Re: Dons v South Wales Sunday 1/4/12 : Mon Apr 02, 2012 7:10 am  

To be fair to Jack he has trained really hard shifting over a stone in the last month,and having not played much this season his match fitness is down, however with a few games under his belt fitness levels will return. With regards to players looking fat, the shirts dont do you any favours what so ever. they are thin and skin tight ,unless you are a racing snake carrying no meat at all ,they make you look like a salard dodger. I can assure you that the lads worked really hard in pre season and i think we are more than a match for anyone with our fitness and stamina. If we went back to the good old days of proper shirts no one would be calling the lads porkers

Re: Dons v South Wales Sunday 1/4/12 : Mon Apr 02, 2012 8:51 am  

With how Kes and all the lads played yesterday I wouldn't be over worried by a bit of weight.
Cas is a big lad all round and teams like Whitehaven have some really massive forwrds, but would take the likes of Cas any day of the week...

Jack looked a tad cautionary, but still think he has a role to play..

Overall excellent to every man...

Just proves with Rooney today that no one excellent player can make a team, Cooke is outstanding but the guys around him are also playing their part.

Well done all..

Re: Dons v South Wales Sunday 1/4/12 : Mon Apr 02, 2012 8:59 am  

donny11 wrote:

Not sure i agree. Yes hes carrying a bit of extra weight but there isnt many who arent on that team. I would say his fitness cant be doubted. Did you fail to notice the size of ely and how unfit he was?

Did you fail to notice this?

In fact there are two or three fatties in the Dons side and the side would be even better if they got in shape!

I'll even name the players, all of which I like, and all of which would benefit from not carrying the equivalent of a small rucksack full of sugar around every game.
Kes, Cas and Jack.

All three would be hard to stop trimmed down a bit.
Because they are all hard to stop already.
They would be outstanding players if they could get a bit fitter.

I say this not has a fatist, but one who can see an area were we can be even better as a side. In other words it's not meant to be an insult to the players involved. It's their choice.

I can see the thing with modern skin-tight shirts and chunkster is right, up to a point.
Even so, trawl through Donny's photos and they speak for themselves.

Re: Dons v South Wales Sunday 1/4/12 : Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:06 am  

Stand-Offish wrote:

Did you fail to notice this?

I'll even name the players, all of which I like, and all of which would benefit from not carrying the equivalent of a small rucksack full of sugar around every game.
Kes, Cas and Jack.

All three would be hard to stop trimmed down a bit.
Because they are all hard to stop already.
They would be outstanding players if they could get a bit fitter.

I say this not has a fatist, but one who can see an area were we can be even better as a side. In other words it's not meant to be an insult to the players involved. It's their choice.

I can see the thing with modern skin-tight shirts and Chunkster is right, up to a point.
But trawl through Donny's photos and the evidence is clear to see.

Cas has actually trimmed up since the start of the season, as has Kes. I've not really seen much of Jack play this season (with the exception of yesterday), but he seems to be massive across the shoulders, and that makes him seem a lot larger than he actually is.

At this level, and the one above, the 3 mentioned players are by no way the largest looking forwards that you will see.

Re: Dons v South Wales Sunday 1/4/12 : Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:44 am  

I would really be reluctant for Cas to loose weight, it doesn't seem to be hampering him when he runs the ball in. We have more svelt props in Bibb and Spiers, who are more stamina players than imapct ones. Can anyone remember when Bradford had the awesome foursome of props, and the two big guys and the two stamina ones.

The shirts really are not flattering, and as a supporter am disappointed that I a) they are all this pro-fit style and b)that the size everyone wants is consistently not in stock.

If we are staying with K4 next season can we have the option as supporters of which style we want.

For me rather than the shape of certain players is that our defence still looks in question at some points, and that we still aren't quite firing on all cylinders. Perhaps that is a good thing, because if we were some team would get an absolute hammering.

Re: Dons v South Wales Sunday 1/4/12 : Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:47 am  

We are talking rugby here not body building and posturing on the beach in a pair of tight speedos , yes a 6 pack looks great but it takes a combination of a very regimented low carb diet ,which depletes your energy levels and thousands of ab exersices,all our players weights are monitored by the coaching staff and if anyone is carrying a few extra pounds then they are told so and given a diet and training plan to shift it. Also most of the players snack and take on lots of water and fluids before a game and this also makes them look a little rotund in the skin tight jerseys. Fit players dont have to be thin, its a fact .The likes of Cas and Deano are never going to look like Tom or Sando

Re: Dons v South Wales Sunday 1/4/12 : Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:57 am  

chunkster wrote:

We are talking rugby here not body building and posturing on the beach in a pair of tight speedos , yes a 6 pack looks great but it takes a combination of a very regimented low carb diet ,which depletes your energy levels and thousands of ab exersices,all our players weights are monitored by the coaching staff and if anyone is carrying a few extra pounds then they are told so and given a diet and training plan to shift it. Also most of the players snack and take on lots of water and fluids before a game and this also makes them look a little rotund in the skin tight jerseys. Fit players dont have to be thin, its a fact .The likes of Cas and Deano are never going to look like Tom or Sando

I think Deano looks in great shape and doesn't look at all podgy.

Yes you can be fit and overweight no doubt about that, but you will be slower. And speed is a precious commodity.

But from what you say, it is reassuring that weight is taken seriously at least.

Re: Dons v South Wales Sunday 1/4/12 : Mon Apr 02, 2012 10:54 am  

I don't think anyone is criticising the players, just making observations, it's hard to criticise when the team is playing well. Castle carries his weight into the tackle really well, losing weight would lose effectivness. Trimming a belly would probably be a good thing in one or two players, i think thats all stand offish was saying. We have to remember these are semi pros, not full time, so it is forgiveable.

Re: Dons v South Wales Sunday 1/4/12 : Mon Apr 02, 2012 11:15 am  

I do think theres a way to go about it though, maybe saying lose weight or dont play is a bit of unfair comment about a player that always gives 100% and as far as i can remember rarely has a bad game if infact he ever has. Not sure if reading this kes would see it as just an observation. come away as a winning team to be told a fair few of you are too fat is slightly harsh! In regards to the game i would say its the best all round team performance ive seen for a long time. as noted all ready its great to see high fives etc all round when tries are scored. they seem to be really enjoying playing as a team and it shows in the performance. Stand out players for me were hyde, robbo,hodson and kesik. But dont think anyone had a poor game. Just be good to see jack get more oppurtunity to gain match fitness because he is a very good player when hes on form. MOM was rightly hodsons he had a brilliant game in both attack and defence! I was glad to see hyde come back on because at first his injury looked quite major.

Re: Dons v South Wales Sunday 1/4/12 : Mon Apr 02, 2012 11:25 am  

kesik for me looks a quality player, as do others obviously, but mention him because you did. against sharlston he took the game by the scruff of the neck, and yesterday when he came on, i thought he upped the pace of the game with his enthusiasm. was not sure after first couple of games i saw, but he has proved he is first choice hooker for me