Dons boss Miller spells it out to squad

DONS boss Tony Miller held clear-the-air-talks with his players ahead of last night's training session in the wake of the club's 26-0 Challenge Cup third round defeat by top amateur side Siddal at the weekend.

Said Miller: "The players' pride was dented by the defeat, as was mine.

If that hadn't have been the case then there would have been something wrong.

"I told them that we have to stick together and work hard to try and put thing things right and that only ourselves can dig us out of the hole that we are in.

"The players also had an input into what had gone wrong and what we need to do to put things right. It was a good meeting and hopefully we can move on from here.

"Obviously confidence is low and we badly need a win - I had been hoping that we would get that against Siddal - but they were the best team on the day.

"But without making excuses, we had seven players out and three making their first appearances of the season.

Hooker Kyle Kesick, who has joined us on loan from Sheffield Eagles, had only trained with us once.

"In saying that I thought Kyle had a good game and I'm sure that he'll prove a good signing for us, as he did last season."

Miller was bitterly disappointed at his post-match press conference on Saturday that his side had failed to score.

But after studying match footage, he claimed that the Dons were denied three tries.

"The video shows quite clearly that all three should have been tries," he said.

"The one three minutes before half-time, when it is clear to see that the balll was on the line, was particularly crucial. It would have given us a 6-4 lead, but it wasn't given and they scored a minute before half-time to make it 10-0.

"I'm not saying that we would have won, because they played very well, but the score would have been much closer. It is typical of our season so far - nothing is going right for us.

"We are having to make changes every week because of injuries and play people out of position, and our cohesion has been hit."

Source
http://www.thestar.co.uk/rugbyleague/Do ... 6138500.jp

Dons boss Miller spells it out to squad

DONS boss Tony Miller held clear-the-air-talks with his players ahead of last night's training session in the wake of the club's 26-0 Challenge Cup third round defeat by top amateur side Siddal at the weekend.

Said Miller: "The players' pride was dented by the defeat, as was mine.

If that hadn't have been the case then there would have been something wrong.

"I told them that we have to stick together and work hard to try and put thing things right and that only ourselves can dig us out of the hole that we are in.

"The players also had an input into what had gone wrong and what we need to do to put things right. It was a good meeting and hopefully we can move on from here.

"Obviously confidence is low and we badly need a win - I had been hoping that we would get that against Siddal - but they were the best team on the day.

"But without making excuses, we had seven players out and three making their first appearances of the season.

Hooker Kyle Kesick, who has joined us on loan from Sheffield Eagles, had only trained with us once.

"In saying that I thought Kyle had a good game and I'm sure that he'll prove a good signing for us, as he did last season."

Miller was bitterly disappointed at his post-match press conference on Saturday that his side had failed to score.

But after studying match footage, he claimed that the Dons were denied three tries.

"The video shows quite clearly that all three should have been tries," he said.

"The one three minutes before half-time, when it is clear to see that the balll was on the line, was particularly crucial. It would have given us a 6-4 lead, but it wasn't given and they scored a minute before half-time to make it 10-0.

"I'm not saying that we would have won, because they played very well, but the score would have been much closer. It is typical of our season so far - nothing is going right for us.

"We are having to make changes every week because of injuries and play people out of position, and our cohesion has been hit."

Source
http://www.thestar.co.uk/rugbyleague/Do ... 6138500.jp

We'll get it right, but it will take time

By Carl Hall
Midweek At The Dons
LET me start by tacking a a few issues right here.

Yes we lost to Siddal in the Challenge Cup, but they were a good, well-drilled amateur side.

People are asking the question what happened to the side we had in pre-season games?

Well it does not take a genius to work out since those games, then a lot of people were getting carried away, we have had a real tough time with long term injuries.

This week we had six of our best 13 players sat in the stands with long term injuries and another three making their first start after being out injured since pre-season.

Take that many players out of any team and they are going to have it tough.

However, we will still not make excuses for the result and we will take it on the chin and get on with it.

Another thing to bear in mind is we will not go out and spend money on players putting the business at risk.

We are into game six of our business plan which in year one is to secure the finances of the club.

We are aware we will take some knocks along the way, but we will also have some fun as well.

We must all buy into this and stick together as a group - supporters included - because I can assure you all we will get this right - I'm very confident of that.

But it won't happen overnight.

We entertain the newly-formed South Wales Scorpions at the Keepmoat Stadiuum on Sunday which will be another tough encounter as they are very lucky to be given some players from their big Super League brothers, the Crusaders. Head coach Tony Miller and myself have tried getting a few players on loan from the big boys, but they all say the same thing: "We will have a think about it and get back to you."'

Most of the time you don't even get a call back, so we just have to get on with business and play the cards we have been dealt.

Quote: "The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide" so they tell me."

Source

http://www.thestar.co.uk/rugbyleague/We ... 6138459.jp

We'll get it right, but it will take time

By Carl Hall
Midweek At The Dons
LET me start by tacking a a few issues right here.

Yes we lost to Siddal in the Challenge Cup, but they were a good, well-drilled amateur side.

People are asking the question what happened to the side we had in pre-season games?

Well it does not take a genius to work out since those games, then a lot of people were getting carried away, we have had a real tough time with long term injuries.

This week we had six of our best 13 players sat in the stands with long term injuries and another three making their first start after being out injured since pre-season.

Take that many players out of any team and they are going to have it tough.

However, we will still not make excuses for the result and we will take it on the chin and get on with it.

Another thing to bear in mind is we will not go out and spend money on players putting the business at risk.

We are into game six of our business plan which in year one is to secure the finances of the club.

We are aware we will take some knocks along the way, but we will also have some fun as well.

We must all buy into this and stick together as a group - supporters included - because I can assure you all we will get this right - I'm very confident of that.

But it won't happen overnight.

We entertain the newly-formed South Wales Scorpions at the Keepmoat Stadiuum on Sunday which will be another tough encounter as they are very lucky to be given some players from their big Super League brothers, the Crusaders. Head coach Tony Miller and myself have tried getting a few players on loan from the big boys, but they all say the same thing: "We will have a think about it and get back to you."'

Most of the time you don't even get a call back, so we just have to get on with business and play the cards we have been dealt.

Quote: "The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide" so they tell me."

Source

http://www.thestar.co.uk/rugbyleague/We ... 6138459.jp