Hunters

What a juicy start, Wood and Morley v Clegg and Brennan going to be a great contest.

Being a neutral now has its advantages. There really is no stand out team this time although I suspect Kent will carry the favourites tag. But anyone can make the play offs. Only 3 will miss out and I suspect Belle Vue and Stoke will be two of those three and Heathen 1984 is being unduly pessimistic. Max Clegg had an early season dip but finished near invincible whilst Tom Brennan improves every time I see him. They both finished up riding above their averages. Dan Halsey is sure to improve his average with the reduced level of competition and the many new reserves gives a lad like Whitmore much more chance. If Like Harris fills the final spot I fancy Cradley to finish 3rd possibly behind Kent and Leicester.

Don't under estimate Tom Brennan away from home, he is no one track pony and his recent tour of Australia has been an eye opener. Some really good performances against several of the 1 to 5 riders of the championship and even equalled Jason Crump in one of Jason's rare appearances. You can check out his results on the usual updates site in the Australian section which does not include his 11 points just losing out on the final of the Jack Young Cup. He will only be reserve until the first new averages and I expect big things from him this year.

Just hope Eddie Kennett lives up to what Jon Cook had to say about him.

On Dec 6th they announced that the full 1 to 7 was secured and they would announce them in the run up to Xmas, Well only 4 days left to meet that commitment.

Please look after him. Having watched him for about 10 years at Arlington starting with 4 laps before each Elite League match on a small machine we have become very attached to him.

The more you think about it the more confusing it becomes. If it was Lawson, Kennett & Morley I can see no reason for not having already said so. If it is Lawson, Morris & Morley then they would be approx. 1.6 points below limit? If it is not Morley then Waco could have said so, the fact he did not rather indicates it is. Lawson & Morley leaves over 10.4 for the 3rd heat leader. Any more likely combinations? One thing for sure is I am now hoping it is not Kennett as he is certainly too expensive (point wise)

What night are they going to run the Cubs ?

Leicester and any 3 from 11

Just think oh heats 13 & 15 in the Cradley / IOW fixtures. Worth the admission money alone.

Am I reading too much into this, is it possible that Kennett is not in the frame. Nick Morris would be a much better option even though he is riding in Poland on Sunday. It never bothered Nicki Pedersen for 5 years. Lawson, Morris and Kerr could be the best in the league and take the pressure of the bottom 4.

I would think Wood at present would be the best bet for no 4 at home but soon to be overtaken by Brennan. Ben Morley rides Arlington well but the other two were flying at the end of last year. However away is different and Morley might well be the better option. Its all irrelevant because averages determine the positions and I think the bottom four will all be in the reserve spots at some time. The most likely is Alfie Bowtell who could be an asset away but has really not been happy at Arlington. Unless Eddie Kennett regains some of the form he had when he left us in the Elite days we could be relying on the bottom 4 to keep us afloat.

Sounds like Ben is one of the last three so why don't they say so? Waco should know. We thought it was Zach but no. Maybe it is not Kennett either. Why must we be the last to know.? Otherwise only Newcastle and 1 at Brum are left in doubt as the other nine teams are complete.

Would imagine he is more likely to become a Swindon asset as they had already signed him.

So much for that. If Zach was wrong so might be some others? Just cannot see Ben Morley at No 4 or we will have problems. He really has not improved much over the last four years and his average was arrived at by being reserve at Lakeside. He scores big at NL but he did the same when we joined in 2015. My one worry had been Eddie Kennett who had a bad year last year but comes in too high with the previous years average. Does not leave any room for improvement. With the pair of them the Eagles suddenly look a bit vulnerable.

Whilst I would like to see Nathan Ablitt go there he does not turn 15 Until March and schooling probably rules him out for a Thursday night club. I don't know how they grade last years 3.0 point riders but if they are now 2.0 William O'Keefe would be a good shout.

Pleased to see Georgie at Smallbrook, we love him and I am sure Warrior fans will too. He will even wear the No 1 jacket to start with. Stay clear of injuries and the play offs beckon. I would love to see IOW win the league. Islander15 would have a grin a mile wide

Averages are based on number of rides and heat 15 has 4 more rides for the extra 6 points. To get what you are looking for you have to take 42 points as the average giving 4 extra points being 'doled out' . In reality if every match finished 45/45 then every teams averages would add up to 42.

Nine teams now complete and the others almost. I assume we finish with Kennett, Lawson and Zach. Having never followed this League it is hard to tell just how strong the other teams are but they look on paper to be well matched. No outright favourites and I suspect that forecasting the top four is almost as hard as winning the lottery. Redcar seem to be well fancied and we do know some of them. I would think our heat leaders could match theirs so it is down to the bottom four. I don't know Stewart but have seen the other three and they hold no major fear over our four so we should be competitive. It will be interesting to see how the continental riders handle Arlington as very few if any of them have been here. I was also surprised how many English riders are 'strangers' to Arlington because they had not made the Elite League when we left but were past the NL when we joined. Our home record should keep us mid table with the most likely challenge coming from Leicester. Richie Worrell was brilliant as a guest with Poole scoring something like 18 points in the Elite League and Nicholls and Perks are ex eagles . Mountain and Thomas have a fair bit of experience on the track but they did have difficulty against Wood and Brennan last year. All in all a fascinating year ahead, I just hope all those fans who refused to watch NL appreciate what is coming and return to the fold.

Thanks, I hope they have. It looks a good side.

Where did that come from?

Don't undervalue the two reserves, they are developing fast and likely to be among the best in the league. Some of their times were as good as some from the Elite League days and they came within 0.1 of Adam Ellis' track record. Their inclusion in next next years team was never in doubt. I like the look of the team and my only question mark is against Lewis Kerr. Is he going to be the same after his latest injury or is his confidence going to be eroded?.

Please Please not. I spent so much time defending him in his wild Elite days and he kept letting us down despite his obvious talent. With the new found club and team spirit of the last four years it would be a disaster in my opinion.

Eastbourne trio would be subject to NL reduction of 2.5% which has not been included. Balance should be 24.43.

Can see this as all change for the reserves every new average list. So Alfie Bowtell will get a fair amount of reserve heats. It could do all three of them some good to have a mixture of tough rides at 2 and some small respite at 6 and 7. Looking at the other reserves announced so far I think we are best placed. All four are ex NL juniors so that leaves 24.43 for the final three riders which should make for a competitive team. I fancy Richard Lawson and Zach but that would leave 10.34 for a No 1 and there doesn't look to be anyone at that level available so they might have to go for a 7 pointer instead of Zach. Uncertain as to what average would apply to Ed Kennett but he might be the option and then we come in a point under the limit.