We’ve got three regular season games left to play as I write this: Away to Rochdale and York, and at home to London.

Reflecting on the 2016 season, I’m not sure whether I should feel happy that we’ve been reasonably competitive this season (in the face of such high player turnover from last season) or whether I should be disappointed that we’ve not been able to impose ourselves on this league and be favourites for promotion rather than promotion hopefuls.

My feelings of disappointed are perhaps highlighted by the awful structure to Championship One. There are too may blow-out scores and meaningless games. This league will kill support for lower league rugby unless something is done to make the games more competitive. I believe the league needs to be split into Championship One and Championship Two, providing competitive games throughout the season similar to what we’ve seen since the league split a few weeks ago.

With regards to Club Doncaster, Club Doncaster provides security that we may otherwise not have. Look at the plight of York and Sheffield. On the other hand, being part of Club Doncaster also raises our expectations. On balance I feel the benefits should outweigh the disadvantages but the Dons have gone from 4th in the Championship to a top five side in Championship One under Club Doncaster in the last two seasons. Something isn’t working.

Has the 2016 season been one that will provide us with a platform to build on for 2017, or are we still a long way off where we need to be?

I’ll be buying my season ticket for next season because I can’t imagine life without rugby. The Dons are an important part of my life and I want to do my bit to help make us successful in the future. I admire the players because they put their necks on the line week-in, week-out for our entertainment. The commitment of the players is one of the reasons why I’ve been attracted to the sport for the last 40 years.

That's a fair accurate account of the 2016 season . I too will purchase a 2017 season ticket expecting us to be C1. but you never know !

Interesting to hear what is said at tonights fans forum !

Good post, with all that is happening in the sport at the moment, I'm glad we are part of club Doncaster, though it does seem that we have gone backwards, but I can't help thinking, where would we be if they hadn't taken over?, I would guess, and only guess, we could be in trouble. As it is we can look forward to next season, though I think we will be still in this godforsaken division. I too will be getting a season ticket.

very good post DM,especially the season Format to many gaps ,no consistency with home and away.needs a good shake up,will we get one,i doubt it but we can live in hope.

Good points DM. New squad to bed in, no bedding in for consecutive games due to injury and suspensions. ( a plague all season IMO) DR messed about with (again) A settled first choice side would have been nice to have witnessed and maybe with that would come better consecutive performances and results, which would have helped with an increase in the crowd figures. I hope that we do not have to start afresh for 2017 with yet again a new squad.

The game it would seem is going the the doldrums and fingers crossed we can be full sail next year. (no idea where that nautical analogy came from)

It's gone really quiet on here lately.

I'd be really interested to know why those who aren't posting have stopped.

After Sunday's defeat at Rochdale, our place in the play-offs isn't at threat.

Even if we lose our last two games, and Hunslet win at Rochdale we;ll still be level on points with them and we've got a better points difference. Our points difference is +161, Hunslet is +10.

The loss at Rochdale seems typical of our season: we're competitive but not good enough when playing against the top five teams. Collectively, we've now played Toulouse, Rochdale, Barrow, and York seven times and we've only recorded one win in the first of the two home games against Barrow.

Barrow are at Toulouse next Saturday. Rochdale are at home to Hunslet. Rochdale are probably favourites to finish second. Whether we play at Rochdale or Barrow means we're going to have to tough task.

Simply not good enough , that sums up the season .
Yes I know about the injuries !

Agreed. The whole season as been one of very few highs, not good enough to beat the top sides. Not very hopeful for the remainder.

Part of the problem at this level is that it's hard to build a team up from scratch because the better players are likely to get offers from other teams unless you get promoted.

That doesn't leave you in a good place to build for next season.

Personally, I don't see other clubs queuing up to sign many of our guys, especially as the better players seem to be injury prone too.

I'd be amazed if the likes of Tom Carr and Jordan Howden aren't interesting other clubs. If they go, replacing them with similar quality will be incredibly difficult if we remain in C1.

I wrote on a separate thread that Jordon Howden and Tom Carr are the two players we need in the side. We can muddle through when others don't play but we need them. I'm sure other teams will be interested in them and it'll be a shame if we can't hang onto them.

Where do we go from here? It looks as though we've either not invested our money wisely enough this season or we're not investing enough money to be able to compete with the better sides in the league. Whichever way we look at it, it has to be one or the other.

I know the club will point to the injury issues we've had but we can't ignore the evidence that we've only managed one win all season against any of the teams in the top five.