Quote Double Movement="Double Movement"I didn't take notes at the meeting but here are some additional points as I recall them (not listed in the official minutes).
Fixtures at Featherstone:
I suggested the club was wrong to assume that fans would know games were likely to be played at Featherstone when buying season tickets for this season. I thought we would be using the Athletics Pitch. I was unaware that we now no longer have any control over its use.
I feel very strongly that the club should have apologised to fans for any inconvenience caused when the announcement was made. I also feel a bus should be put on regardless of how many people may use it. It’s unfair on anyone who cannot drive. Public transport to Featherstone is hopeless.
Shaun Lockwood said that next year’s season ticket would make it clear that some games may not be played in Doncaster. I was disappointed by his lack of empathy with the fans' plight.
Gavin Baldwin explained that had we been able to use the Athletics Pitch the cost to make it fit for purposes would be extremely high and not cost effective for two games to be played on it. I can’t recall the money mentioned but it was a small fortune so I can appreciate why the Athletics Pitch isn’t a realistic option. Gavin also mentioned some of the costs incurred in maintaining the Keepmoat pitch. The water bill is huge and other costs are very high too; considerably more than I would have imagined.
Also not clearly mentioned in the minutes is that Doncaster Knights’ pitch may be available in the future. It’s not available this season due to some additional work being needed to be done on it. It seemingly won’t be out of commission every year.
More on Gary’s question regarding not playing or going all out for promotion:
I don’t actually recall the question being raised by Gary in this way. I may be wrong. I thought Gary was asking why we hadn’t made an even bigger effort to get out of this league this season bearing in mind life could be much tougher next season should Ottawa and New York come into the league.
I thought the second part of the question was, ‘are we meeting customers’ aspirations?’
(maybe Gary will add something about this too)
Gavin Baldwin still has faith in the team, coach and Carl. Promotion is still the goal.
I then asked why we weren’t getting better class players from Hull. Carl said it was due to Hull’s injury crisis and the fact that Hull had sold a number of players that would otherwise have come on DR.
I said that I had fully backed the enhanced DR arrangement when it was announced but I am now questioning whether this is the right way to proceed in the future. Our fate appears to be in Hull’s hands, not our own.
My view is that DR works great in theory but as this season and the last have proven, it doesn’t work very well in practice. Gavin Baldwin is aware of the current ‘issues’ with DR and will be monitoring the situation.
I felt that Gavin Baldwin did take on board the concerns Gary and I raised.
General discussion about insurance for players, players fitness, and injuries:
It was mentioned that players normally take out insurance of their own so they are covered for ‘loss of earnings’ at work should they get injured when playing. The Dons had been in discussions with Scotland about them covering the costs of Frankie Mariano’s injury as it happened when he was playing for his country.
Keiran Cross was expected to be back playing again sooner than expected. Frankie Mariano is still some way off yet.
Rangi Chase is enjoying his time at the club. He’s passing on his skills and knowledge to the players and is looking forward to playing again.
I’m sure some other things were mentioned but I can't recall them right now. If I think of anything else, I’ll add it on later.'"
With regard to the fixtures moved to Featherstone, I concur with Mike that this has been a thorny issue for supporters and I have lost count of the number of people who have said that either they won't go to Featherstone, they won't buy a season ticket next season or both. As such, I expected more concern from the Club than I witnessed. I also pointed out that the way it was communicated (without any supporting explanation) was poor.
Mike is 100% right about the question attributed to me in the minutes. I was asking why with no Toronto, no Toulouse, no Bradford we aren't taking what is a fantastic opportunity to get out of this division? I also questioned later if the Club is possibly failing to manage it's customer expectations with some statements (an example being the enhanced dual registration agreement)? Mike will probably agree that there appears to be some issue over me asking these sort of questions as it was pointed out to me (although I didn't need reminding) that I asked in July 2018 what would happen should the Club's stated aspiration of promotion last season not be achieved.
I share the view that events last season and again this, demonstrate that the DR agreement has too much out of the Club's control (injuries, the DR partner moving players on who may have been expected to be available to us).
I applaud the Club for moving in to the loan market to plug the gap.
A couple of other things discussed were the signing of Elliot Townsend which hadn't been communicated by the Club with supporters unaware of if he was our player or Hull's and the disappearance of Jordan Cox without explanation. It was stated at the Meeting that he had left the Club and that it was at the decision of the Coach.
At the end of the Meeting, Ray Green (prompted by Carl Hall) stated that no comments should be posted on social media until Club Doncaster had signed off on the minutes and they had been officially issued. Based on Club Doncaster having sanctioned these minutes I would have to say that they do seem somewhat selective.
Gavin Baldwin spoke quite passionately about loyalty to his staff and I absolutely respect the sentiments. As he alluded to, time will tell if it's the right call.
The message was that Gavin, Carl and Richard Horne all believe that promotion is still achievable via the play offs and I will be delighted if they are proved correct.
