That's the nature of friendlies im afraid, just give everyone some game time

i think a fair few of the subs were forced through injury too. looks like quite a few knocks were taken. not convinced it was the best fixture a week before our first league game..

Apart from getting a bit of revenue, you are darned tootin' right!
I wish we hadn't have played the game at all.
We should be playing championship sides in friendlies.

I was ready to walk out at half-time.
I went instead in search of the elusive Rovers Bitter* and got talking to wanderer and decided to stop.
Glad I did really, we were better in the second stanza (Stevo ).

*Rovers Bitter........
They have a pump in the restaurant/bar dispensing some sickly brew at 3.2% abv.
I inquired ''what about the real ale Rovers beer?''
''Oooh (said she) I think it's about 4.5% abv and they sell it at Lakeside.''
Enough said.
I walked away.
The mind boggles!

If we had played a Championship Club we wouldnt have got 810 attending , unless may be it was against Fax or Fev.

Well obviously ....durrr!
But as a Dons supporter, I hated the game.
I don't like to see the lads getting blasted just for a shiny dollar.

I don't think it was a bad fixture, a team higher in skill level(they say) and superior fitness, as a full time outfit should be, it was above what we can expect even from the top championship sides, and im sure the players will learn from it. The fact the Dons were so keen to get the fixture on shows the importance they felt the fixture held.I was slightly disappointed with the crowd , thought there would have been a few more, hopefully all waiting for season to start

I agree, I thought the crowd would have been at least a thousand.
Obviously the lower the crowd goes the less it's worth it to get blasted.
And I question just what do you learn from getting turned over so easily?
The players are at their optimum, trying their hardest and apart from a few tactical things how can they get better?
Silk purse and all that........

I can only disagree , i think you can learn quite a bit from playing teams who play the game full time. How much quicker they took up positions that created options for playmakers , how quickly the defensive line(too quick on occasions ) came up strangling the Dons attacking options. It also gave Paul Cooke much needed game time, im sure he needed it, understandably looked a bit tentative .But nowt wrong with having differing opinions, makes the world go round.

Noting that teams are quicker than you is merely an observation when there is nothing you can do about it.
They are just a better class of athletes.

Just how can a team at our level emulate a team at Superleague level? ....they can't.
They already know all about line speed and all that and marking from a good coach in Miller.
But they are Championship level players not Superleague players.

as i say...differing opinions

I didn't bother going. To be honest the idea of freezing my backside off to watch a friendly against the rugby giants of Wakefield Trinity didn't really excite me.

What games like this show is that skill on its own is no good without speed (physical and mental) and strength. Paul Cooke is an example, a naturally talented player who just doesn't have the pace to exploit the opportunities he sees, but he is still one of the most skillful players around. His pass to the winger for your try was sublime.

i just find that a week before our first league game risking players just to prove what we already knew that we obviously wouldnt be good enough to beat the likes of wakefield. there were too many injuries on sunday and that concerns me for this sunday. any news on how any of them are?

To ne honest I agree with you - the Dons had little to gain from this match, whereas we seemed to use it as a low risk 'hit out' prior to our match next week, followed ny 'blooding' some youngsters. Maybe part of the partnership agreement?

Oh I'm so sorry we are not good enough for you (or the players we lend you), enjoy playing Swinton won't you.