The inquest into a lost season for Doncaster Knights will begin next week, but the judgment they passed on themselves in January on where they were going wrong may have given them a head start on how to fix it.

Certainly that is the hope of co-benefactor and club president Steve Lloyd, who a year ago was bombastic in his proclamation that Doncaster, having passed the Premiership audit three years in a row, were determined to cash that chip in with a sustained push for promotion from Champ Rugby to the promised land.

After eating a slice of humble pie bigger than the wedges of cow pie they serve at Castle Park, Doncaster finish the regular season at home to Nottingham today a distant ninth in the table, their promotion hopes having never even begun. A place in the top-six play-offs was the minimum of their expectations but they haven’t even threatened that.

Nottingham, a team that train twice a week compared to the full-time operation of Doncaster, can still gatecrash the top six with victory. And therein lies the problem - and the solution.

Staying put: Doncaster Knights' Ryan Olowofela in action earlier this season. Along with his twin brother Jordan, both from Hull, he has signed on for another season at Castle Park.

placeholder image — Staying put: Doncaster Knights' Ryan Olowofela in action earlier this season. Along with his twin brother Jordan, both from Hull, he has signed on for another season at Castle Park.

Lloyd and the backroom team addressed it in January with the announcement that the club would revert to a hybrid model, signing future players only on part-time contracts.

There are rumours, unconfirmed, that Lloyd stormed into the dressing room after a a particularly insipid home defeat to “village” team Caldy earlier that month and announced it to the players there and then.

Results improved over the course of the second half of the season, but not sufficiently.

“Disappointing,” was Lloyd’s reaction this week. “Disappointment in individual games and frustration that we know we’ve got the lads that could have won a lot more games and when they’re on song it was beautiful to watch, really good tries, fast rugby, just what they’ve been coached.

Steve Lloyd, co-benefactor and president of Doncaster Knights. (Picture: Chris Etchells)

“I put it down ultimately to what’s in their head and the motivation. There are four full-time clubs in this league this year and 10 that are not. I just feel that there’s a little worm in the brain and you can see it in their play and demeanour; when they’re playing a part-time club they did not come out with the force and strength that they did against Ealing, Worcester, Coventry and so on.

“We drew with Cambridge only because we got the last kick of the match and our performance was poor, lacklustre and un-enthusiastic. It’s getting through to that little bit in the brain, that every opponent is your cup final. Focus on today. We lacked that spirit at times. We should have easily been 10 points better off.

“But we’ve put it to bed now, Saturday they are playing for pride, which is the definition of a rugby player.”

Recruitment going well

Encouragingly, there has been a lot of buy-in from the players about next season’s hybrid model.

Former Samoan World Cup prop Logovi’i Mulipola and Yorkshire lads Josh Bainbridge and Jasper McGuire - which fulfils Lloyd’s ambitions to promote county rugby - were among the first raft of players announced as re-signing on part-time deals.

And this week the names of Telusa Veianu, Ollie Fox and Zach Kerr were added to that list.

“Recruitment is going very well and hopefully we can come back a better fighting force next year,” said Lloyd.

“The part-time contracts work. Zach Kerr is doing a two-year part-time masters at Manchester Metropolitan University, and does a bit of shadowing work around the club. Ollie Fox, works in the community and foundation charity, split role. Several others will be too.

“We had our target signings, as we would have done had we stayed full-time, and we’ve only missed out on two or three, but that’s the same as last year. We’ve had others coming in wanting to play for us.”

In January the club announced it would explore dual-reg options to bring in players from Prem clubs at the last minute - as many of their second-tier rivals do - but nothing concrete has been settled in that regard, although relationships are being nurtured with Sale, Leicester, Newcastle and Saracens.

With the playing squad under construction, what of the coaches? There is no more decorated director of rugby than Sir Ian McGeechan and alongside him the head coach in Darren Fearn has had an eye-opening first year in a top job at this level.

“We do nothing until after the last game is played, then we’ll have a review of the whole situation,” said Lloyd.

“We won’t take quite as long as the RFU has (in reference to Steve Borthwick). We will talk sensibly, openly, but directly.”

Lloyd backs investment in rivals

Steve Lloyd has welcomed the news this week that their long-time Champ Rugby rivals Cornish Pirates have secured US investment.

American firm Stonewood Capital Management are to put money into the south-west club as it looks to join the Prem.

“Congratulations, and absolutely encouraging for Champ Rugby,” said Lloyd.

“I’m sure the Prem want to get to 12 sides, certainly within the next two to three years, and when that happens others will be interested.

“We’ve been oven-ready for four years having passed the audit, but now they’ve introduced a financial viability audit which was brought in by the men’s professional game board.

“It’s a significant amount of money you’ve got to almost guarantee before they will have you up there.

“If investors are there, and rumour is there are, if things come good we would go for it.

“It does broaden our horizons. From what I hear there are Americans, South Africans, people from the Far East, Antipodeans even - people are looking at it.

“Red Bull did everybody a big favour by taking over the weakest club (Newcastle) and that has fired up outside interest.”