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Not at the start of the season - when nobody wanted him. Not mid season - when Birmingham signed them dropped him. At the end of the season - yes Plymouth realised he was good.

If Cook or Kvech step up to be a genuine number 1, then Lynn wouldn't lose 5-1s in the last 3 heats as they'd be beating top opposition riders. I do think they'll improve, but not to "genuine number one" level. However Lynn don't need that to be successful - they have great strength in depth. But even if they did, can't see them (or anyone) overcoming Ipswich. There actually the best club to overcome injuries, as long as the number 6 doesn't get injured, it's a team where r/r could work well.

I don't see a great reason not to let them in. It's only ONE extra home fixture for clubs. If a club has a rain off they have to fit it in, can't say "we have no spare dates" so I'd like to think that wouldn't be used as an excuse to stop them racing.

Amazing to think only 2 years ago not a single Championship club wanted Dan T, now look at him. Rival promotions will be kicking themselves that they didn't notice his potential.

Are they supposed to be team riding or was that an individual event?

There's nothing wrong with buying a physical calendar, it supports the club.

I think it's sensible to have one nickname for the combined team. See nothing wrong with them being called the Steelers.

It's just a poor joke imo. Riss was the rider for January in Redcar's calendar, Ace is the rider for February. So by turning over the month in the calendar, Riss is "replaced" by Ace. I don't see the point of the post, apart from trying to worry Redcar fans? Guess I don't see any humour in that!

I think Ben Trigger is being underestimated by many, he may be a slow improver, but he has increased his average every season. 2021 NL (3.77) 2022 NL (6.00) 2023 NL (6.34) Champ (2.13) 2024 NL (8.71) Champ (3.08) There's no reason for me to believe he wouldn't increase it again, especially at Plymouth. If the team had 3.00 remaining, I'd say he's a great signing, but with just under 4 remaining, you want to look for someone stronger, although I'm not totally convinced anyone named would be better. Jack Smith on other tracks - yes. At Plymouth - definitely not. Connor Coles is of a similar ability, he may average 0.1 more than Trigger, but if you consider travel expenses is that worth it? Stefan Nielsen - is perhaps the one with the biggest chance of averaging over 4, purely because he's done that before. Ben Morley - think he'd have to give up his NT spot to ride Champ, so probably less likely. Trigger actually has an average higher than 7 reserves signed in the Champ this year. Shame that how the points limit works, riders who can't reach the minimum 2.00 get more chances than riders around 3.00!

Yeah I was agreeing with you. Nielsen has been hard done by at times, but how last season for Birmingham was poor, if he could get back to his form of a few years previous, then he'd be the best option, but can he?

There's no chance a Champ side would prefer Ritchings to Trigger. Surely not even Peter Schroeck would do something as bad as that lol!

How about? Jack Smith 8.73 Jack Kingston 6.45 Sam Beebee 5.50 Alex Spooner 5.07 Josh Warren 4.93 Rhys Naylor 4.13 Sam Woolley 3.00 Total 37.81 Other options Luke Crang (5.49), Ryan Kinsley (7.67), Elliott Kelly (4.41), Jason Garrad (8.36), Joe Alcock (4.36), Kelsey Dugard (5.71), Adam Extance (4.00) & Josh Embleton (3.47). Some of these riders may have retired, but may also be willing to ride again? Just hope Mildenhall run.

I wondered that too. Expected at least some of them to be NL riders doubling up?

I agree, too many "ifs" to be confident. But Brummies fans can dream "what if"

I don't think Birmingham will make the play-offs, but that doesn't mean they can't make the play-offs. They have a lot of question marks, but if all those "maybes" get a positive outcome, then there's a slight chance of a top 4 spot. i.e Musielak rides like he did for Sheffield, MJJ rides like he did for Grudziadz, Zagar rides Perry Barr like he does the NSS, Rew continues improving, Vuolas gets used to the tracks after limited Prem outings, Edwards carries on his upwards trajectory. Jeppesen is the one I know least about tbh.

Good point

Reading Chris Adams comments on various sites, I feel he's overestimating the ability of his team. However I realise he has to be positive publicly to encourage fans to attend. I wonder how much he believes vs how much he hopes the team is competitive?

Fair point, for the majority of 2.00 riders that would be the case. Only the most promising are in a position to chase better deals at other clubs. However even if Poole are in the right, saying our number 7 will only get 3 rides most matches & potential number 7s are in the wrong for demanding 4 rides minimum. It still means Poole (or any club) could potentially miss out on their preferred rider. Probably less likely to happen at Poole as most riders like going there & have a great chance of winning trophies.

At what point did I say what Poole did was wrong? I was pointing out their attitude could potentially stop a 2.00 reserve from wanting to join them, feeling they could get more rides elsewhere. I've certainly read criticism from fans when Max Perry wasn't getting his 4th ride, despite them winning by many points. It's not really possible to judge if fans would moan if they didn't make these changes as Poole rarely lose & in this case would any fans moan if Poole only got a 20 point away win in the KOC final?

This would probably happen at Poole more than any other team. Poole can be 20 points up, but still take their weakest rider out of his 4th ride. Certainly happened to Sam Hagon at Oxford in the play-offs despite Poole being comfortably on front. I won't blame the likes of Berwick for doing the same thing to Freddie Hodder, because they were always losing, so needed to give the stronger reserve more rides. Poole's mentality is simply to win by as much as possible, which is there prerogative, but this could be a situation where it could hinder them, with a promising 2.00 rider deciding he'll get more rides elsewhere? No such worries for Cairns, he'll be expecting to be the stronger reserve & get extra rides.

Fair points, good answers Cheers

Very sensible post, got a couple of questions though. You say you can see changes coming at Birmingham, but they've built a team under them limit. If there are stronger options out there, they'd be in the team already. What changes could you see them making? What are the question marks against Tungate & Riss? Think you've pretty much got the other teams all spot on.

I don't think it makes a massive difference, if Springer gets a few Champ meetings throughout the season & impresses, wether that's as a guest or for another team, there's nothing to stop Poole offering him a team spot in 2026.

I'll go for League: 1st Oxford 2nd Middlesbrough 3rd Leicester 4th Edinburgh 5th Belle Vue 6th Scunfield Trophy: 1st Kent 2nd Leicester 3rd Birmingham 4th Kings Lynn 5th Plymouth

Now all league & trophy teams are complete, what are your predictions? Plenty of new 3.00 riders, feels like more than in recent seasons, so not easy to predict.