James started his rugby career playing at his local rugby club Billingham RFC, based in Stockton-upon-Tees, and worked his way through the age groups.

Moving his rugby focus a little further south, he was part of the Yorkshire set-up and represented the county at U18 and U20, all the while joining the Doncaster Knights’ academy in 2022. He has made a fair few appearances for the Phoenix, and had a loan spell at Leeds Tykes at the end of last season to gain some valuable game time.

Putting in impressive displays, he was gifted with a promotion and pro contract by the Knights for the 2024/25. As a fresh graduate to the first team, he will spend this season developing his skills with Bury St. Edmunds’ and wish him the best of luck.

The 2024/25 season will be Maliq’s fourth season at Castle Park, after arriving in 2021. While playing for the Knights, Maliq is now well past the 50 appearance mark and is hoping to boost his stats this campaign.

Holden’s rugby career really took flight while at Hartpury University. He was called up on a few occasions to represent Clifton in the National Leagues, and the Hartpury’s Championship side. He also helped the university side win back-to-back BUCS Super Rugby titles. Internationally, to some surprise, he has represented the Netherlands at youth level, and after his time at Hartpurty, he was selected in the England Students squad.

At the start of the 2018/19 season, Maliq moved down to Penzance to play for Cornish Pirates for three successful seasons in the early stages of his career, earning Most Improved Player in 2020.

Following his move up to Doncaster in 2021, Holden made quite the impact in his first season; scoring 2 minutes into his debut against Richmond and being nominated for the Championship Team of the Season.

We are delighted to have Maliq again this season. A naturally gifted player and a consistent top try scorer within the club, he is a leader within the squad and will be sure to be a pivotal player to help the squad in their achievements this season.

Adam began his rugby career at Sandal RUFC, starting out as a young lad and eventually being promoted to the senior squad in 2017. 

Hopkinson was part of the Yorkshire set-up, representing them at county level and playing for Carnegie at Under 16s and 18s. While focusing on his studies, he was playing his rugby for Gloucestershire and had the honour of captaining them from 2018 to 2020.

In this same time period, Adam was also chosen to captain the South West County U20s, displaying high levels of leadership from a very young age. To top off a brilliant period in his career, he was named Player of the Year for Gloucestershire.

He then made the move back up north and joined Doncaster Phoenix, before returning to his boyhood club of Sandal. From there he was introduced into the Knights’ academy set-up and has been a constant at Castle Park.

Adam made his debut for the Knights in February 2023 in an impressive Championship Cup game against Coventry. He made a further 5 appearances for the Knights that season and signed his first pro contract with them for the start of 2023/24 campaign. He also had a rogue game for Leicester Tigers last season, which helped develop his professional further.

We are happy to welcome Adam back this season, as a local Yorkshireman and someone who epitomises the clubs’ ethos, we are sure he will aid the club in all their efforts this season, both on and off the pitch.

Born in North Wales, Joe Jones has been around the block in terms of his time at different rugby clubs. As a true welshman, he started his rugby from a young age for home side Mold RFC, until the age of 16. He then had an exciting year, moving school to Myerscough College, changing club to RGC 1404, and breaking into the Sale Sharks academy.

In June 2013, after his education came to an end, Jones signed his first professional rugby contract with Cardiff Blues, going back on loan with, then, Welsh Championship team, RGC 1404. He also spent loan spells with the feeder side, Cardiff RFC, and fellow South Wales club, Pontypridd, while also earning international caps with Wales U18s and U20s squads. 

In 2016, aged 21, Joe waved goodbye to Wales, and travelled abroad to Pro D2 side, USA Perpignan, having 2 successful seasons with the South France side, and helped in the teams league-winning season in 2018 for their promotion to the Top14 league.

Following that successful campaign, Jones rejoined his academy team, Sale Sharks, and had a successful two years with the Greater Manchester team, winning the Premiership Cup in his second season, their first trophy in 14 years. With the COVID-19 pandemic occurring at the start of 2020, the season was obviously cut short, and in the June, he made a move to Doncaster Knights for a season to keep his competitive edge. 

