Sorry for not being able to get the minutes of the meeting out on Friday as I was tied up with work issues all day.
Fans Panel Meeting
Thursday 22nd November 2018Attendees: Phil Buxton, Carol Green, Mike Lindley, Carol Lindley, Gary Fox, Phil Scorah, Barry Brown, Scot Goddard, Carl Hall, Gavin Baldwin, Shaun Lockwood, Ray Green, Jackie Green, Mark Hughesman, Jane Keightley, Chris Scorah, Stewart Piper
Apologies: Tracy Armstrong, David Stewart, Stewart Thompson
Welcome• CH approved the Minutes of the last meeting, thanked everybody for attending and officially announced that Carol Green will be replacing Barry Brown as SLO. CH thanked Barry Brown for his services and advised that we would be making a presentation to Barry at one of the games
Season Ticket update• SL confirmed that Season Ticket sales are going well and he is happy with where we are as we have in excess of 300 adults and 100 children. The early bird cut off is 30th November and CH and the players have been on the phones encouraging supporters to renew
• Rugby Tots are running sessions for 5-7 years olds from 24th January and Jez will do a launch. Each child on one of our courses will receive a Season Ticket, water bottle and voucher from the club shop and children on other courses in the Doncaster area will receive a water bottle and a voucher
Match Day programme• The programme will be changed to a one page folded one similar to the sample SL brought from Featherstone. The RFL and our commercial partners are happy with it; the old programme was making a loss so we need to change the format
eComms• The databases are continuing to grow and the only two clubs above us in the League App are Bradford and York so we are punching way above our weight. Data and attendance are monitored and Michael has been tasked to increase the subscribers by 25% before the end of May
• We are planning to do more online videos and web stories – 20/30 second clips which will increase engagement rates
Mascot• The new mascot will be a lion sponsored by Yorkshire Wildlife Park (YWP) and officially launched in January with the Junior Supporters Club. The lion will give us the opportunity to connect with the younger audience and we’ll take it into schools. The YWP will promote games, players will visit with junior teams and the partnership will give lots of opportunities to work together. We are giving the children the chance to name the lion although CS suggested Roary which was well received
Questions from the ForumML brought a list of questions that supporters asked on the forum:
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Stand Offish asked – Are we going to get more forward power as he feels that is why we failed to get promotion?CH responded by saying that we have Brandon Douglas as a prop who is Super League level and Brad Foster who is a more mature player and the coach is happy with where we are. We also have the dual reg players and may add a utility forward in time•
Returning Don asked - How is DR going to work next year as Hull are going to have a reserve side?CH advised that the Hull reserve squad would make a top Championship team and that Lee Radford and Richard Horne will pick their teams. Richard is happy with our players as he knows the league and the team now and will were possible like to stick with a consistent team as we won the last 10 league games on the bounce last season.Are we are looking abroad for any new signings?CH confirmed that we’re not actively looking but if a player came up that we were interested in we wouldn’t ignore it.With New York almost certain to join League One in 2020 and no Bradford and York to compete with next season, it does seem a golden opportunity to win promotion. The club stated that promotion was the aim last season but fell short. What will Richard, Carl and the Board be doing different this season to ensure it’s a successful one? GB responded by advising that we have put more money into the playing budget but we went out there to win promotion last season and got to the Play Offs. We were all very disappointed not to have got promoted but the focus again next season will be to get to Championship •
Rob Nash asked – Where does the club feel we need to strengthen?CH responded by saying that we are strong and haven’t had a massive turnover of players and the coach is happy with his team, continuation and consistency are key to success. •
Mike Lindley asked – When will the new kit be on sale?We have the new shirts arriving from Thailand hopefully by in December as we need them to sell and the players need the playing kit for preseason game 6th January. SL would rather wait until the actual kit arrives than launch it by showing supporters it on CADWith revenue only going to be available from 10 home matches during the season, is it a concern that some other clubs in our league simply won’t be able to stay afloat? The fixture list has been released and all the clubs we were expecting to be on it are including Keighley Cougars. We have the Challenge Cup and the addition of the 1895 Cup.Do we have any season long loans?CH advised that we currently have a squad of 18, we WILL have 2/3 significant new additions before the start of the season all currently at Super League Clubs, 2 players on trial and possible 2 from Bentley and Toll Bar, Kieran Lawton Toll Bar will train with us from next week as 1 of the 4 these are players who the coaching staff at the community clubs think could possible play for the Dons in the future.Will we be live streaming more games next season?We are certainly looking into it – the RFL discuss with away clubs so they don’t lose revenue and it usually announced 24/36 hours before an away game and 2/3 hours before a home game. Amazon, Google, Facebook and Twitter will all be streaming games going forward and more people watch games from abroad than in the UK. By the World Cup in 2021 Sky will ensure all clubs are live streaming Any Other Business• CH confirmed that we have 3 Friendlies arranged on 6th, 13th and 20th January. The Leeds game will be Kyle Kesik’s testimonial – some ex players will be playing.
• RG commented that there were good feedback from the BBQ and everyone enjoyed it including the players – we will have it again the weekend before the children go back to school
• SL confirmed that we will be focusing on families again next season as it is a long haul but we are building a foundation. We will have Open Days, a BBQ, Super Hero Day, Junior Takeover Day, Women at the Game and a Charity Day. The Trax FM promotion with schools will entitle 1 adult and 1 child to a complimentary ticket and the children will get a goody bag
• PS asked if we would be having a season launch - it will be after the Friendlies before the season starts on 17th February
• SP suggested that the club could go greener by installing chargers for electric cars, having visible cycle racks and promoting vegetarian/vegan food
• RG advised that he and SP are working on the heritage as we need to remember our roots
• SL outlined the new policy on disabled parking. Season Ticket holders and silver plus members with a blue badge will be given a free pass to display on their dashboard next season and in 2019/20 we will start to charge. The changes will be communicated during next season so everybody is aware when the charge will begin. We anticipate there will be approximately 20 disabled supporters and 10 carers and there is plenty of parking spaces and also a drop off facility. Passes will be collected from the Box Office and there will be flexibility at the first game if people don’t have them yet
The meeting closed at 7.30pm.
