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If King's Lynn are serious about wanting to win the league, they should approach Connor Bailey or Dan Thompson to become their RS. Not sure Belle Vue or Sheffield would be keen to let their riders go, but I imagine the riders would rather race every week than be a non-riding number 8! If their clubs won't release them Jason Edwards must be best option! Tbh Mulford should go too, mainly because if Thomas had got injured just before the play-offs, Lynn would have to draft in number 8 Mulford, a rider who has only ridden in the NL for Belle Vue. While using Mulford might be considered what the number 8 position should be used for, if you wanna win the league, should be looking at riders like Shanes or Clegg. These two may never make it to the top (Mulford could) but they'll score more in the Prem just now!

3 home & 3 away needed now for a first average

I just find it hard to believe the Newcastle promotion / team manager could be that clueless about the rules, they'd be using r/r for the wrong rider & losing the chance for Wells to get a r/r ride!

100% agree makes no sense. Unless they are trying to lose?

Andersen can guest for Wethers, so makes sense to have r/r for Starke, means everyone can get an extra ride.

There is a 6 man 15 heat formula used in cycle speedway, 9 heats of HL & SS vs HL & SS, then 3 HL heats & 3 SS heats.

Useful point in the play-off chase for Oxford at Redcar today. Looks like 5 clubs are clear, with Edinburgh, Oxford & Scunthorpe challenging for 6th.

On Thursday Nielsen won heat 2, beating Kemp & Flint. He then had two last places, losing to Becker / Douglas & Masters / Worrall. Never raced a reserve again after heat 2. How can anyone expect him to score more than the 3 points he did?

Indeed looking at starting aves Vs 2022 aves, there's a few dropping more off their ave than Nielsen! Tobiasz Musielak 6.21 to 8.50 (+2.29) Connor Mountain 3.14 to 4.38 (+1.24) Kyle Howarth 6.04 to 6.80 (+0.76) Stefan Neilsen 3.00 to 2.89 (-0.11) Adam Ellis 7.92 to 7.65 (-0.27) Jack Holder 8.87 to 7.33 (-1.54) Craig Cook 6.81 to 5.15 (-1.66)

They are not actually weaker by 2 points as Congreave wasn't scoring 4 points a match. The team now has a lower ave, but I'm my view is stronger (by a little)! If Congreave had shown promise there may have been a reason to keep him, but if Grant feels he'll never make it at Champ level - no point in keeping him.

I completely disagree, signing BWD on an 8+ ave has allowed Newcastle to get a high averaged guest every week.

There is no conversion rate, new riders to the Champ will be given a 2.00 ave, regardless on NL ave.

I think the signing of Smith shows, no one is willing to come to Newcastle otherwise they would have signed a stronger rider (8.08 was available to replace Congreave). But I do feel Smith will score more than Congreave so it isn't a waste of time. Even if it means they only lose by 18 points instead of 20 in matches? Not that it matters as I can't see Newcastle using up their spare points, but isn't Jack Smith on a 3.00 ave?

Leicester Lions already lost it? I'm gonna say no!

While Jack Smith for Congreave strengthens Newcastle it's not the change they needed to make to avoid the wooden spoon!

It's better to call it off two weeks early than 2 hours early. If they've tried all avenues to find volunteers, then can't blame them for the early call off!

Very few team managers "think outside of the box" like this, Zagar or Kurtz at 2 would also have protected heat 8, knowing Ipswich were bound to use their strongest r/r in heat 8 (Batchelor). As you say, if you need a heat advantage, giving your strongest rider the best gate isn't a great idea. I've seen it before though, I remember an Ipswich meeting where Tony Rickardsson was given a fresh tyre for heat 15 (r/r in use) he wins the heat & completes a maximum but Ipswich don't get the heat advantage they needed! Just trying to keep their top men happy?

That's because he's not a "big fish" yet lol!

I don't blame Cami for the Berwick decision. People commented that he should have used his heat 13 5-1 pairing in heat 15. But against Poole when he did use his heat 13 5-1 pairing in heat 15, people said should have used a higher scorer (than Ostergaard).

That's my biggest issue with the rule, Sedgmen dropped on transfer deadline day & has no chance of finding a new team. But a rider wants to leave & he gets a 28 day ban!

Totally agree with you, got to put feelings aside & do what's best for Glasgow. Which in this case is giving an unbeaten rider an extra outing!

But did they not drop Rowe as part of a double change to bring in Lewis Kerr? It wasn't a case of replacing him with a 4.00 man because he was underperforming. It only matters now if he's stronger than the outgoing rider (Roynon)

Aces could hand put Kurtz or Zagar at 2, with the other at 5, then use them as a pairing in heat 13 if they wanted to?

Neil Collins wouldn't have liked that rule.

I personally think the current scoring is the worst ever & have not heard a single argument to convince me otherwise. However if they are desperate for the winner to score the most points, it is far easier fixed. 1) A-B-C-D finals with the current scoring in place. Winner would always get the most points & would stop someone finishing in 8th being able to win the meeting, which is better in my view. Would also remove the current situation of splitting 3 riders on 5 points by countback, at least this way their place in the finals decides the points. 2) Final is scored 20-18-17-16, then points scored in heats count for the rest. Winner always scores most for the ones who prefer that. But all the qualifying races count for the rest. This avoids one rider on 6 scoring 3 more points than another on 6. Also avoids one rider on 9 scoring 1 more point than a rider on 6. Both if these are possible with current scoring system.