Knights add dynamic flanker Alex Shaw to the ranks.

27-year-old back-rower Alex Shaw becomes the latest to join at Castle Park ahead of the new Championship season as it is announced that he has joined from Nottingham. Alex plays primarily at blindside flanker but is capable right across the back row and arrives having spent four seasons at Meadow Lane and making over 100 appearances for the Green and Whites.

Shaw developed through the prolific Leicester Tigers academy and achieved representative honours with England U18s & 20s whilst with the Midlands outfit. Renowned for his non-stop work rate and barnstorming ball carrying, Shaw also spent time at Coventry and Cornish Pirates before moving to another Premiership outfit, Sale Sharks. Alex made several appearances with the Sale Jets before moving to Nottingham for more regular first team rugby.

Speaking on the new signing DoR Griff said. “Alex plays predominantly 6/8 and should really reinforce our back row options with some serious Championship experience.

“He was one of the form players in the division last year with a Nottingham side who didn’t have the best of seasons I’ve been very impressed watching his tapes and he comes with a very good pedigree.
“He’s a player who is capable in many aspects of the game; he’s a strong ball carrier, good at the breakdown and he’s a good lineout option so he really ticks all the boxes and I’m glad to have him on board.”

Loose-head prop Richard List has agreed terms to keep him at Castle Park for the 2014/15 season.

Thorne born List rejoined the Knights to aid last season’s promotion push having left Castle Park for the South of France in 2009. The mobile prop forward enjoyed five successful seasons playing with French Pro D2 side Narbonne with whom he made almost 100 appearances and was made Captain for a spell.

Upon rejoining his hometown side and renewing acquaintances with former boss Clive Griffiths the 32-year-old played a pivotal role in the Knights promotion-clinching end to the season. Listy started each of the Knights final five 2013/14 games and scored a late contender for try of the season against Coventry to aid his side to the narrowest of victories.

Rich’s season did not end on April 26th at Blackheath like most of the Knights team, having identified regular first team rugby as one determining factor for his return to Doncaster, the Yorkshireman pulled the white rose in this season’s Bill Beaumont County Championship. List’s performances for Yorkshire saw him picked for the England Counties side where he starred in two victories against Emerging Georgia in Tbilisi and he will now continue his rugby at Castle Park having signed a new one-year contract at the club.
Speaking on Rich’s re-signing DoR Clive Griffiths said. “I’m very glad to have Listy back with us, he was very good in the games he played for us at the end of last season and that is on the back of having been dormant for quite a while.

“He’d fallen slightly out of favour in Narbonne, Doncaster is his home and he wanted to come back, we were able to make an arrangement for last season and I’m delighted we’ve managed to secure his services for another season.

“He has some very good experience behind him and the Club means a lot to him.

“I think that looking forward, to have Richard List and Tom Davies as your loose head options we will be a match for anyone in the Championship and they’re both Donny boys.”

Canadian International lock forward Tyler Hotson pens for the Knights.

New addition Tyler Hotson joins the Knights with an impressive international career, which includes representing the Canucks in the 2011 World Cup and has amassed 41 caps to date but the 29-year-old also has vast experience in the Championship. Vancouver born Hotson has five years experience in English Rugby’s second tier under his belt, having moved to Plymouth Albion from Australian outfit Northern Suburbs in 2009.
Following three seasons on the South Coast with Albion, Tyler moved to the Athletic Ground and London Scottish for the start of the 2012/13 season. The 6’ 5” lineout technician made over 40 appearances for the Exiles in his two-year spell and will now link up with countryman and fellow new signing Jon Phelan as the pair compete for starting berth in the Knights second row engine room.

Speaking on his signing Tyler said. “I am delighted to have signed for Doncaster and for them to be back in the Championship, I know that whenever I have played against them in the past the games have always been very tough.

“I am looking forward to working with Griff again, I enjoyed being coached by him for Canada and I respect him and how he likes to play the game.”

Tyler is fresh from international duty but raring to get going and is ambitious about the upcoming season. “Personally I just want to play well and get myself in that starting fifteen.

“On top of that I’ll be focusing on what I do best and working hard on our set piece. As a team we are not looking to make up the numbers in this league, hopefully we can get the performances right and target that top eight and beyond.
“I landed back in England today from Canada’s summer internationals but already I am looking forward to meeting my new teammates and getting stuck in.”

Griff adds Phelan to the Castle Park roster.

Clive has reinforce his pack ahead of the 2014/15 campaign with the signing of Canadian international second row Jon Phelan. Jon will move to South Yorkshire having spent last season with French outfit Lille Metropole and standing at 6 ft 8 inches tall is sure to provide an imposing physical presence.

Phelan has worked alongside DoR Griffiths previously not only for the Canadian national side, with whom Phelan has made 16 appearances to date but also for the North Wales outfit RGC 1404. Jon, will link up with his new teammates on August 1st after completing his international duty for the Canucks who face Scotland and the USA later this month.

Jon is the second new signing of the summer and brings a wealth of top class rugby experience to the side. Described as a dynamic lineout technician who is good around the park, Phelan looks set to compete for starting berth with Skipper Matt Challinor and Club stalwart Glen Kenworthy.

