gt has issued an apology for recent results and whilst i like the bloke and think it's commendable thing to do i get the feeling we will see a few more of these before the end of the season, whatever is said injuries, suspensions and 50/50 decisions do even thereself's out so that's not gonna wash with the supporters week in week out. I questioned before the start of the season the fitness and injury probabilities with this team and was told lessons have been learnt from last season yet 3 games into champ1 and we have 8 potential 1st teamers in the stand, this isn't a rant or a petition against gt as it's only early days but the same old dons story seems to be playing out again. I really hope the past 2 defeats fires everybody up cos when the enthusiasm wanes from the die-hards your in trouble. I trust carl 100% and gt will continue to get my support and as i write this i'm worried this post will come across negative but like everyone else on this forum i just want the best for my club. COYD

Not sure that you can be labled negative when hand on heart the club can take anything positive from the last two games. If your opinions are justified on the strength of your observations then there is nothing negative about writing it down IMO

I think we all try to be positive but sadly supporting the dons that gets wiped out very soon! the thing is these players are nearly all thornton's and the facts are we lack discipline, leadership and 8 of those in the stands are struggling to shrug off fairly lengthy injuries so when do we start putting that down to poor management rather than being unlucky? we can't live off the keighley win forever but on the flip side we've won 2 from 3 and are in a very good position to progress in the ipro so that's why a part of me thinks i'm going ott and a bit negative.

Apologies are just words if a commitment to put things right doesn't come with them.
As in 'this is how I will right the wrong'.

'We gave away too many silly penalties' or 'we didn't do this or that' are merely observations.

What is needed is 'we gave away too many silly penalties' and this will stop' or 'we have made changes to stop this happening'.
These statements come with a promise a commitment.
That is what is needed GT ... that's your job.
Tell us you will put things right and how you will do it.

I love the Dons and as long as I can physically get myself down to the games, I'll be there for the rest of my days. With a favourable wind, I'm hoping that might even be another 25 years!

I feel as frustrated as everyone else when things go wrong. It hurts me and I'm sure it hurts everyone else connected with the club. No one gets pleasure from losing.

The big worry is that the evidence so far suggests we've made exactly the same mistakes this season as we did last season. We have either under-estimated the ability levels of the opposition, or we have over-estimated the abilities of the players we have signed, or both.

I still fully expect us to be significantly better than the teams at the bottom of this league but I hope this won't give us an impression that we are better than we are. Based on the Hunslet and York games, we are nowhere near as good as the better teams in the league.

I'm rather concerned that we are making such a big issue of the injury situation as I'm not sure who the players in the stands are that will turn us around. I've a lot of time for Mark Castle, he could help us. Jordon Howden could be useful but the backs get starved of opportunities if the forwards get over-run. Mike Kelly is steady. We miss Kyle Kesik but he won't turn us around on his own either. Foggy is an asset on the wing but again, wingers alone don't win matches. George Milton has looked a fair player. Without Feka coming from Hull, we don't seem to have enough sustained power to do to other teams what they're able to do to us.

We've got Jason Tali to come in. Hopefully, he'll give us a lift and might help to restore a bit of confidence.

I don't want to sound too harsh because we probably do need to give the players some more time as they're a relative new group but there really is so much that needs to be done. Unfortunately, my instincts tell me that the key to how well we will do this year will be very dependent on who we get from Hull. Is there a pattern here?

If we think back to the season in the Championship when we finished fourth, we got a lot of help from Hull with the likes of Richard Whiting and Jason Crooks playing some games for us. When we got relegated last season, we got a lot less help from Hull, especially by way of first team experience. This season, we look much better when the Hull players play well. It's sad but true. Over the last three seasons, we have needed DR to add some class to the team.

Looking at the bigger picture, the standard of rugby in the Championship is much higher than the standard in our league, even amongst the better sides in Championship One. I'm not knocking the better teams in Championship One, I'm highlighting that there is a significant ability gap between the two leagues. Think in terms of Bradford, Leigh, and Featherstone, and then think of Barrow, Hunslet, and Keighley, and you get the picture. I was hoping that the squad we've got might prove to be a cut above the rest in this league because that is what would be needed in order for us to be competitive if we got promoted. We're clearly not and my hopes have been dashed.

Unless something changes, I see us finishing around 6th in the league, beating the teams below us to give us some hope but losing to many of the teams above us, to bring us down to earth.

We can't write this season off just yet, but unless we can bring in some of our own class, quickly learn from our mistakes, improve our discipline, and get plenty of help from Hull, we could well be heading for a middle of the road type of season.

The next game against London Skolars pits us against one of the teams who, with no disrespect to Skolars, are one of the lower half teams we should be able to take care of. We need to win and win well to give us some hope that with the right coaching and application, we just might be able to get our own back on the likes of Hunslet and York.

As ever very well written DM, some very good points and food for thought.

We also struggled against Gloucester before we pulled away.
What gets my goat is when the side collapses and we have seen this twice in two games.
If our side was any good at all we might have lost but would have competed and been close.

Early doors yet but very disappointing.
I thought we would challenge and after Keighley I thought we would be top two.
WRONG!

I think I am going against London despite what I have said, because I want to see Tali and I also want to see how we do against a lesser side in the form we are in.
I will take it from there.
COYD

S/O is right, the nature of the last two defeats have been the biggest cause for concern. We looked well beaten and we were well beaten. We need to show character in games or else we'll only end up beating the lesser lights and struggling against the rest.

The next four games will tell us plenty. We should beat Skolars, we should beat North Wales (especially as they've lost some of their better players since we last met them), then it's Hunslet away again, and Barrow at home. The first two games are ones where we've got everything to lose and not a lot to gain, as we should win. The other two will then be a measure of whether the wins against Skolars and North Wales were the start of better things to come, or whether we're still where we're at now.

It's good to know S/O will be there on Sunday!