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for me the RS system needs to be scrapped, the list is getting weaker and weaker every year,

Agreed. Poole provide the blueprint of how to run a successful Championship team. Not just the on track performances, but off track as well. It's an exceptionally well run club and they deserve the success. The club just suffers from the fact their fans aren't particularly likeable (or at least some forum members aren't - some, not all - you know who you are) and that tarnishes the club's reputation slightly. But that's not Poole's fault.

Poole are just awesome. They get stick but largely that's because they are simply better at everything. Picking riders. I said it at the start of the season they are tracking basically 4 championship heat leaders with a decent number 6. Fair bloody play.

There’s an awful lot of myths written on here regarding Guy and it’s frustrating to read. Despite popular belief, he hasn’t a clue who Louis is signing or who he intends to chase (if he did I’d know the full line up every year before it was announced!), he doesn’t “do the deals” contact riders or stump up extra cash if Louis asks him to help get a superstar over. He pays his sponsorship money every winter, and that’s his involvement over lock stock and barrel. Chris Louis does everything at the club, everything.

We’ve heard this about Flint for the last how many years? He’s simply not progressing at all.

They certainly know how to Team build and put on a professional performance wherever they ride. Credit to them.

I notice Vinnie has CPR plastered all over his bike... is this an instruction to paramedics? 🚑🤕

Got to feel sorry for Boughan getting stuck at KL.

Nicholls just posted on Instagram and ended with "Really enjoyed this season so now it’s time to recover and get ready for 2025👍🏻" I'd assume he'll be back at Oxford and just doing his TV work again.

With well over 30 meetings this year at Oxford, my initial concerns about costs and so on were disproved. We had an incredibly solid core. We're talking 700-900 every Sunday for the Chargers, 1200-1500 for the Cheetahs, and 1800-2200 for the Spires. The only real changer in the crowds this year was, without a shadow of a doubt, the weather. You'd lose hundreds off the gate if the weather looked dodgy, which lets be honest, it was throughout the whole year. What does it show? People will find a way. There is of course a saturation point, but my genuine view is that sport tickets in general haven't tracked inflation costs over the years, and indeed probably *should* cost more - not that I want to pay more of course! I can't see a £2 increase making a lot of difference at Oxford, though the question of course always has to be asked - is the extra money being brought in going to inflate riders wages, or is it going to help stabilise the clubs?

How many riders are Glasgow signing for 2025? It seems that Uncle Tom Cobley and all are rumoured to be signing for them!! They can only (initially) sign 7 (always presuming it's 7 man teams, of course!!).

By all accounts, Masters is leaving and heading up north. The strong rumours over the last few weeks have been Glasgow bound, certainly north. Likewise, it seems like Heeps may well be off given his lap of honour last night very much seemed like a farewell. JJ I'd imagine will stay, and Killeen is now a permanent fixture at Oxford which I'm delighted about. I genuinely feel he's got a higher ceiling than Boughen.

Jenkins at rising star is superb!

Pleased with that. Local lad with great talent. Had a tough end to the season but hopefully comes back refreshed and confident for start of next season. He should always have a strong reserve partner to take the pressure off a bit and Rob will definitely guide him.

Well Jenkins as rising star then. That’s a massive boost.

Unfortunately not everyone was/is able to pay into a private pension. Those that were/are on low salaries had/have difficulties enough paying bills never mind finding that bit extra to have paid into a private scheme.

It was a max when I posted it after he had three rides.

2024 averages of the 2025 "rising stars" Leon Flint 3.66 (4.55) Jordan Jenkins 3.65 (4.83) Jason Edwards 3.55 (4.23) Ashton Boughen 2.74 (3.13) Luke Killeen 2.61 (3.83) Sam Hagon 1.77 (2.31) Jake Mulford 1.63 (2.07) RS not picked Dan Gilkes 3.31 (4.05) Joe Thompson 2.17 (2.33) Looking at these stats, it's surprising Belle Vue & Leicester chose to protect their "rising stars" plenty of stronger options available. Even more surprising Flint & Jenkins weren't picked up sooner. Edwards actually looks a good choice as he rode at 6 all season, then Jenkins as he rode half the season at 6. While many say Joe Thompson was no where near RS standard & I got laughed at for suggesting he ride for Leicester, statistically he did better than Hagon!

Let’s get Dillion Ruml back. He was superb in 2022.

Poole were hoping to have Kyle howarth next season,but once Glasgow came in for him he decided to go north, hence the signing of kerr,Poole also expected the team building limit to be 38 which it isn't forcing them into another change of plan meaning Vinnie could be surplus to requirements.

Well it can't be that interesting on there seeing as you are spending your time on this one!

That’s it then Flints got 3 years to get in the Gp s then win it in his 4th year 😆

What do you want a medal? This is all a bit daft isn’t it? Why stop at top 4? Ipswich have a stronger top 2, Sheffield have a stronger top 3, and a stronger top 4, Ipswich will possibly/probably have a stronger top 5 and the one that really matters, I think Ipswich will definitely have a stronger top 7!

How are some of these guys still classed as rising stars? 22/23 years old been riding championship 5/6 years now nothing really rising about it really.

Totally agree with you,a rider shouldnt be forced to go anywhere other than to the club he wants if they want him that is.Why don't the rule makers just come out and say it as it is,and it is not done as on a pick basis.

So now thats : Heat 2 : 5-1 Heat 13 : 5-1 Heat 15 : 5-1 Lovely ol’ job !!!

