Next week is the 3 monthly fans committee meeting. Please send me any questions you would like to ask the hierachy of Club Doncaster and coaching staff regarding the Dons. Please email the questions to bazzer1962@hotmail.com Cheers Baz

Next week is the 3 monthly fans committee meeting. Please send me any questions you would like to ask the hierachy of Club Doncaster and coaching staff regarding the Dons. Please email the questions to bazzer1962@hotmail.com Cheers Baz

Has the meeting taken place ?

It has taken place Paul, but we have to wait until Jackie has typed up the minutes. Here are the minutes.
Fans Panel Meeting
Wednesday 24th August 2016

Attendees: Gary Fox, Barry Brown, Phil Buxton, Dave Stewart, Stewart Thompson,
Carl Hall, John Scarrow, Gary Thornton, Gavin Baldwin, Ray Green.

John Scarrow welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending

Gary Thornton gave a summary of current position.
At beginning of season we stated that we were aiming for a Top 4 finish and this has been achieved.
We have had a torrid time with injuries but with the exception of Barrow, Hunslet was a good team effort, Toulouse was good and Keighley was won in the last 20 minutes.
Our objective is to finish 3rd to have home advantage for the semi-final but 3 games in 8 days is big ask.
The medical staff have been working hard this year with 26 injuries, with some players having more than one injury, so between them 200 games have been missed. We don’t know if these were unlucky or there is a reason behind this and this is what we are looking at – we can’t fault the medical team, Doctor or Physio, they are doing a good job which is very testing.
Zac Braham should be back for Rochdale game and Jordie Hedges and Jordan Howden came through Keighley game OK.
Liam Welham has a torn muscle and will be out for rest of season but Jason Tali does not need surgery.
Mason Tonks will hopefully be back this week but because of having concussion twice he was unable to play until he had seen a Neurologist. We now have his report and he will be available to play against Rochdale.
Mike Kelly and Matt Nicholson will be out for the rest of the season and Brad Foster is awaiting a scan.
Makali Aizue should be OK for Rochdale, and Ryan Wright will be having an operation at the end of the season. Kyle Kesik had a bang to the knee but is OK.
It is very difficult to get 17 players training together.
I am very impressed with the team spirit and that is a good attribute in a squad.
The situation at York has put us at a disadvantage and will impact us playing 3 games in 8 days

Questions:

Stewart Thompson – I thought Fitness was the priority at the beginning of the season?
GT: It is – but we have had a lot of injuries. Tackling techniques and collisions in the game cause knee and shoulder injuries mainly. RL is a very tough sport
The younger players have stepped up to the mark, training every week and some playing out of position because of the injury situation.

Dave Stewart - Is this season’s squad sticking together or is it early days yet?
GT: We built the squad so that hopefully the younger ones will stay here for a couple of years
CH: We are not talking about next year yet as we need to concentrate on the rest of this season and we can’t officially talk to players until September.

Paul Cook – When will Dons stuff be sold in the Keepmoat Club Shop?
CH: We are still contracted to FiTa until the end of the season but will be changing over to FBT for next season so merchandise will be in the shop for 2017 season.

Paul Margrave – Why aren’t attendances for home matches being announced near the end of games, they aren’t on match reports or in the press?
CH: They are on match reports and in the press but at a couple of games the figures were not available until after the game and too late to announce.

Paul Margrave – I am concerned about the apathy towards the club at the moment, people ripping up season tickets, season ticket holders not attending games.
Fan/Club relationship at an all time low. Questions put to the CEO not answered, fan’s questions ridiculed. I appreciate sometimes answers cannot be given to some questions but please say that not just ignore them !?
CH: When the questions get asked ‘In the Dugout’ they are new to me, I am not told in advance of any of the questions and I answer the best I can.
The general consensus at the moment is that the communication is good with things that have been introduced, especially with the appointment of the SLO.

Gary Fox – Talking about Season Tickets, it is hard to decide to buy a ticket when the dates of fixtures are not known, especially with 8’s, so people are missing games due to holidays etc. I know this is not a fault of the Club
JS: This is problem with all league 1 Clubs with supporters missing 1 or 2 games a season.
GT: A majority of the Coaches, me included, would prefer to play teams home and away.

