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That's why I don't know how dropping back to just NL will help Bickley's confidence. We already know he's a 9.5 NL rider & a 3.5 Champ rider. If Bickley drops to NL & keeps scoring to his 9.5 ave, what will have changed? How will that help his confidence? He already knows he's a NL heat leader! How will he know when to step back up?

Doesn't matter, you can make as many changes as you like in the Champ!

Forgot they were still in the Cup tbh, if Knudsen is a good as Basso, will make them a strong team.

I agree with Lisa, an over rated 3.5 rider is better than a 2.00 rider. Unless there's someone better than Bickley, under Rowe's ave who wants to race in the UK. Personally think Palin is more over rated, Godfrey was expecting him to be a heat leader this year, which I could never see happening as he previously was only good at Scunthorpe & Belle Vue. Needs to improve on away tracks first!

If Berwick are serious about making the play-offs, then certainly build the strongest team possible. Will they be able to gain 3 or 4 away wins to achieve this? When I look at the NL averages of Stoneman 8.76 (9.90) & Blair 8.38 (9.38) there's not a lot in it. That being said I have been impressed with Stoneman's efforts guesting for the Cheetahs.

That makes me think, give him a shot before he's too old!

I certainly was under the impression, they still wanted to move up to Champ level?

Watered down even more? The championship has never been stronger!

But Blair & Crang are riding in a "development" league, would it not aid their development to get a chance in the Champ?

I'm not suggesting Spencer should be used in every match, but surely they must've known they could've beaten Newcastle while giving a NL lion cub a chance?

Bit surprised Berwick didn't go for Greg Blair instead of Stoneman. I thought the Bullets were supposed to be future Bandits?

I disagree with that comment, Jack Smith has proved he can average 3.00 in the Championship, not the HL Newcastle need, but shouod be able to score a few points. Jack Smith's aves 2021 1.80 (Glasgow & Plymouth) 2019 3.11 (Redcar) 2018 3.14 (Sheffield) 2017 2.57 (Glasgow) Compared to Congreave 2022 0.67 (Newcastle)

If Leicester were afraid of getting beaten, could have taken Spencer as a number 8 & given him a few rides once they knew they had won!

If you call off matches in June for a spot of rain, then you'll be racing these fixtures in a wet October, not able to cancel them as there's no dates left!

With Leicester likely to get a mammoth win at Newcastle, could they not have given one of their NL riders the guest booking? Tom Spencer perhaps? Not sure they can suggest these are the Lions of the future, but not have the faith to give them Championship outings?

I'm guessing that riding order means Newcastle have read comments by fans on the forum / Facebook & decided to use r/r for Starke & not Wethers?

It's a must win if Glasgow want to be in the top 2, it's a nothing match if Glasgow want to finish in the top 6!

The 7 point loss won't cost Plymouth in their play-off hunt, but it must be frustrating to come so close to a point & miss out. That's sport for you!

But take those 2 riders out & NL teams will be even weaker, making the gulf to the Champ even bigger & too big a bridge to gap. Look at Ablitt, a NL heat leader who struggles to average above 2.00 in the Champ. Can't see how making NL even easier for him would transfer to performing better in the Champ. I think there's a case for allowing riders the likes of Roynon & Complin's standard to race in the NL. When a rider can beat these guys frequently they know they're ready to step up!

Gotta be a riders last average. When Morley signed for Plymouth it was using his final 2021 ave (- 2.5% reduction).

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.