DONCASTER prop Brad Knowles says there’s plenty left in the tank – wherever he ends up playing next year – after racking up his 200th career appearance.
The 33-year-old is coming out of contract, with his future at the South Yorkshire club, where he has been for four seasons, yet to be confirmed.
He reached the milestone – and scored a try – in the 36-14 win at Goole which was his 75th game for Doncaster after 74 for Featherstone (2015-2018), 49 for Sheffield (2019-2021) and two for Halifax, where he spent a 2022 campaign which was hampered by a nasty hip injury.
When Knowles joined Doncaster ahead of the 2023 season, they had finished fourth in League One, reaching a second successive play-off final only to lose again, 16-10 at Swinton (after a 36-12 defeat at Workington in 2021).
He featured in the following year’s final, which Richard Horne’s side won 18-6 at home to North Wales to finally win promotion from the old third tier.
And Knowles feels finishing fourth in this year’s merged second tier is a clear sign of the club’s steady progression.
“We’ve built into the Championship, and we set a target of top four and reaching the play-offs at the start of the year, so it’s good to have achieved that initial goal,” he said.
“The club have come a long way in the time I’ve been here, and there are big ambitions.
“Making 200 matches was a great milestone for me personally. There’s plenty left in the tank, and we’ll see what next year brings.”
Doncaster go into Sunday’s home play-off tie against Barrow on the back of 19 wins in 24 regular-season Championship matches.