Doncaster Knights: Alex Shaw looking forward to Nottingham reunion

Shaw, who has started in all three league games this season after an injury-hit 2016-17 campaign, played for the Green and Whites before joining the Knights.

“I spent four years at Nottingham and I still have friends at the club,” he told the Free Press.

“I’ve got fond memories of my time there and any time I play against Nottingham I get excited.

“Obviously you want to play well in every game but it definitely gives you an extra incentive to do so when you play against one of your former clubs.

“We had five former Rotherham players in the side when we played them in our last home game and it was such a great feeling for them to be on the winning side and hopefully it will be the same for me this weekend.”

Although Knights suffered their first defeat after back-to-back wins against Yorkshire Carnegie, Shaw is generally happy with how things have gone.

“One of the things that has helped this season is that there hasn’t been much of a change (in performance) when the bench come on in the second half,” he said. “That reflects the quality of the squad.”

Despite Sunday’s defeat Knights held on to third place – albeit on points difference.

“Every team wants to start well because the opening weeks can often show the sort of path the league is going to take,” said Shaw.

“Although we are targeting a top-four finish again I think it’s too early to start making predictions.

“As a club we don’t look too far into the future because we’ve got big games every week and there are no easy games in this league.

“I think the Championship is getting tougher every year. It’s certainly more competitive but it’s good to be involved in a league like that because it drives standards up.”

Looking ahead to this weekend’s game, which is also likely to see lock Morgan Eames – a summer signing from Notts – face his former team-mates, Shaw said. “They’ve made a good start and I think they’ll be thinking positively about the season. They’ve got a good young team and will be full of energy.”