T’Other Side: Doncaster

T’Other Side: Doncaster

Doncaster 2018 shirts

LAST TIME OUT

Head Coach: Richard Horne

Doncaster began last season with Gary Thornton in charge. He left in May and after a month with Peter Green and Rhys Lovegrove acting as caretaker coaches they appointed Richard Horne to the head coach position. It is his first such job although he had been assistant coach at Hull FC since retiring.

It seems quite strange to think of Richard Horne at Doncaster as he spent his entire playing career (from 199-2014) at Hull and ended up playing 387 matches for them. His skills as a half-back brought him representative appearances for Yorkshire, Scotland and Great Britain. His connection with Hull FC still remains through a dual registration agreement.

Captain: Kyle Kesik

Hooker, Kyle Kesik is another one club player. Well almost! He began his career with Doncaster in 2009 and has now played 201 games for them. In 2010 he signed for Sheffield Eagles but only ever made one substitute appearance for them before returning to Doncaster in early March.

New Signings

Connor Bower is a 21 year old centre who Doncaster signed from Hull FC. So far this year he has scored 4 tries in 7 appearances. Liam Harris also comes from Hull, but this time it is Hull Kingston Rovers. He plays at scrum-half, making his début last year when he also played for York City Knights on dual registration. He is Doncaster’s main goal kicker. Richard Owen plays at either full back or on the wing. Richard Owen had his career disrupted by a court case which eventually resulted in ‘not guilty’ verdicts. He started his professional career at Castleford in 2007 and stayed there until he moved to Wakefield in 2014. He was released by Wakefield at the end of 2015. In 2016 he moved to Leigh Centurions. In his amateur days Richard Owen played for Featherstone Lions. Doncaster signed 20 year old loose forward or second row Brandan Wilkinson from Bradford Bulls. He is a Scottish international. Another new signing is Ryan Boyle (see the stand-out section)

Stand-Out Players

Prop-Forward, Ryan Boyle, began his career in 2005 with Castleford Tigers. In 2010 he moved to Salford but then returned to Castleford during the 2013 season. In 2016 he moved to Halifax and then onto Doncaster this year. He has played representative matches for England U18 and Ireland. Aaron Jones-Bishop is the younger brother of Wakefield player Ben and half-brother of Leeds player Jamie Jones-Buchanan. He plays on the wing. He started at Oxford in 2015 and then joined Doncaster the following year. He is a Jamaican international. Doncaster’s leading try scorer is Jason Tali. In 2015 he came to England to join Newcastle Thunder from PNG Hunters in 2015 and then switched to Doncaster in 2016. He is a Papua New Guinea international.

Dual Registration and Loan Players

Doncaster have a dual registration agreement with Hull FC. Hull players who have so far played this year under dual registration are Jack Downs, Jack Logan, Hakim Miloudi and Cameron Scott. They also have Ross Osbourne and Jack Sanderson on loan from Hull FC. It is unlikely that these players will be available for Doncaster as they would then become cup-tied and unable to play for Hull FC in the cup later in the year.

The Fev connection

Three members of the current Featherstone squad have previously played for Doncaster. Mitch Clark played for them in 2015 and Jansin Turgut in 2015 and 2016 (both years on dual reg from Hull FC). Matty Wildie played for the Dons in 2013 and 2014. As Mitch Clark and Jansin Turgut are on loan it is unlikely that they wwill be allowed to play in the Cup.

There are four people at Doncaster who have a Fev connection. Liam Welham was at Fev in 2010 and 2011. Brad England was at Fev in 2015 and played in 5 games, scoring a try away at Leigh. Charlie Martin had a short loan spell from Castleford but never got to play for the first team. The final one of the four is Doncaster Chief Executive Carl Hall who played for Fev in 1998 and 1999 and was the club captain in 1999.