Signs a new deal then says 'I'm delighted to stay on with the Don's and with Carl and Richard at the helm we're aiming for automatic promotion' sounds like copy paste repeat to me.

In the light of Carl Halls statement one might of thought there would have been at least one marquee signing to get us there. Also fill the full back and vacant centre roles with quality players. But no it' s just as already stated same old same old. The club is run by charlatans who can't grasp the fact that positive signs of real commitment will sell more season tickets even if the price does go up. I pray for the day when someone with real intent takes over the club.

I always find myself in a tough position before a season because it goes without saying it's normally a failed one previously where targets have not been met and the bluster before the season has not happened but then i listen to Carl and the plans for the following season and I'm on board again giving everybody at the club yet another chance! Without a doubt it's naivety or being gullible on my part. I was absolutely guaranteed we wasn't making the same mistake again and automatic is a must but without a couple of big name signings once again i just can't see it. I do really like Carl both on the pitch and off it and you can see he's passionate about the club but clearly those upstairs who count their money on an hourly basis do not share that enthusiasm, I'm also staggered we go around again with a coach who couldn't inspire me to spend £5 in a brothel! Maybe when Carl ends his partnership with the club (which i hope isn't for a long time yet) he will open up about the owners and tell us just how much his hands we're tied financially.

Is this squad that is nearly a replica of last seasons beaten grand final squad good enough to earn a top two place in next years League? my thoughts are that they should be. They start off where they left off as a group and should not need the customary few games to adjust.

I wish that we could have got Zac back on the books and would still like to see Ben Howe given a further year cos IMO there is a good player in Ben and I like to see the Donny lads doing well in their home Town (City) sport.

In an ideal world half the team would be donny lads but we have to see beyond being sentimental, personally i was split on his performances and if we looking at cutting a wage to contribute to a marquee signing then sadly his name should be mentioned. I honestly can't see where we are stronger than last season and it's always difficult going to workington and think dewsbury will be highly competitive. There isn't 1 signing that's got me excited yet or gonna make me buy a season ticket, despite the bluster of being told it's automatic full steam ahead it feels like we're going down the poundland shopping route.

I honestly thought that with Carl Halls connections to the world cup we were going to have at least one or two overseas signings and that was the basis of his claim about winning the league. Yes we have some new players but they are nowhere near the quality of the signings Keighley made last year to win the league. We are being served up the same old bull once again but I'm sure there will be a section who will accept this for yet another year. However for me it's no longer acceptable and another season ticket is a million miles away. Good luck though to those who do decide to plough the same old furrow.

Let's see what the bookies say....

I'd be surprised if the Dons are in the front two in the betting, very surprised.

I think the bookies will have us as third when it comes out

The bookies always seem to underestimate our chances.
Hunslet , Workington and Dewsbury look strong but after the club made their intentions clear at yesterday's launch , I'm confidant of a successful season.

The bookies won't be pricing up our league anytime soon so I thought I'd have a stab at it.

If you fancy calculating prices yourself, firstly give each of the 11 teams a percentage chance of winning the league. The total win percentage chances for the 11 clubs must come to 100.

To then calculate the odds for each team

I've got the Dons at 5/1 to win the league and 2/1 to get promoted.

The bookmakers' prices will probably be shorter than those I've listed as they'll build a profit margin into their book. My book assumes no profit margin for backer or layer.

Bookies aside...we have 3 pundits placing us third ....
That really isn't good enough....

Somewhere in the region of 20% and this will mainly be factored into the first few in the betting.

I intend on marrying Britney spears and have been for a while but not getting far with that currently! We have heard this confidence malarkey ever since the infamous 5yr plan was introduced only to be let down year in year out, what we have at our club is very good salesmen and motivational speakers that convince and get me hooked every season but it's getting to a stage where i don't want to open up just to get conned again, I know the fleecebookers who read this will have the pitchforks ready but seriously we are going into another season in my opinion in a tougher league but with a slightly weaker team so how can we be confident?

The pre-season games we've got lined up are much more sensible than previously. With most of the squad being the same as last year, I don't expect a slow start this time. They're two positives.

Nevertheless, even with a relatively injury-free end of season last time and a team that had got used to playing with each other, we still weren't good enough to beat Swinton.

It does look as though it could be a tougher league in 2023 and we don't seem to have strengthened enough to be confident we're the best team in the division. However, we should be competitive and stand a reasonable chance of winning promotion.

Jemmo, Wanderer and I have stated where we think we're at. What chance of promotion does everyone else think we've got? Have we got a better or worse chance this time around?