Chris Scorah – Can we ask if the Club has started at looking at signing on or new signings for next season. Keeping the information going to the fans would hopefully start getting fans interested?
CH: As stated earlier, we need to concentrate on the play off games, not contracts and the RL rule is that players cannot be approached until September.

Mike Lindley – What changes to the League structure would John like to see made and why?
JS: It is my view that a review of the league structure should take place. We could loose York and Sheffield whilst introducing Toulouse and Toronto who would get promotion in their first season. There are too many developing clubs being introduced whilst no funding of the grass root clubs. A lot of clubs that are in trouble are spending beyond their means but to play every club home and away would make a 28/30 week season which is too long.

Stewart Thompson – Dons4Life – is this still paying for players?
CH: This started with the signing of Paul Cooke and has continued with the supporting of signing players. It pays for nothing else but players.

Harry Barton – Match day – please can players tickets etc be collected at main reception rather than players end?
CH: This will be changed for 2017

Phil Buxton: Dons Draw Members – can the 2 complimentary tickets we receive for the Rovers be tickets for the Dons as alternatives?
This to be looked at.

Stewart Thompson – Re the number of penalties being given away?
GT: I agree about the ill discipline at the Hunslet game but Rugby League is a physical and aggressive game. Technical penalties are indiscipline but a lot is how the referee interprets it. A lot of the penalties come on the back of sustained pressure and players are human.

Heritage Site – meeting to be arranged – Ray Green

The supporters who travelled to Toulouse were part of the biggest attendance that Toulouse have had all season at home and were a credit to the Club. The hotel stated we were the only Club that had the fans and players together.





Thank you to everyone who attended.

The next meeting will be organised for a couple of month’s time.

With regard to questions not answered in the dugout , I appreciate and applaud the work done by the SLO.

Thank you for addressing my other question .
Paul Margrave

Thanks for asking the questions, Baz - much appreciated.

My question was to John Scarrow with regards to the league structure. If the RFL don't sort this, the game at Championship 1 level will die. That is how serious I believe this situation is.

They ( the RFL) may have to restructure if Sheffield & York go under.

Thanks Guys, i do try and ask all questions that are sent to me.

It'd be interesting to see if the RFL tried to fast-track Toronto into the Championship should Sheffield drop out.

Personally, I'd be 100% against this as all teams must start in the lowest league and earn promotion through on-field performances, not through the size of their owners' pockets.

Let's hope the Eagles sort things out.

If Sheffield go under maybe three could be promoted ? That would compensate for Toulouse's 'dream ticket' ?

Or maybe only one would relegated!

I'm trying to be positive for Donny DM !!
I'd much rather see the Eagles survive and live happily ever after.

I know.

It's no good at all for the game if any club goes under. When a side relies on one backer, if that backer pulls out, they're at risk. That seems like the situation at both York and Sheffield.

I have concerns as to where Salford will be if Marwan Koukash leaves them.

I have to say (and i'm not being patronising) that the so-called lesser clubs like Hemel, Oxford, Coventry etc who have come to Toulouse have been great this season, much better than I had imagined. There's some great coaching going on at this level which has to be good for the future.

I'm all for developing the game in newer areas. I think the people who have grasped the nettle and set up clubs in these areas need to be applauded. The issue as I see it is that there is very little support for the game in these development areas but this is probably due to a chicken and egg situation. All supporters want to watch a winning side. Even with a winning side, it's very difficult to attract supporters but when you're getting beaten by large margins, it makes it almost impossible to build a fan base. The newer clubs have a huge obstacles to overcome.

I believe all clubs have to play at a level they can be competitive at. That means a league needs to be comprised of teams of similar ability. At the moment there are too many teams who aren't competitive and that makes Championship One a poor division, coupled with the terrible fixture format we have.

For everyone's sake the league needs to be split in two to make every game competitive. Quite how this split should be done will be dependent on whether all current teams make it into the 2017 season. I love rugby and want to see it thrive but the present format will kill the game, not develop it. You only need to look at the declining attendances to see the evidence.

If C1 is split in 2 , would probably have to play each other 3 times.

I would get rid of the League Cup & play each other twice.

You know it mkes sense , about time the clubs stood upto the RFL .