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Looking at those teams, it's possible Oxford's reserves won't beat a Poole rider between them, so can only see a Poole win here!

If Berwick choose to go with a temp signing till Etheridge is fit options are: Broc Nicol (5.95) Dillon Ruml (5.47) Max Clegg (5.23) Drew Kemp (5.20) Ricky Wells (5.20) Dan Thompson (5.09) Ben Morley (4.94) Ashley Morris (4.81) Theo Pijper (4.43) Kasper Andersen (4.10) I believe Wells & Morris have retired (but not read that officially), Andersen not riding UK (would he make a short term comeback?) and assume Nicol & Ruml are in the States & wouldn't come over for a temporary team spot.

Can the mods pin this please?

Etheridge being 4th in the averages isn't the issue, so much as starting with 2 x 2.00 riders at reserve. Teams like Poole or Scunthorpe could probably cope with r/r more than others.

I'm not sure the point you're making? I'm sure Leicester didn't move up with the aim to finish bottom, nor will their opponents make it easy for them to encourage them to remain in the league. I'm sure the Leicester riders & promotion won't agree with any predictions putting them bottom, tbh I don't think there's a lot between the teams - but someone has to finish bottom!

After only a couple (4?) matches, already re-thinking my predictions lol! 1. Sheffield 2. Belle Vue 3. Kings Lynn 4. Ipswich 5. Peterborough 6. Wolverhampton 7. Leicester

Who remembers Brenton Barnfield? I came across his name (while looking for something else) in the 2012 team announcement pages & couldn't remember his riding for Berwick!

Richie Worrall has made a great start to the Ben Fund meeting today: 3,3,3,3

I wonder why? You'd expect Batchelor to be keen to show promoters what he can do!

Because the riders already had other clubs?

Watching the match in BSN now, I certainly would have used Shanes in heat 12, it looks obvious Pearson is gonna run a last against Palin & Lambert!

Almost a local derby with so few tracks now!

According to stats on the British speedway website April averages will be as follows: Dan Bewley 8.95 Brady Kurtz 8.22 Charles Wright 6.55 Tom Brennan 5.74 Norick Blodorn 5.33 Jaimon Lidsey 5.16 Jake Mulford RS Bewley has a 20 match rolling ave, the rest 11 match rolling aves. So looks like they are adding this seasons matches to last year's till they reach 20 matches.

The way it looks Lidsey will drop to reserve on Apr 1st, as Brennan would be be on his rolling ave

This is a very tough league to predict as none of the teams look particularly weak & plenty have riders expected to improve their averages. 1st Workington. Have a good number one in Bailey & then could have as many as 4 2nd/3rd heat leaders backing him up. Expecting Sam McGurk to be one of the strongest reserves in the league & Kelly is an acceptable number 7. 2nd Oxford. Have a very strong top 4 (top 2 stronger than Workington). Scott is very promising as a second string, while Clouting is a decent reserve. Weaker at number 7 than most of the other clubs though. 3rd Leicester. Could well have the best top 2 in the league. After that have a lost of very promising youngsters. Could end up with Spencer & Food being the best reserves in the league. 4th Mildenhall. Great top 2 to rival Leicester's. Solid middle order without being as strong as the top 3. Similar to Oxford at reserve Butcher will do ok, Richardson very much unknown at this level. 5th Edinburgh. Strong number one in Bickley, good back up in Roynon, Hook & Spooner. Big season needed for Simpson as a second string. Could have the weakest reserves though. 6th Kent. Strong number one. Then 2 or 3 3rd heat leaders (if Alcock comes back from injury ok). Better reserves than last year, but wouldn't call them strong. Missed a trick with Alcock being on a low average & building 2+ points under the limit. Put in a stronger number 7 & Alcock would've started at reserve! 7th Belle Vue. Reasonable at the top, but weaker than most. Any of the bottom 4 could potentially end up at reserve, so will always have 2 good reserves (the strong part of their team). 8th Berwick. Certainly look the weakest team to me. Big season needed for Coles stepping up to number one, doubling up for Berwick should help. Don't see a lot of improvement in the rest of the side, that combined with them being almost 2 points under the limit, outs them bottom for me. Good enough to be competitive, especially at home, so don't see them being miles adrift, just a slightly under average side in a strong league!

Totally agree, although Sheffield are a good side, Belle Vue are something special at home.

Totally agree thought he would struggle, very impressed with his score.

British reductions are only used to start the season, from now Brennan will use his rolling ave. This is how it has been done with the 2.5% reductions, so logically must be the same for 25% reductions.

I'll say: Sheffield 51 - 39 Belle Vue

True, although in his Speedway Star interview, he's aiming for a 6.00 ave for Poole - but I guess riders have to be positive when interviewed. Anyway I was impressed with Stoneman & think Berwick may have picked the best 2.00 riders.

Taken from britishspeedway.co.uk “Also by putting the start time back an hour to 4pm we will have more time for track preparation to cope with the range of weather conditions that can affect a speedway track – more time to dry out if that’s needed, and more time to deal with a dry track in the heat of summer.” While that all makes sense, what if you've got a dry day but rain forecast from 5pm? While it's not ideal for fans planning ahead, being able to change the start team each week depending on the weather might help get meetings on?

I would have put Howarth @2 & Bellego @4 personally

Tonight's match will count for the April averages (up to & Inc Mar 23rd) so unless Blodorn has an awful match, Lidsey is almost certain to drop to reserve for April!

Just like to remind everyone I said Brennan would be starting the season at reserve lol!

But Brennan is at reserve!