There seems to be a drift back to talking about the key positions and once this is sorted then we will all live happy ever after in cloud Donny land.



At Championship level, who can you get with more experience than P Cooke at 6? Internationalist D Scott at 1 – did he not play fullback against France? K Kesik has been re-signed – to play at 9? We had R Wilkinson at 7 and because of his injury we had other players at half back – including Danny Nicklaus.



Just looking at this, does this not seem like a very strong competitive spine? How could this be strengthened? Yet in the first half of the season with P Cooke in charge we were hammered time and again. Also, we were utterly thrashed by League 1 side North Wales Crusaders.



When P Cooke departed and G Thornton took over the helm, he brought in a new half back pairing. Result – we were trashed. G Thornton tried different players at fullback. Result – we were trashed. He brought in another hooker. Result – we were trashed.



Can someone please explain why a current problem is/was the spine of the team? Also, what exactly did the coaches/management at Donny fail to address?



Also, if the spine of the team is not the problem, then does this mean that the problem is with other players? Or, is the real problem elsewhere and the underlying issues caused by this problem manifesting themselves in a poor team performance?



What is certain, is that whatever problem lies with our play, neither P Cooke nor G Thornton managed to resolve it.



COYD

The number of faults with this side is manifold .



Apart from a few notable exceptions, there is little pace in this side and next to no artistry.



The forward power is woeful and the scrum halves are all pants, with the exception of play one miss eight Wilko, who is a diamond when fit (or was).



A club has to have three great halfbacks to allow for injury. The halfbacks have to be livewires with plenty of leadership skills, have a sidestep and be FAST.



They have to play behind a dominant pack.



The nearest we came was a fully fit Cooke and Wilko, but Paul was getting a bit slow and they hardly ever played together anyway, because Wilko was nearly always crocked.



We had a gem in Scotty, but he was the only standout player for me.

The rest were not good enough in the main.

Which in no way is meant to imply that they didn't give their all.

Just not enough class.





Get some South Sea Islanders for goodness sake, let's have some excitement for a change!

COYD

What's happened to Waterman i've not seen him since Whitehaven at Castle park?

Can't disagree with S-O.



Going back to the spine:

Hooker - ok, could lose a few pounds

Loose forward - need someone creative who's prepared to pass the ball

Scrum half - is Wilko playing next year? Cover needed.

Stand off - Needed.

Full back - no issues with Scotty.



This season we've never had a regular pairing at half back who have struggled in any case behind a beaten pack.



Quality signings needed please.

When did co break a defensive line from within our own half? Not in any game I've seen this year...

Butterfield and Waterman used to do it for fun....



Not big enough, good in attack coming in at half back, good goal kicker in main, and good under high ball when not having to compete...



IMO a fit Carr, if can get back to player he was, would leave Scotty for dead.



Wilko, just doesn't do I for me either weak in defence and injury prone and from what gets posted dare say a liability outside of playing



As for Speed If we ever got balls out to wingers I think you'd be hard pressed to find any quicker than Tom...or finisher



The defence in Centre I think is questionable and partly as don't think half backs pickup there roles well enough...

There was a suggestion at the last home game that he'd gone again.

Will be sadly missed next season if the rumours are true.

My concern is that, in theory, we will need a better squad than that which started 2015.



The results against Hunslet (promoted from C1) and North Wales (will probably finish 5th or 6th in C1) in March suggest that we would have struggled to get out of C1 this season.



Recent results in the 8's would support people's theories that we continue to go backwards, so I hope and pray that you are wrong.

Waterman tweeted the other day that he was looking forward to Saturday and showed a picture of the skirlaugh changing room. Not heard anything about him leaving, but assumed he had after seeing it.

Agreed

Communications between the club and the fans is still really poor and i will definatly raise that point at the meeting on the 9th

No Scotty ... well that's pants, but he deserves a better side to ply his trade in.



I really can't get my head around how we will be bringing in better, I really can't.



When Scotty joined our side he was a bit of an add on as an extra winger, and in his first match had a mare at Keighley.

But he rapidly became a great player.

The point being he joined a side of decent established players.

Now he is one of only a handful.

How times change.



Watching Leeds win the Challenge Cup, I had to think what shiite we watch in comparison.