Reticent to post this on the book of faces as I will no doubt get shot down by the happy clappers and people who state I can only have an opinion if I go to games (YAWN).

We did well to make the final, but in contrast to Swinton and The Cougars we lacked creativity, we tried to play a forwards game when we don't have to punch up front to play forwards game. Ben Johnston tried his best but he's our only real strike player who can create a bit of magic (especially when Watson is playing at 9) if they mark him out of the game we look very flat, to be honest apart from the 2 man steal in the closing stages today we managed to nullify their 7 to.

Misi has been dependable and I am sure the young lads learn a lot from him, but we do need a more dynamic back line with some pace and skill, Tali cannot do it all on his own. We have the ability on the fringes but we just choose to barge up the middle very one-dimensional and very easy to defend against. Having seen the majority of tries we've scored this year there aren't many that have been scored from long range (apart from Travis's two in recent weeks).

I said last year Horne has taken them as far as he can now, two finals two losses time for some fresh ideas, Get Matty, Sweeting and Peltier back in the side, try to keep the spine of the time from this year and add some flair and get a coach who plays to it rather than trying to win a battle of attrition in the middle.

Just to reiterate the lads did well today, they tried, but they were outclassed and out-thought and when the chips were down didn't really have any "ace in the hole" to try to pull the points back.

The richard horne experiment hasn't worked, he's been given ample time but I've not seen anything that makes me believe he's an up and coming coach in the game, the lack of passion and emotion doesn't sit right with me. Swinton's coach is an absolute gobe of the highest order but he was running in every ball, tackling and verbal throughout the 80 mins on the sideline where as ours didn't move from the corner of the stand! Good players don't always make good coaches and for me he has to go

Horne has consistantly failed to achived what he has been tasked with - time for some new ideas.

Let's face it we are playing in a numpty division and have done since 2015.
Only half a dozen decent teams in it and we came 4th out of those six...
No need for analysis....we continually fail, lose our best and have to start again and by the time they have got half decent the season is over.
We are Steptoe and Son, hoping for success on too little outlay.
Well let them that are happy with it continue with it........

Best players to be head hunted, CEO says we would have kept them had we got promoted, season tickets at give away prices. RH and CH reach for the Carl Harrison winter sale catalogue. All is forgiven at the back slappers end of season do where the club congratulate each other for another successful season and players who are leaving smile sheepishly for the camera.

And the mysterious Ethan Wade O'Gorman has posted that this team is going places, well some of the players will be - Sheffield, Dewsbury, Leeds. If we manage to hang onto Watson then I'll be one smacked gob.

Have a good Winter folks and try and keep warm.

Those who were head-hunted last year don't seem to have set the Championship alight. Some may have left last year because of the uncertainly surrounding League One. They presumably got better financial offers too.

I'm not sure who the Championship clubs would be targeting this season. Our best players: Tali? Johnston? Taulapapa? No, no, he's getting on a bit now. Connor Robinson possibly? Ruan to Leeds?

I like Wilf's reference to Craig Harrison's winter sale catalogue!

I reckon we need plenty of new blood for next season. If we think a little bit of tinkering will be enough because we had a 'near miss' we will be making a mistake.

To win the league with little change would be relying on other clubs not being as good as Swinton and Keighley. That may prove to be the case but it's not something I would care to take a chance on.

We should aim to be the Keighley of 2023, not stumble over the line through the play-offs. Better quality players are needed to do that... no offence meant to the players we've got as they given their all this season and we could ask nothing more of them.

I personally think we were 2 props and a fullback short this season, I thought that early on and I still think that now. I hear that the core of this squad is remaining in tact and we shouldn't have the wholesale changes of last year, but some changes are still needed

The "Craig Harrison Winter Sale" made me physically laugh its true its the only place we get players from, despite him being a terrible human being we seem to keep going back to him and lining his pockets.

I'll be brutally honest the vast majority of the squad needs a refresh and a different way of playing, we have a ground that lends itself to expansive rugby we just need a coach who can make the best of it.

With the incoming changes I dont feel we can afford not to get promoted next season - as DM has said we should Go Large and try to gain promotion, I am sure we have more finanancial backing than both the Cougars and Swinton and I'd dare to say our local rivals in the Eagles, the question is does Club Doncaster have the desire?

77 mins on the clock 12-10 in a game where the winner gets promoted and there's 1 coach running up and down the touchline screaming at his players and the other coach sat in the corner of the stand thinking of what he's gonna have for his supper later!