After a short stint at Castle Park, Jones had an even shorter stint at Coventry at the start of the 2021/22 season only staying for 5 months, before heading back to the north-west and rejoining Sale for another two-year stint. All the while, working towards his Level 2 coaching badge, coaching at his boyhood club, Mold RFC. In 2023, Joe said a permanent farewell to the Sharks and wracked up over 50 caps for them. 

Carrying on his coaching, Joe played 4 times for Championship side, Caldy, before heading back to South Wales, pausing his coaching career, and joining URC club, Scarlets. Having the one season with the Llanelli club, he came back up north to Doncaster for the 2024/25 season. We are thrilled to have Joe back in the squad, after an incredible career, and hopefully his experience will boost the squad to push for promotion.

Born in Ulster, Northern Ireland, Zach Kerr is one of only a handful of non-English players in this year’s squad. He began playing from a young age, mainly at Bangor Grammar School. In his final year there, he was honoured with the role of captain of his 1st team.

After leaving school, he spent a year in New Zealand playing for Tauranga Sports Rugby Club, where he gained some incredible experience and developed his skills, in accordance with the All Blacks’ ways.

In 2020, Kerr decided to return back to his academics, and attended Newcastle University as a Law student and within the year, was picked up by Newcastle Falcons to sign his first professional rugby contract. He later earned his first Premiership cap for the Falcons in 2021 against Exeter Chiefs.

In 2023, he graduated from university and spent another season with the Falcons, however, struggled to find a permanent spot in the squad. After the 2023/24 season, he decided to leave the North East after 17 appearances and 3 tries, and make a move slightly south to Doncaster Knights.

We are delighted to have such an experienced player as Zach, and still at such a young age, we hope we can aid his progress to reach new levels.

 

Jasper developed a love for rugby at a very young age, playing rugby union for his school, and also played rugby league for Newsome Panthers and Underbank Rangers. 

In 2017, he was first brought in to the Yorkshire Academy and carried on down the path of rugby union. After two successful seasons in their academy, McGuire moved on to university where he played for Northumbria University in the BUCS Super Rugby league for 4 years and really developed his game. He then moved across the city to Newcastle’s campus and played a year with them as he completed his Masters in Urban Planning.

At the end of his Masters in 2023, Jasper was chosen for the England Students squad, managed by forwards coach Daz Fearn, and also signed his first pro contract for Premiership club, Saracens in April of that year. He then spent a period on loan at Saracen’s feeder team, Ampthill, playing 13 times in the Championship and Prem Cup.

We are delighted to have Jasper with us this season, and hope the coaches and fellow props can aid his progress as he strives for greater heights.

Scrum-half Will discovered his passion for rugby while at school at Woodhouse Grove, an independent school in West Yorkshire, and developed his ability playing for Leeds-based club, West Park, where he completed many season making his way through their ranks.

From those positions, he was spotted by the Yorkshire academy and represented them at county level too. In 2021, Metcalfe joined East Riding side, Hull Ionians, and was an integral player during their season.

As a nifty player, Doncaster Knights spotted his ability and drafted him into our academy system, where he honed in on his skills, gaining game time across Yorkshire.

Metcalfe spent the 2023/24 season on loan at local club, Rotherham Titans, where he helped them secure promotion to National 1, whilst also balancing appearances for the Knights.

With the likes of Alex Dolly and Ollie Fox still in the squad, we understand game time will be harder to come by for the youngster, so will spend the majority of this season on loan at Bury St. Edmunds, and look forward to everything Will will learn during his time in the South East.

Calvin only started playing rugby at 15-years-old, beginning with his school Darton College. Gaining a love for the game, he started at club level for Barnsley RUFC before moving onto Sandal for his colts career.

After only a year of playing rugby Mitchell was fortunate enough to be picked for Yorkshire’s U16s, and he carried on his good form to be picked for the county again the following year at U17s, thanks to his move to Bishop Burton College for sixth form.

