Agree on the distancing bit.
A coach needs to be visible not stuck in the opposite stand.....it gives totally the wrong impression.
The coach needs to get himself on the field before and after games with the players and a least wave at the supporters in acknowledgement of their support.

i agree with you about the coach showing passion i think it goes along way and also show lads that it matters.
chunkster i agree that the level of the local teams isnt up to standard but dont forget them lads play for fun just for love of game. i think there is afew individuals from local teams who could quiet easliy cut it at the current level it would take a couple of weeks hard graft to get fitness and speed upto scratch thats the main difference not skill!!
after all most of the current 1st team are good amatuers playing above there level but if they are trying we can live with that we all know were not the richest club in terms of money but we can be proud and passionate that costs nothing.

Totally agree.....they are out there....they just need bringing up to speed fitness-wise.
It it wasn't the case....then it would be same everywhere......and so where would RL players come from?

I agree that there are and have been good players from Donny,but the club always seems to overlook local talent(which would surely increase the gate) to players of lesser ability from Cas, Wakey, Hull and Leeds.Thats always been the case with the Dons, the only time we had a squad of local lads was when the club changed to the Dragons and local players like myself,Tony Chappel ,Howard Roberts,Ernie Lake,Ian Fletcher,Ian Stewart and others all turned out to play for our home town club,not for the money but for the pride of representing your home town.I will never forget playing that first game at Belle Vue against Hull KR,sitting in the changing rooms under the main stand ,while 1000 Dons fans stamped and cheered before the start of the game,all the lads that played that day will tell you that the hairs on the back of your neck stood up and some were close to tears.The club has made the mistake of overlooking local lads or using them and then letting them go,that is why we cannot get local lads to the club.However i will do all i can to scout local lads for the club as when i was coaching the scholarship we had a number of good quility players who with the right coaching could have formed the basis of a team for the future,but that has been disbanded due to cash ,but when only one coach out of five was being paid ,then you have to question the logic.We need to get behind the lads tomorrow ,as i am sure a few of the lads playing have a point to prove.

That is all too true.

I've seen a fair few players in my wanderings with Shorpe who would be more than capable of playing at a higher level, it just begs to ask, would the club take the risk on young, South Yorkshire based players with an excess of talent on the recommendation of another club?

I'm totally 100% behind the settled team idea, for the risk of broken record syndrome its what has been absent for the past few years. Its been chop and change due to the circumstances that have been brought about by running instead of walking. Get the team settled, and the finances settled( I believe they are) and hopefully the blooding of young local talent will come but not just for the sake of it. I want to turn up and know the players out on the park, I want to take pride in their performance week in week out. It is a ridiculous scenario having a different team every couple of months and not one that helps to get the disillusioned back in the seats.

Spot On Al.

How about the local lads who played for the Dons in the 1987-89 season
Neil Turner
Mark Roache
Audley Pennant
Milton Pennant
Lol Freeman
Kevin Parkhouse
Mark Gibbon
Alan Carr
Ian Barratt

That was the point I made earlier in the thread. IMHO there are one or two local lads who could quite possibly make the step up, but they are overlooked in favour of other players from the so called 'hot beds' who, looking at results, aren't up to the job.
At least give one or two of them a chance, and if they dont cut it at least you've tried.

Count me out, Ive seen the consultent today and has said my knees are like a Lunar Landscape from the MRI scans Ive just had.

Keep having a paddle in the sea Dave!

Yes Geoff we did have some great local players as you mentioned ,but look how many clubs we had back then around the villages,Bentley,Askern,Rossington,Armthorpe,ICI,Moorends,Goldthorpe,Skellow and many be a few more,now we have two, Bentley and Toll Bar ,if we are to progress you need players to perform at a higher level,the step up from amateur is hard as the game is much faster,even at the lower levels.Bentley and Toll Bar should join forces and try to play in the conference instead of struggleing on season to season playing in Yorkshire one and two ,then maybe we can get back to the days of having a team made up of local boys.Toll Bar have some great facilities and good youth development,while Bentley have players with more experience of playing semi pro , but this will never happen as both clubs want to keep their identity. Surely it would benefit both the clubs and the Dons,and this could give local players something to aspire too,using this as a Dons feeder club.

We don't like mergers on here chunkster (it's a touchy subject).
You just said that we had a better pool to pick from when we had more local clubs like Askern, Rosso etc ....so why would we want to make it fewer.
Besides .....are we just giving the Marauders youngsters up to Hull etc..what about them?

are in the Pennine League.

I said that as my opinon,as i feel we need players to play at a higher level than the lower reaches of the yorkshire league.Howard Roberts and Brian have a good group of young lads at Moorends,as i have coached most of them on the scholarship for the last two seasons,(until its demize),but with the senior team folding it would be hard for them to progress into a team with no old heads to guide and protect them.The Dons need to have better links with the local clubs and help them produce players that want to play at a higher level,not just to turn out on a saturday and play social rugby.We lost three really good young lads to Hull KR off the scholarship last year and it breaks my heart to see players leave the club after we have put time and effort into improving them as players only for them to be cherrypicked away from us.We need to start the scholarship program again ,there are plenty of the previous coaching staff that would get back involved,and it would cost next to nothing.

Totally agree with the above,but---
If the above is true and it would cost next to nothing---why was the scholarship abandoned in the first place?

A Good Scholarship should be the nucleus of our club and for our future.

No idea,it was all self funded under Dave Marsall separate from the main club

You've previously stated that it breaks your heart to see lads leave the club after all the time and effort
you've put into improving them as players,----------and i applaud you for that.

But surely when the scholarship was abandoned you must of questioned the logic of it.

Surely you were given a reason-----and if the reason is not money related,the scholarship should be re-instated as soon as possible..

Had a long talk with Carl about this last night before the game and i am please to tell you that the scholarship will be reinstated only on a smaller scale than before. It will be run as an elite training squad that will have access to the first team with more intense stills development,and body conditioning hopefuly this will produce players from Doncaster that want to stay here and progress to the first team .

Great News.

Great sounds like some forward planning at last, this kind of information needs to be out in the open so that the many disillusioned fans can see that there are some long term plans.

Think it will be in Carls program notes on Sunday

5 of the under 16 scholarship last season have been playing for myton warriors u17 in the yorkshire premier league and only lost 1 game this season, they really have come on this season 2 have already signed pro forms at hull k r and think another 2 will follow as both hull clubs watching them. i wish things at doncaster had turned out different as the lads enjoyed their time down at the club. we all still read the doncaster boards and watch out for their results and one day they might get the chance to return to doncaster . the way forward is getting the better young players at your club as they are the future of the club

hope the club gets stronger and with carl hall in charge , i think its in good hands

Dont forget Dodworth and Hoyland Pennine League

Barnsley in the Rugby League Conference as well, alongside Rotherham, who are mainly Hoyland Vikings with a few union players thrown in.