I hope that what Jemmo has heard regarding the squad has some semblance of truth, we really cannot afford to be 'gelling' as a team into the new season. Are the two clubs who are coming down into League 1 as good as the two that have achieved promotion? at this moment in time you ought to think that they are not.

On paper we should be classed as one of the favourites for promotion next year, as my dear old Father in Law says approaching his 93rd year, "get a bloody move on whilst I get chance to see it"

Dewsbury will need to have a good close season to be competitive (IMO) they have released a lot of players and a lot of their main players are getting on a bit, depends on their investment I guess.

Workington are always competitive and although they've hit financial trouble this year and had a tough year on the pitch they always seem there or thereabouts. I'd suggest the biggest threat as things stand for next year is North Wales and someone like Hunslet spending some.

As I understand it, Keighley have a wealthy backer who has no family so is spending it all on his team while he can. They're knocking down their main stand and doing a rebuild

I agree we'd have been in a much better place with two more props and a full-back. In all the years we've been in this division, this has been a common theme: not enough power in the forwards and no real expert full-back.

We can overcome the lesser lights in the division but when tackling the better sides, these shortcomings find us out.

One other point that needs to be considered is that should we get promoted next season we don't want to have to make wholesale changes to that squad when we go up. Keighley have got a squad together that should be competitive in the Championship and this is what we should aim to do.

I don't think we should under-estimate the difference in quality between the Championship and League One.Getting up is the easy bit, staying there is the hard part as I suspect Swinton will find out, unless they bring in five or six better quality players.

To be honest, the present Dons team would not cope with the Championship physicality, intensity and pace. That is why I feel we need to bring in more than two or three better quality players now... providing we can attract them to the club. Keighley did it so I suspect it's money that talks, not necessarily the league you're in.

Yes, let's start with a couple of props and a full-back but we should aim to do more.

Yes, I class those three as the bare minimum but agree with everything you have said

Dunno what I will do next season, I tend to buy a season ticket because at £60 they are cheap.
But I can't get to all home games unless I spend £30 in diesel making a special round trip from Sewerby....
So dunno....Dons need to sign a couple of marquee players for me to be revved up...
Our halves did not step up at Swinton or we would have won.

To be fair S-O Swinton did their homework and didn't fall for the show n go from Johnston, once that's not an option we lack the creativity to do much else other than BARGE!!! We brought Watson on and stuck him at acting half he was rarely involved in open play which is a shame as he has the ability to create magic.

What typified it for me was 2 mins to go, we have the ball and we do a one-out wasted drive with Smeets, shows there is no plan B in place, you could argue there is barely a Plan A at times. The defence overall was pretty solid and Travis did very well under the highballs they lofted, he has pace to burn just wished we used him more.

We play a very percentage game we don't seek to make chances to score we wait for the opposition to drop off tackles.

Carl Hall video from the Swinton match:

[urlhttps://twitter.com/media_mgmt_/status/1576940600921710592?s=46&t=E_RlMm4w6cpGJtN2vu4QVw[/url

"We will give the play offs a miss next year" I hope you are correct Mr Hall and not blowing smoke'

The early announcement of players retained and some statement signings in the coming weeks would be a statement of intent, rather than it all being done last minute and based on "whos left" or as previously mentioned the Craig Harrison Winter Sale.

From the fans Facebook page. The fans meeting will take place now on the 22nd November, due to the recruitment questions that will arise, its been moved to that date in order for Hall and Horne to update regarding recruitment. Thy are said to be dealing with that right now.

Not sure when the original date for the fans meeting was due to take place, if it had been announced I had not seen the proposed date.

You would have thought the Dons' website would be the place to advise when meetings are to take place and to report the minutes but nothing is ever posted on there.

Good communication is about reaching out to as many people as possible but for some reason this never happens. Readers of this forum will be among those who take the greatest interest in the club. If we don't know what's happening, then I doubt potential new fans will have much clue at all as to what's going on.

The poor attendance at the play-off semi-final was another prime example of Club Doncaster not promoting/marketing/communicating with the fans very well. The biggest home game of the season saw 628 attend and quite a few of those were from Rochdale.

We'll were not sure about this Ethan chap does he work for the club or not?

The very fact Richard horne is in his FIFTH year as doncaster coach with no promotions and no visible improvement echoes the point we are a stale, unambitious, old boys club. Which other club would of kept with the same coach who has failed for 5 years? I've never witnessed a workplace like this where there's zero accountability yet still ask for our undivided support! We're simply mugs

See we loose our best players but no one ever head hunts our coach mmmmmh

Swinton Lions enter a Dual-Registration agreement with St Helens.

Probably out of necessity in an effort to stay up.