That's the problem Jemmo on here, when you switch to the darkside, reality has a tendency to get overlooked and the impending Armageddon gets hold of you.

Watson Boas in the squad

I remember him, last seen very publicly accepting a signing-on cheque from Sepik Pride in PNG. If I recall correctly, he was still under contract to Doncaster RLFC. It seems all is forgiven ...

Bet365 ...

Hunslet +4 10/11
Doncaster -4 10/11
Handicap Draw 16/1

A Doncaster win is 8/13

Skybet's handicap and prices are the same as Bet365's.

HT Hunslet 16 Doncaster 8

FT Hunslet 28 Doncaster 8

Other results ...

Crusaders 32 Rochdale 24
Midlands 23 Dewsbury 28

Oldham v Workington - Postponed

Well that bit me big time. Well played Hunslet, their desire was obviously greater than Doncasters. Over to you Mr Horne and Mr Hall.

Reality kicks in

Dewsbury now 7 points clear of Doncaster who have 2 games in hand of the leaders.

Hunslet move into third 2 points further back after the Oldham v Workington game was a late postponement due to travel issues for the Cumbrians.

Lack lustre performance today .

Hunslet won the forward battle & Beharrell won the kicking game . We missed Johnstone today .

The Dons were fantastic, I went.
Loved every minute, get behind the lads.
Promotion is but a formality.
Can't wait to be on the bus to Worky and North Wales....

Is Ben Johnston injured?

Either way, the Club bring back a player who wanted away, signed elsewhere, isn't match fit, straight into the team and a loss ensues ... some might say karma ...

Out with a leg injury according to fans at the match , was missed today.
Think Boas would have been on the bench otherwise .

Had it not been for Hunslet buggering up 4 certain tries...the score would have been 50+ to 8 for them
But it does not detract from the fact that we are the best side in this division, just slightly undervalued by some supporters that are not welcome and should shut up.
We were robbed today and given enough time I could find reasons why.
Can't wait for RH to speak about it....

Everything was wrong yesterday from the team selection, to pretty much every way things were executed, even Robinson couldn't kick a goal. Not a lot more I can say really other than I wouldn't fancy playing Hunslet in the play offs

Definitely a game to forget , however this performance has been coming for some weeks now.
I think the last time we played this badly was when we scored in the final minutes to sneak a draw away at West Wales.

How many times this year have we started poorly and been chasing the game at half time?
What happened to the expansive rugby that has seen us put teams to the sword after half time.?

After we scored the two quick tries, it was obvious Hunslets right side was their weak point and we should have made it a priority to target the left edge to suck in their defenders before sending Hey and Fez down that chancel after the break to exploit it.

However we chose the option of one out carry after one out carry which was never going to trouble the Hunslet line.

Our halves were non existent and our wingers both had days they will wish to forget.

Hey for me was outstanding along with James who carried strongly when introduced , maybe this is the reality check we need, as serving up a performance like that in the play off will surely see an early exit.

I understand the fact we started Boas, but has the guy played any rugby since last year?

I'm sure RH will watch the game back and asses what was a shocking display , I just hope after the break we can turn up with the right attitude and do a job on the Hurricanes as going by yesterdays results that wont be an easy task.

Quote ="Stand-Offish"Had it not been for Hunslet buggering up 4 certain tries...the score would have been 50+ to 8 for them But it does not detract from the fact that we are the best side in this division, just slightly undervalued by some supporters that are not welcome and should shut up. We were robbed today and given enough time I could find reasons why. Can't wait for RH to speak about it....'" This for starters SO https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/sp ... ne-4205130

Quote ="Stand-Offish"Had it not been for Hunslet buggering up 4 certain tries...the score would have been 50+ to 8 for them But it does not detract from the fact that we are the best side in this division, just slightly undervalued by some supporters that are not welcome and should shut up. We were robbed today and given enough time I could find reasons why. Can't wait for RH to speak about it....'" This for starters SO https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/sp ... ne-4205130

Not close to winning it, play offs, losing in play offs! Eat, sleep repeat. Why do we accept this year in and year out without challenging it? We really are not better than last season when it was promised we would be.

It always tickles me, no annoys me, when coaching staff criticise what the team did post game.....that is my job, because I had no say in what they, the players, did.
The same does not apply, as far as I am concerned , to the coaching staff.
They can rejig, they can influence play, because they can get messages onto the pitch.
Now if they do that and the players don't listen, they need to be told again and again.
They still may not listen and adapt their play in which case they deserve a bollocking.
But the coaching team are part of the team.....so blame yourselves as well!