Under-18s was a very successful year for Calvin, as he was selected for Yorkshire, North of England and England Counties. However, for the latter, he missed out due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

With a brief stint at Bishop Burton University, Calvin quickly made the switch to Doncaster College in his first year at university, and was inducted into the Doncaster Knights academy. In the same year, he was chosen again to represent Yorkshire and the North of England, whilst also playing for Doncaster Phoenix. 

During his 2nd and 3rd year in the academy, Mitchell was honoured with the captaincy of the academy. In his final year as captain, Calvin led them to their highest BUCS Super Rugby finish on record. In the last two seasons, Calvin also spent time on loan at East Yorkshire side, Hull Ionians, in order to maintain his minutes and keep him sharp.

We are delighted to have another academy product as part of the first team such as Calvin, and recognise the amount of talent he has and can learn from the likes of Joe Jones and Logovi’i Mulipola, however, Mitchell will spend a lot of this season on loan with Bury St. Edmunds to ensure he is consistently playing.

Born on the Manono Island of Samoa, Logovi’i is arguably the most experienced player to ever wear a Doncaster Knights jersey. Beginning his career in his home country, and earning his first international appearance in 2009, he has represented Samoa over 30 times and has played in 2 World Cups.

Mulipola moved to England to join Leicester Tigers in 2011, and had a long and successful career with them, playing over 130 times for them and was also part of the squad that won the the Anglo-Welsh Cup in 2012 and the Premiership in 2013.

Injury seriously affected Mulipola in the latter stages of his Leicester career, but he remained a constant leader in the squad and was a key morale booster for players, and influential on props coming through the team.

In 2018, he joined fellow Premiership side, Newcastle Falcons, for 5 years, making 63 appearances for the club. During his tenure in the North East he spent a loan spell at Gloucester Rugby during an injury crisis.

Logovi’i left the Falcons in 2013, and was signed to Montpellier Hérault as a World Cup Joker– a player who signs for a club during a World Cup campaign as positional cover. He then joined Saracens on a permanent deal until the end of the 2024 season as injury cover.

After an illustrious career, we are delighted to welcome “Logo” to Doncaster, who has already been demonstrating his leadership skills amongst the forwards, and his experience is invaluable to the whole squad.

 

Born in Hull, Jordan Olowofela has always been a naturally gifted athlete, competing at a high-level in many different sports. He decided to focus and pursue his rugby however, signing for Leicester Tigers at 19-years-old.

While registered with Tigers, Jordan played for Loughborough Students, who were in National League 1 during his tenure from 2016-2018. After this stint, he became more of a regular member of the Leicester first team squad. 

In 2018, Olowofela had an exciting year with the England U20s squad, as he was called up to represent his nation in the Six Nations and World Cup, scoring for them on many occasions in both tournaments, including twice in the World Cup final against France, which they came runners-up in.

After all the effects of COVID-19, Jordan spent a short loan at Super Rugby Pacific team Western Force, where he honed in on his rugby skills, and another loan the following season at Newport Dragons. 

In 2022, Leicester Tigers decided not to renew Jordan’s contract after 43 appearances for the Premiership and European club, and stayed fairly local when he signed for fellow championship side, Nottingham. We are delighted to have him here at Castle Park this year, as someone who describes himself as “the fastest man in the league”, let’s hope he’s right and puts plenty of points on the board for us this season.

Beginning his schooling at independent school, Sherborne, Parry showed promise from an early age and carried this forward as he captained his 1st XV side in his final year of school.

Attending school in north-west Dorset, he was recruited into the Bath academy at U18 level and subsequently joined England at this age group too. Upon leaving school, he was awarded with a contract with Bath and is part of the West Country’s senior academy.

Will is currently a student at Durham University, and opted for the move to Doncaster so he could maintain his competitive rugby while still focussing on his studies of Geography. Since he joined the North-East university powerhouse, he has consistently represented the Palatinates’ 1st team, proving to be a key member.

In 2023, Parry was lucky enough to be brought into the England training squad prior to their World Cup game against Fiji, saying how much of an incredible and inspirational experience it was. We look forward to have him for the season, and hope he can learn lots as he improves his game.