Dons hope to extend winning sequence against Batley Bulldogs
Doncaster RLFC will be seeking to muzzle Batley Bulldogs for a third successive game since their return to the Betfred Championship at the Fox’s Biscuits Stadium on Sunday (3pm).
The Dons recorded their biggest away win of the season when beating the Bulldogs 38-0 to complete a remarkable double after also having kept them pointless earlier in the season at the Eco-Power Stadium.
But head coach Richard Horne is not predicting a similar outcome this weekend and told the Free Press: “I don’t think last season’s results will have any bearing on Sunday’s game. They’ve bought in new players, as have we.
“I know we did well there last season, but it has always proved a tough place to go for visiting teams over the years, not least because of the sloping pitch which Batley know how to play better than anyone.
“They’ve not had the best of seasons and are currently in the bottom four. But they are a good side and they’ve got some good strike on their edge. They have been in a lot of the games that they have lost but in other games they have had periods where they haven’t played well and teams have put points on the board.”
Sunday’s game is the first of five successive away fixtures, the results of which could define the club’s league campaign, but Horne says his charges will make the short journey to Mount Pleasant in a confident mood after winning two of their last three games.
“Obviously we were disappointed not to beat (joint leaders) Bradford Bulls in our last match after leading with around five minutes to play. But as I said after the game, I couldn’t fault our efforts or overall performance against a very good Bradford side.
“The Championship is very competitive this season and some of the results have been all over the place and a lot of games are being decided by fine margins as was the case against Bradford.
“We gave the players a few days off after the Bradford game to get over their bumps and bruises with their being no games last weekend due to the Challenge Cup and 1895 Cup finals at Wembley.
“It’s a game we’ll be looking to win, as will be the case in the other four away games, but we aren’t setting ourselves a points target for the five games. We’ll just take it one game at a time as we do throughout the rest of the season.”
Horne is hoping to have second-rowers Pauli Pauli, who scored a hat-trick in the 38-0 win, and Jordan Baldwinson available for selection after missing recent games.