Speaking on the move Jon said. “I’m excited to be back playing for Griff as I did in Wales and as I have done for Canada over the years
“He’s an excellent coach and anywhere that has his stamp of approval is somewhere I want to be playing.
“Clearly the Knights are back up where the aught to be and I’m looking forward to contributing to a winning season as a Knight.”

Knights to take part in Welford Road double header.

The Knights will get a pre-season test of the highest order on Friday, August 29th, as they travel to Welford Road to take on a Leicester Tigers XV.

The Tigers squad will be divided between two fixtures as they take on the Knights at 5pm, then face Cardiff Blues in the second leg of a rugby double header at 7.30pm.

Tickets for the even will go on sale soon and full details of how to get yours will be posted on www.drfc.co.uk.

The Knights have enjoyed a good relationship with the men from Welford Road and benefited from the talents of young Tigers props Tiziano Pasquali and Riccardo Brugnara last season, two players who may well scrum down against the Knights on August 29th.

Speaking ahead of the fixture Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill said: “Two games on one day provides a good opportunity for us to get game-time into all of the players in the final weekend before the start of the premiership season.
“It should prove an attractive evening for the supporters too.”

We are pleased to announce that flying winger Tyson Lewis has signed for another two seasons.

Clive Griffiths and the Knights squad received a huge boost today with the announcement that Tyson Lewis will remain at the Club for a further two seasons.

Tyson arrived from Plymouth in the summer of 2012 and has finished as the Knights top scorer in both of his two seasons with the Club. In 2013/14 not only did the 29-year-old top the Knights try-scoring chart but he also won the accolade of National Division One Top try scorer, touching down no fewer than 22 times; a return that saw him named in the Rugby Paper’s “Dream XV.”

Tyson has significant experience of the Championship and will hope to carry last year’s form into the new campaign. His signing along with the announcement that Paul Jarvis has agreed a new deal earlier this week means that Griff certainly has plenty of pace to call upon In 2014/15.
Upon signing Lewis said, “I’m happy to have finally put pen to paper and I’m looking forward to righting some wrongs from last time in the Championship.

“It’s going to be a step up from last season, there are some big strong teams with good set ups in this league but we have a lot of boys with experience in this division and even higher in some cases.

“We know what to expect and what we need to do to succeed and I just hope everyone is as excited as I am to prove any doubters wrong.
“I really want to try and carry last season’s performances through to the new campaign, hopefully I can keep on scoring and doing what I do on the wing.

“As a team, first of all we’ve got to make sure we stay in the league and take some scalps along the way.

“I have no doubts that we will be able to compete in the Championship, we almost stayed up last time and I feel we’re much stronger now than we were then, so I’m confident we can get the wins that we will need and enjoy ourselves along the way.”

Brrrruuuunnnoooooooo, Brrrrruuuuunnnooooooo!

2013/14 Fan’s player of the season Bruno Bravo has agreed a deal to keep him at Castle Park for at least another season.

Bravo joined the Knights last summer from San Albano in his native Argentina and became an instant hit with the Castle Park faithful.

Bruno played a huge part in the Knights title-winning season making an appearance in each of the Knights thirty 2013/14 league games. Bravo’s speed and agility proved problematic for many opposition defences as the 25-year-old touched down for seven tries from the scrumhalf position.

The former Puma 7s player has forged a strong bond with the Donny crowd, named as the Fan’s Player of the Season at the End of Season awards last month and is delighted to be extending his stay in South Yorkshire. “ I’m really happy to be staying for another season in Doncaster, I’m glad the fans enjoyed my rugby and together with my teammates they really made me feel at home last season.

“I know this season will be very tough but we will give everything to make sure the club stays where it belongs.

“Personally I feel I have more to give and plenty to improve on. I look forward to continuing to learn from the coaching staff and hopefully we can have a good season that the fans can enjoy.”

Paul Jarvis has agreed a new contract making him a Knight for at least another two seasons.

Flying winger Jarvis signed for the Knights last summer having graduated through the prolific Hartpury College rugby academy and spent a brief spell at Coventry RFC.

The sevens specialist made an impressive start to life as a Knight scoring a hat-trick on debut and following it up with a try against Leeds Carnegie in pre-season. Paul went onto make 27 appearances in the league signing off with a try in the Knights title decider on the final day of the season against Blackheath.

The speedster, who flourished in his first year of full time professional rugby, is now looking forward to the new challenges of next season and beyond.

Speaking on his new deal Paul said I’m “Really excited to have re-signed and for the next two seasons here at Castle Park and the upcoming challenges in the Championship.

“I’m relishing the step up and challenging myself in a higher competition.

“We’re capable of having another good season, we’ve got a great bunch of lads and it seems like we are keeping most of the team.
“Now I am just looking forward getting back into it, well as much as you can look forward to pre-season training.

“With regards to aims for the new season – we want to have another successful campaign; sticking to what we’re good at, surprising a few teams and hopefully I can contribute to that.

“The fans here are great, they are a good loyal crowd. I got to know quite a few last season and look forward seeing them again next year and hopefully we’ll have some good times to celebrate.”

Image courtesy of Kate Fisher