Cooke won’t tolerate basic errors at Doncaster

Doncaster coach Paul Cooke has made it clear that silly mistakes are not something he and his staff will tolerate from players in 2015.

The Dons enjoyed a successful campaign in 2014, making the play-offs. The new structure to the league this year will make it tough to repeat that success this time around.

Cooke is insistent that standards must be higher, after the Dons lost to Leeds in a recent preseason friendly.

“Some players are going to be really disappointed because they feel that they should be in there, but we are going to pick a team based on what we have seen over the past four weeks,” Cooke told local reporters.

“The players are aware, the players aren’t stupid. They don’t need telling by the staff that the first 15 minutes of the second half against Leeds wasn’t good enough.

“They don’t need telling that our play one areas are not good enough and they don’t need telling that when we have the ball and we give a penalty away, it’s a cardinal sin.

“The players who have these issues either address them or they don’t play, it’s that simple.

“We can’t keep beating around the bush with players and wrapping them in cotton wool when they are still making the same mistakes.”

The Dons open their campaign on Sunday with a trip to the capital to face London Broncos.