Dons head into 1895 AB Sundecks Cup opener in confident mood

Although the Dons suffered a 42-28 defeat against a full-strength Hull side, there were far more positive than negatives for assistant coach Chris Plume to reflect on after their first outing of the season – not least the performances of the new recruits on show.

“It was a good first hit out against what I thought it was a really good Hull team,” he told the Free Press.

Although generally pleased with the team’s defence overall, Plume was critical of the spell during which Hull scored three tries in quick succession in the first quarter.

“They were quite clinical early doors and when a Super League team with good athletes get in the clear more often than not they punish you,” he said. “I thought that we built into the game and to hold a team when they have momentum, as Hull did early on, takes a real big effort so that was good. As was the fact that we came back with a couple of tries of our own in the first half. They were the positive signs for us.

“They got away from us again in the second half, but we didn’t throw the towel in - you wouldn’t expect us to do that with the experienced players we’ve got in the squad - and we stuck in throughout and scored further tries.”

Despite the windy condition the likelihood is that both sets of fans in the above-average crowd will have gone home happy with what they had seen.

“There were good players in both teams out there so if they go out and show what they are capable of doing you are going to get a game like that,” said Plume. “I certainly thought for a pre-season friendly it was quite entertaining.”

Those Dons fans hoping that half-backs Ben Johnston and Connor Robinson will prove as influential as they did last season in 2024 will have been encouraged by what they saw against Hull.

Plume said: “People say that half-backs are only as good as the dominant pack they play behind and we’ve got a decent pack this year. So, if our pack do their job we’ve got no doubts that our half-backs will do a good job for us as well.

“But it’s not just them; it’s about the whole team.”