It's all going to plan very nicely...😊

Confirmed that two riders, Anders Rowe and Dan Thompson both will receive a 25% reduction due to exiting the rising star scheme. Think Dan would have been in the team anyhow, but it’s even more important that he’s signed up so nobody else gets the benefit of such a hefty reduction. That will allow us to pack the top end, whilst also having a very good reserve pairing. Recipe for success.

Even if it hasn't unearthed the next Bewley / Lambert, doesn't mean it's a failure imo. It's allowed clubs cheaper reserves, saved on air fares, given fans more Brits to cheer on in their teams, plus given young Brits opportunities I'm the top division they might not otherwise have gotten. I know many aren't fans of it, but I fully support the RS system. Feel it should be adopted by the Champ as well as not instead of the Prem though.

Is it though? For me it's always been weak. Only really Brennan has come out of the system and done ok. But yes, it should be scrapped, it hasn't delivered what it was meant to do & that get more homegrown into the main team. Most just end up going backward and stuck in the Championship going nowhere. The hope was to find the next Bewley & Lambert but that just isn't happening. The system should just be adopted by the Championship. In the Premiership, I think Brits U23 should get a 25% reduction every year unless they establish a 6 average. That would work better imo.

No get it right, the team have won trophies. Hagon's contribution has been woful in all three finals. To be fair to the lad he did win the u21 championship, but his form has dipped terrible in the latter part of the season.

I hear this so often. You, almost certainly, also made some wise decisions along the way. Many who spent all of their earnings instead of thinking of a private pension, are now supported by the state while those who used their own money to plan ahead are now ignored by the state. The 'luck' and 'good fortune' is experienced by those who spent their money and now need government support.

I've heard Bomber

great addition to lynn with harris being his mentor and partnering him at reserve, not just that, as stated previously there seems to be a confident issue with him right now and the best person to help him is rob lyon for me. and hes local to yourselves. ill put it out there now, he will be best RS next season

I don’t think the Holders would say something like that they’d both still be living in Dorset together. IF the rumoured 7 is correct, I think the management and Steady have recognised the risk but also the reward of having the strongest top 4 in the league. Huge pressure on the 3 young Brit’s but one of them if not 2 will need to step up and support them

Hope I'm proved wrong, but I feel Leon is a poor fit for Sheffield. Never seemed to have gone particularly well round Owlerton and haven't seen much improvement in last few years. Feels a bit of a make or break season for the lad, and hopefully we'll see some improvement and reap the rewards of his previous expirence.

Only bother with you thick boy #armchair mouth

and one he lives five minutes from and can practice on almost 24/7 might do him good

https://ipswichwitches.co/2025-signing-jordan-jenkins/ This kind of confirms that the “draft pick” doesn’t really work. They didn’t know if he was going to be eligible for some time so people questioning whether he’d be allowed back on the list are justified. Reading between the lines here and I could be wrong, but Jenkins is hinting here that Birmingham possibly wanted him as they had first pick, but he dug his heels in and in the end got the move he wanted. The draft pick is a nonsense that doesn’t work. Have a rising star list if you must, but let clubs go for whom they want, and let riders ride where they want.

Fantastic news to get Jenkins... Him and Thompson at reserve will be super solid!

Didn't he get a lot of negative comments by some when he was signed,don't he done to badly as Poole have won all 3 trophies well almost

Thanks RTB! I guess the Lions will have Hagon again. The kid is out of his depth at this level and if he is retained it can only be because of connnections, as I cannot believe that Dickson would want him if he had a say.

In all fairness, he had the talent to go all the way and suffered from plenty of horrendous injuries that most wouldn't come back from. Can't knock him for that. The crash at Lynn in particular, to actually come back from that and score as well as he did in the following years is insane.

You can see a big difference in the team managers of the two clubs. Last week Schroeck leaves Boughen in his 4th ride, doesn't give Killeen a 6th race. Tonight despite Poole being well ahead & having one hand on the trophy, Middlo drops Hagon for Thomsen in heat 8. Perhaps a shame for Hagon, but shows Poole's mentality when it comes to winning. Then Jack Smith scores more than Connor Coles (who doesn't beat an opponent) but Coles gets more rides! Does Schroeck even fill in a programme?

There is a lot of talk about admission prices and the correlation with attendance figures. If prices were a couple of quid lower, would a few more of hundred spectators show up? Trying to apply simple business economics in this sport in its current state is pointless. If prices went up or down by around £3 to £5 next season I do not think it would make much difference to attendances, due to the fans age demograph. The sport relies on die hards in the 60 plus age group who will always moan about prices but will still pay to watch the sport because ‘we always have done’. Being brutally honest, even when some clubs have offered serious discounts on certain meetings, the number of additional attendees is usually underwhelming. Getting people through the turnstile is one thing, but then delivering a product to want the casual supporter to return is another. Club’s are not naive enough to think that there are queues of people waiting for admission price tweaks to visit their tracks. Fact of the matter is, the people that could make an impact financially aren’t aware of the sport and worse still, are not aware of a track that might be local to them. Promotion of the sport in the UK on the whole sums up all of the above.

Ask your mate Gavan, he’s the one who sparked the debate!

I personally think Lewis Kerr would be a decent signing. He struggled in 2024 after an early injury and never really recovered his best form. He's on a bit of a false average, so has the potential to improve on it if he regains full fitness/confidence.

Don’t think many fans would like 5 man Teams.Just means riders ask for more money as a bargaining tool.

Oxford’s head have dropped now, you can see it in the body language of the riders, only heeps and gilkes looks like it matters

I had a movement this morning, funnily enough, reminded me of your posts..