Yesterday I don't think we could do anything in the second half, we were smothered and we didn't have enough skill to escape our own half...
Hunslet were better, sharper and organised better than us.
We stood around when the ball went to ground while they reacted...at least two of their tries were down to such negligence.
But as I said Hunslet will be angry about the tries they buggered up on or over our line.
A comprehensive defeat!

Next season will be our season or possibly the season after, either way the old boys act needs you to keep continuing to put your valuable time and hard earned money into club doncaster.

Well the Dons have had plenty of my dosh...
Talking about money....yesterday I went to a stadium that offered me free parking, a £10 entrance charge and sold beer at £3.80 a pint.
Oh....and had a better side.
Compare and contrast that with the fare on offer at the Eco Power...
But that is just moaning...right?!

I've been away on holiday for a week and come back to this...

I always feared that without either of Connor Robinson or Ben Johnston we could hit trouble. It seems like we had a stinker across the board on Sunday though.

We've scraped home in a few games this season - not looking totally convincing. We've conceded more tries than a good team should - showing we have vulnerabilities.

Where does this leave us?

Dews: 14, 27, +376
Dons: 12, 20, +154
Huns: 12, 18, +198
Oldh: 12, 17, +208
Work: 11, 14, +114

Our maximum points is 32. If Dewsbury get five or more points, we can't catch them. If Dewsbury win their next three, they'll be champions by the time we play them.

Dewsbury: N Wales (H), Hunslet (A), Workington (H), Dons (A). It looks like Dewsbury would have to lose to both Hunslet and the Dons for them not to be champions. N Wales and Workington might give Dewsbury something to think about but on home soil they must be strong favourites to win both.

How tricky are our remaining games?

Dons: Midlands (H), Workington (A), N Wales (A), London (H), Cornwall (H), Dewsbury (H).

Worky (A) and N Wales (A) could be challenges. We certainly need to bounce back at home to Midlands or else we could get in a tailspin.

Can we be caught for second?

Hunslet: Midlands (A), Oldham (H), Dewsbury (H), Rochdale (A), London (H), Workington (A)
Oldham: N Wales (H), Hunslet (A), Cornwall (A), Rochdale (A), Midlands (H), Workington (H) to be arranged

The good news is that Hunslet have got to play Oldham which means one of them must drop points.

Unless we nosedive, it's possible that Hunslet will need to beat Oldham and Dewsbury to finish second.

Oldham seem to have an easier run-in. If they beat Hunslet and win all their other games, they'd finish on 29 points. In that case, we'd need 5 wins from our last 6 to be assured of finishing above them.

The combinations are aplenty but we might have to beat Dewsbury at home to finish second. If they're champions at that point, they may take their foot off the gas against us (or is that wishful thinking?!)

The issues:

Mathmatically, finishing top is less likely now than before the Hunslet loss but after such a lacklustre performance, it feels as though we've niow got something to prove.

Whilst we've beaten Oldham several times, I'd still rate it 50/50 should we play them again. I'm sure Hunslet would fancy their chances against us, so we've got two very serious play-off rivals.

Chances of promotion:

At this point, with regards to promotion, I'd say Dewsbury have a 95% chance of going up with Dons, Oldham and Hunslet each having around a 35% chance. (95 + 35 +35 +35 = 200)

In terms of odds, that makes our chance slightly less than 2/1 (around 15/icon_cool.gif - the same as Oldham and Hunslet. I'm assuming N Wales and Workington won't upset the odds and promotion is between the top four.

The lottery of the play-offs means that if key players are missing, (like Ben Johnston on Sunday) we could be buggered. Let's hope we regain some form quickly and give ourselves the best possible chance over the coming weeks.

Many won't like to admit it but we are mere customers, the club like to think they are an open book but concerns have been expressed over recent years about the running of the club and player recruitment but it all falls on deaf ears, the fact they cherry pick certain customers to attend the 'fans forum' proves it. Year after year were being fobbed off with the same old bull crap when will fans grow a spine a question this? We have a coach close to being with us 7 seasons with zero improvement, he must genuinely scurry off to his home in Hull after a game and shut the door behind him and say to his wife 'i really don't know how I'm getting away with this'. Everything about club doncaster reeks of an old boys act and needs disbanding to progress but the minute you challenge things the brainwashed minions jump on you! It's a very weird setup

We have only had one top performance all season....and that was Oldham away.
Everything else have been narrow wins or daft scores against lower sides.
By daft I mean totally inconsistent periods of good play and then shocking play.
We have had some injuries such that we have had to borrow replacements and they have not been better than those injured....but to be fair not worse.
Getting Boas back might have pleased some folk....but he is nowhere near the Boas of yesteryear fitness-wise and as such...just another body, not a match winner.
He is not alone...too many of our team are fat around the belly.
Too many of most teams are fat around the belly ...even in Superleague.