Squad www.doncasterrugbyleague.co.uk Good to see Ben Cockayne back in the squad missing Misi, Burns & Ollett - Hobson. Mathiou included & possible return for Halliday with Sanderson moving to full back.

Squad www.doncasterrugbyleague.co.uk Good to see Ben Cockayne back in the squad missing Misi, Burns & Ollett - Hobson. Mathiou included & possible return for Halliday with Sanderson moving to full back.

It is good to seem Ben back, I hope he can get some minutes in, we have missed his organisation and defence around the ruck area IMO. I watched the highlights of Swinton's win at the Midlands, they look a good side.

I am hoping that we can start off as we mean to go on and not spend the first period on the back foot.

Today's match odds with Skybet are quite staggering.

To win the match outright: Swinton 1/9, Draw 33/1, Dons 5/1

Handicap betting: Dons +18, 10/11, Draw (Dons +1icon_cool.gif 22/1, Swinton -18, 10/11.

Anyone tempted to back the Dons at those odds?

Not sure what to write after that hammering, mid table, big gulf between us and Keighley and now most defiantly Swinton. North Wales have a strong unit and we will not beat them on current form.

Well what can you you say about this afternoons performance.
Congratulations to Swinton, they outplayed us and deserved the win.
Once again a poor performance by officials in our league, but not withstanding that, the referee shouldn't have been put in the position to issue a red card for dissent.
I won't name individuals but our one on one defence /tackling was pretty poor all game, our mistake count must have been huge.
Our kicking game was repetitive and predictable to defend against.
In my opinion it appeared right from the off a number in the team looked lack luster and were just going through the motions.
I don't know if it's structure, game plan, or poor decision making, but there needs to be a major shake up.
Very disappointing to be a Don's fan àfter that performance.

Swinton were good in attack but definitely looked vulnerable in defence. It'll be interesting to see how they go against the better teams in the league.

As for the Dons, the set restarts were a killer along with the sending off. Regardless of all that, we were second best by a wide margin.

Agree with Wilf, it's hard to take any positives from the last two defeats. We've definitely gone backwards from last year while the opposition seems to be somewhat better.

We were lucky....we were elsewhere and intended to travel 140 miles to watch...we decided against it.
Good job....
Being sent off for dissent is STUPID.
...officials aren't cheats and abusing them is pointless.
So well done Johnston...you gave the game away with your gob!
Two meetings with rivals...two poundings...very little structured play.
Take a bow Mr Horne...
If Corion can't tackle and can't score tries...I blame you.
Of any of the players is not up to muster I blame you....
You are the architect of this team and they are not at the races...
But eh, get behind the team, chill, give them a chance, and similar year in year out responses.
Not the player's fault...management's fault
Time they took the blame and resigned.

I said at the start of the season this team is not good enough to make the top five and I stand by it. Poor recruitment has left us looking at a season of drubbings.

People on the Supports FB page make me laugh with comments about signing local players ,nothing against the lad from Bentley making his debut but he was never at the races and was replaced after a ten minute spell. The quality is just not there locally anymore.
We have lost quality players like Douglas , Johnson and Beharrell and replaced them with amatures and players that have not pulled on a pair of boots in years.

I have seen nothing from Corian since he joined the club that has given me hope he will come good .
His tackling and positional play is way off the mark but we don't seem to have an alternative, the club need to act fast and get in to the loan market for some much needed quality or I fear our race will be run by the end of May.

Swinton's ruck speed was far to quick for us and our defense was left exposed by players struggling to make it back into the defensive line.
Their half backs and outside backs tore us apart.
Speed and support play at its best and you can see why they are the bookies favorites to go up .

We have two games coming up which we should win, however they are followed by two games against Oldham and North Wales which we must win to have any chance of making the play offs.

A good sum-up by KLD.

Swinton looked vulnerable defensively so I think the better teams will have a chance against them.

With regards to the play-offs, six out of 11 teams make it in our division. That's similar to 13 teams in Donny Rovers league making the play-offs!

But the Dons' challenge is made much easier by having West Wales, London Skolars and Cornwall making up the numbers. I'm not sure Midlands Hurricanes are candidates for a top 6 spot either.

Realistically, the are probably seven teams vying for six spots: Swinton, N Wales, Rochdale, Keighley, Oldham, Hunslet and the Dons. It would be incredibly disappointing if we ended up bottom of that pile but based on what we've seen so far it can't be ruled out.

Just read Horne's latest rubbish about yesterday's game and it's the same old same old. I honestly don't know how he's got the nerve to keep repeating himself and getting away with it. He's had the job since 2017 and the club is going backwards. His decision making on recruitment is shocking and his game management even worse. He must have watched a different game to me. Still he'll keep his job cause getting rid of him would mean Club Doncaster parting with some money and as with the Rovers that is just not going to happen when the owners have no ambition or commitment. Aside from the Knights sport in Doncaster is dead in the water.

"Something must have been said to warrant the red."
Said Mr Horne....
Does this mean you don't know what was said?
Is this Boris speak?
He knows what was said but is not saying?
Jesus!
I would have carpeted Johnson and know exactly what was said....

Once again, how does Horne manage to dissociate himself from any blame?
He is sitting in the stand...he is not in Hull!

I understand a coach feels a duty to try to defend his players in public but in this instance Richard Horne ought to have said Johnston was out of order, let the team down and let the fans down, and that such unprofessional behaviour will not be condoned by the club.

I'm an admirer of the player. This may be out of character and a blip but it should still be called out for what it is. Maybe there's some politics at play? If the player admits to saying it, there may be a ban to follow. If he denies it, it may remain 'unproven' in the eyes of the disciplinary panel with no further action. I don't know.

Reflecting on the game, Richard Horne's request for a faster start will happen against Cornwall because man for man we will be better than them. Swinton didn't allow us to get off to a fast start because they dominated possession and played in our half whilst we kept giving away set restarts. Man for man they were better than us and that allowed them to get off to a fast start.

We'll get four points against Cornwall and W Wales, then crucial home games against Oldham and North Wales follow.

It doesn't matter what we do against Cornwall and West Wales ...because all our rivals will do the same.
It matters what we do against our rivals and that record is played 2 lost 2.....

Very true....

In effect, we've got a proper season of 12 games (against Swinton, Keighley, Rochdale, N Wales, Hunslet and Oldham twice).

We're none from 2 with 10 games to go. I wonder how many of those games we'll need to win not to finish seventh of the seven?