new caterers

Wait until next season when it's £5 extra to use this service!

New caterers might bring better service and a better range of products...however they will certainly adopt current silly prices and probably raise them.
Hunslet sold me a good pint of ale for £3.80...
I sup in town at value prices and leave the car at home.
Not gonna waste my money on concourse ale...
But that is just me....thank goodness many think differently.

Maybe we'll get some more points from IMG?

Unless I'm desperately dehydrated (unable to walk up the steps without potentially collapsing) or freezing cold (in danger of frostbite due to leaving seventh layer of clothing at home) I never go near the catering facilities.

I'm a tight old bugger though. There are enough ways to get ripped off in this world without paying silly stadium prices.

It'll be interesting to see if prices do go up... correction, it'll be interesting to see by how much prices go up with the new caterers on the premises.