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I'd say Sheffield's 3&4 are far stronger than Ipswich's. But Dan T vs Gilkes is a massive advantage for the Witches. I'm a big fan of Rowe, think he'll do fine in the top 5 for Sheffield.

Who would you have picked instead?

I think Edwards is very underrated & a good RS choice. The fact he rode at 6 last year & now drops to 7 should mean more points can be expected. Still not sure I would've let Flint go though. The Speedway conundrum, drop a rider as he's been poor for you only to see him improve elsewhere.

The Spires won very few bonus points, but the Cheetahs won nearly all of them, so do Oxford have a strong home advantage or not?

Flint might get there, but doesn't seem too likely at his current rate of progression.

Years ago that would've been the case, but there were only 13 riders with an average over 8 last season. With 9 clubs there should be 27 heat leaders.

38 point limit: Richard Lawson 9.17 An Other 8.08 Zach Cook 6.23 Anders Rowe 6.11 Tobias Thomsen 4.41 Tom Spencer 2.00 Max James 2.00 40 point limit: Richard Lawson 9.17 An Other 8.18 Zach Cook 6.23 Anders Rowe 6.11 Tobias Thomsen 4.41 Vinnie Foord 3.90 Max James 2.00 For the second heat leader spot former Poole riders Kevin Wolbert, Steve Worrall, Rory Schlein & Danny King all fit.

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!

If Cairns is in line to be Belle Vue's "rising star" when he turns 16, is that not harsh of Belle Vue to protect their use of Mulford? If Belle Vue have already decided Mulford is only getting half a season, would it not be fair to allow him to sign for another team & potentially get a full season? No guarantee someone else would've picked him, on which case Belle Vue would've got him anyway.

Nothing unlucky about it, it was their choice, if they've made the wrong pick, they can only blame themselves.

If you make the age limit younger / reduce how long you can be a rising star, then you'll weaken the system. Many fans think these riders are too weak for the Prem already, if you had to promote the next batch earlier, they'll be struggling more.

He's already been a heat leader in the Champ for a few seasons.

This is what I don't understand, if the four remaining clubs agreed to ignore the "ranking" and let the riders go where they want, why is there a "ranking" in the rulebook in the first place? Couldn't these 4 clubs vote to get rid of it & allow "rising stars" to be picked like the top 6 in each club?

Only downside of that is a 6.01 rider getting dropped for a 5.99 rider due to the massive average differences. But I agree there could be more done to help. Perhaps former "rising stars" continue to get reductions 25% - 20% - 15 % etc till they end up on 2.5% reductions like the rest of the Brits? Would certainly help a rider like Drew Kemp, who could find it very hard to get a Prem spot as he did slightly better than Jenkins, Flint etc.

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.

Logically it should get weaker as the top riders progress & the next batch won't be at their level yet. I don't think that's a reason to get rid of it. I think this year looks more even, which is ideal, all the riders want to ride Prem & it not like they're gonna get lapped, they'll all be competitive.

I guess all the "experts" didn't expect Birmingham & Lynn to pass up on the opportunity to sign Jenkins. I think it's a surprise, as it means other clubs didn't want him.

Protection was taken on their 2024 Rising Stars by the following clubs: Belle Vue – Jake Mulford Leicester – Sam Hagon Oxford – Luke Killeen I can understand those decisions The remaining Rising Star selections for 2025 were made in the following order: Birmingham – Jason Edwards King’s Lynn – Ashton Boughen Ipswich – Jordan Jenkins Sheffield – Leon Flint Bit surprised with first pick of the remaining riders Birmingham went for Edwards. Probably even more surprised Flint was last pick.

I wouldn't call it fiddling. Look at the Champ averages of Jenkins, Flint & Edwards, there's not a massive amount of difference. I think it'd be a shame for Jenkins of he was "barred" from being a RS because of one better season in the Prem, while two similar riders can remain as a RS.

The Oxford situation would be a fair point of they have topped the league and then been understrength in the play-offs. As it stands I don't feel for a team that finished 2nd in the league being weakened in the play-offs. Even if they were top I still wouldn't feel for them as they voted for the play-offs, so know there's always a risk it'll hurt your team. Anyway if I was in charge top of the league would be Champs, no need for play-offs. Feel the same about the SON, why have an extra 2 races, when there's a winner after 21 heats? Would like the GPs if they got rid of the awful scoring system / got rid off or limited the wild cards.

I was thinking more about Jenkins, Rowe was always available as an RS, just rode elsewhere in the team. So that would mean Edwards & Boughen can be an RS again. Jenkins is the question mark, but I think it's allowed.

From memory I'm sure rider can go back to being a RS if they fit the qualifying criteria.

My picks would be Birmingham: Leon Flint King's Lynn: Jordan Jenkins Oxford: Luke Killeen (Boughen at 6) Ipswich: Jason Edwards, Dan Gilkes or Jake Mulford Sheffield: two of Jason Edwards, Dan Gilkes or Jake Mulford (the two Ipswich don't pick) Leicester: Joe Thompson Belle Vue: Sam Hagon

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?

Found this match on YouTube & it's very entertaining. Can't help but feel really angry towards the Stadium owners for kicking the Speedway out. Really hope Wolves can ride again. https://youtu.be/gZlOlb2dBfk?feature=shared