Doncaster RLFC skipper sounds warning ahead of Cornwall clash

The Dons travel down to the south-west tomorrow ahead of their Easter Saturday Betfred League One clash against lowly Cornwall confident of maintaining their 100 per cent league record.

The Dons, who were without a handful of regulars due to injuries and players left out as a precaution on the 3G pitch, suffered their first defeat of the season in last weekend’s Challenge Cup tie against Championship outfit London Broncos.

On paper the Dons could hardly have chosen a better away game than Cornwall, who have won just once at the Memorial Ground since joining the league last year, to bounce back.

But the vastly-experienced Smeaton, formerly of Featherstone, Sheffield Eagles, Batley and Halifax, knows you can’t take anyone for granted in sport.

“Every game has its challenges and one of the biggest ones going down there is the travel and the overnight stay,” said Smeaton, who started his career as a junior at Doncaster Toll Bar. “Clubs at our level rarely do that and the change of routine can sometimes affect your preparations

“We’ve made a good start to the league and although we are probably still looking for the perfect performance, hopefully we can pick up another couple of points down there.

“Like all the other sides, Cornwall will be looking to shoot us down because we’ve got a big target on our backs following the statement that we are going all out to win the league this season.

“Losing in the last two play-off finals was bitterly disappointing and we don’t want to have to go through that again.

"We know if we finish top we’ll go up whereas if we finish second we’d still have to win a couple of games and anything can happen in the play-offs."

The Dons and relegated Dewsbury are currently setting the pace.

But Smeaton – glad to be back playing in the second-row after featuring at centre most of his career - says it is too early to start making predictions.

“There are some good teams and I don’t think you can start to predict who will be in contention until we’ve all played each other after ten games,” he said.