The two ‘lesser teams’ that we’ve played this season (Coventry and N Wales) have certainly upped their game from last season. There’s no doubt about it. For starters, their fitness levels are better than last year and they’re not falling off tackles like they used to. Skolars seem to be much better too but we’ve not seen them yet. Their 42-26 win at Hunslet shows they’re a team to be reckoned with.
York and Bradford were clearly best in the league last season with the Dons and Workington some way off the pace, probably third and fourth best. It’s ironic that both sides are struggling this season.
Last season, when we had the likes of Miloudi, Litten, Osbourne, Cameron Scott, Jack Logan and Jack Sanderson in the team we looked half-decent. Those players added some spark to what we did and provided a little bit of class.
For whatever reason, the ‘enhanced DR arrangement’ hasn’t improved on the quality of players we’re getting from Hull. This is incredibly disappointing. Whether Richard Horne is choosing not to use DR to its full extent, we don’t know.
Overall, things have gone backwards this season and with it the Dons ability to stamp any authority on matches. We now look vulnerable against anyone. The only defence to our position is that we’re missing Brad England and Frankie Mariano but that cannot be used as an excuse for only winning three out of seven league games.
I don’t honestly think we lost against N Wales due to any lack of effort. The commitment of the players seemed fine. We were beaten by the better side. Basically, Richard Horne hasn’t brought in enough players of the required quality either through signings or through DR. For this he must take full responsibility.
Where do we go from here? We can’t write off this season yet. There are too many games left. As all teams in this league seem to be able to beat each other on the day, no one can feel comfortable about their position. There’s still plenty to play for.
Unless we start to utilise the DR agreement to the full, I don’t see our fortunes changing very much. Also, if we don’t bring in the right Hull lads soon, they might not be qualified for the play-offs, should we make them. The current DR arrangement ought to be an asset but it seems more like a hindrance at the moment.
