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Dons on the rise
ANY team that can boast a bench including Jamie Thackray,
Feka Palea’aesina and Makali Aizue should probably be feared - and Doncaster
have made a promising start to 2017.
That
was their substitute line-up for Sunday’s
48-22 Challenge Cup win at Gloucestershire All Golds, who let’s not forget had
comfortably accounted for Keighley seven days earlier.
It
made it three consecutive wins since the Dons’
League One Cup defeat at the Cougars, and the early signs are there that they
could be credible promotion contenders this season.
Guided
by the vastly experienced duo of chief executive Carl Hall and coach Gary
Thornton, they have put together a squad containing an eye catching balance of
youth and experience - not least that formidable front row.
They
also have that out wide in winger Richie Barnett and centres Jason Tali and
Liam Welham, with Kyle Kesik and Ryan Wright their hooking options.
At
the other end of the scale, young halfbacks Kieran Cross and Jack Miller have
been impressing in recent weeks, with Cross scoring four times at weekend.
Much
of the talk so far in League One has centred around Toronto Wolfpack and then
probably Barrow and Keighley.
But
Thornton’s side should certainly not be
underestimated, and clips of some of their tries in the recent win at North
Wales show they are playing an exciting brand of rugby as well.
Two
in particular stand out - involving remarkable offloads from first Palea’aesina
and then Thackray, men who have over 400 Super League appearances between them.
Having
them and Papua New Guinean international Aizue - who played 50 top flight games himself for
Hull KR - climb off the bench will resonate with any opposition coach.
This
weekend they host improving Oxford, and although Hall is keeping his feet
firmly on the ground, he has seen cause for optimism in recent weeks.
“We’re
still some way off we still feel,” Hall said in one of his weekly briefings to
supporters online.
“But
for half an hour against North Wales we were red hot.
“We
showed some real moments of magic out there, and it’s good to see the boys
playing with a smile on their face.
“We
put a couple of clips online because we want people to come down and have a
look at what we’re about.
“We’ve
won the first game by 20 and the second by 40 so there’s improvement there.
“We’re
in a good position.”
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