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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.

I don't think Poole have any interest in doing that, they will look to whoever gives them the best chance of winning trophies. They only hosted a NDL individual because they were forced to & are promoting a new 2.00 rider in July - not to assist British Speedway, but to win the league. As long as they run the club as a business not a hobby (can't blame them for that) don't see this philosophy changing.

Totally understand you & agree it's not ideal riding for & against a club in different competitions, however in this case I don't see an easy solution. Assuming Max James is a Leicester asset & they want him for their NDL team, there's not much Edinburgh can do about that, apart from not signing him for the Champ team. Likewise Wood & Marson riding elsewhere in the Champ, what can Edinburgh do to avoid this? Drop Grahn & James & go with Wood & Marson as their reserves? Or sign non Championship riders & get thrashed every week? Like I say, it's not ideal, but I guess I'm kinda getting used to riders racing for & against a club, especially now Oxford & Leicester are in 3 different competitions.

I think Ipswich were the strongest team last year (before injuries) the fact they're stronger this year means I can't see anyone else finishing top (unless they suffer injuries). They're not guaranteed to win the league because anything happen in the play-offs but they're definitely my top team. Sheffield would be my second best team from last year I don't think the bottom end is as weak as people make out, obviously Rowe's not a great second string but the fact he's on a very low average means he could improve it. I think Flint is very good RS so it's really just Hume is that weak part of the team but they had to have a weak number 6 because it was such a powerful top four. I'm not worried about Woffinden as he's come back from injuries before & shown he's good enough to compete at top of the league. Not the same man he wasn't a GP's or in Poland but over here think he can keep his average. Leicester would be the third best team from last year, while they're definitely weaker than last year, Howarth certainly not as good as Lawson , I still think they're on the edge of the playoffs. Feel some are rating them lower because they're missing Lawson, but have still got a decent top 4. Belle Vue, would be my fourth best team from last season (till the play-offs) so as they are weaker than last year (Zach not as good as Ben) does that mean they are at risk of missing out on a top 4 spot? I think that home form will still be good enough to get them in, and once they get there they're good enough to win over two legs against anyone, so could still be champions even though they don't look the best team. King's Lynn definitely look better than last year they've got such a strong reserve in Chris Harris, then whoever drops down to will be a really good reserve. I think Cook will be ok at 1, although expect Lawson to have a spell there, which could harm his scoring. Probably relying on Kvech to step up and be a good heat leader, which could confirm their top 4 spot. Oxford, it's a tough to say, while they are under the points limit, is the team much weaker than last years (a play-off challenging side)? Kildemand for Harris, then Gusts for the Kerr/Kemp/Killeen position, doesn't seem much different. Poor team manager could cost them though. Birmingham I think they'll be fighting Oxford to avoid the wooden spoon. Tough to rate, because a lot of their riders haven't ridden over here for years. So Ipswich 1st, Sheffield 2nd. Belle Vue, Leicester & King's Lynn, fighting for the last 2 play-off spots, slightly favouring the Aces. Birmingham & Oxford fighting to avoid the wooden spoon, but the bottom team won't be as far adrift as last year.

If Oxford had kept Boughen as thier RS & protecting him. They could've had this team? Rohan Tungate 7.71 Maciej Janowski 7.02 Charles Wright 6.32 Chris Harris 6.06 Peter Kildemand 6.00 Erik Riss 5.55 Ashton Boughen RS Total 38.66 Still a point below the limit, but strong at reserve. It's all ifs, buts & maybes anyway. First two home matches will be difficult & a real test for the team, King's Lynn (with Harris at reserve) & Ipswich.

Yeah, I have to agree. He wasn't doing particularly well when he was banned & let everyone down by refusing to take a drugs & alcohol test. I'm not saying no one should be given a second chance, but in such a dangerous sport, I find it hard to forgive & forget if a rider was risking others by racing under the influence of illegal substances.

I think Plymouth will be hoping for a lot more than that, as that'd be an average of 7.2 - 8.0

If Gusts was the first signing on a 4.5 average, I'd have said that's a tremendous start to team building. As they had 7.4 points to play with doesn't feel so great a signing imo.

Emil signed in 2023, the assessed averages rules changed for 2024. So it's possible Madsen wouldn't be an 8.00 ave?

Surely you'd want a team built to the limit, with potential to improve? Mind you, if Birmingham had 7 points left, signing a 7 points rider who you expect to drop a point, is still better than a 4 point rider you think can put a point on their average.

Not at all, Belle Vue may have a list of 10 riders they thought had potential for their 2025 team, can't sign them all. Doesn't mean they don't rate the ones not picked i.e Vuolas.

I'd say Redcar have a stronger top 3 / top 4, also have a better reserve pairing. Glasgow the better number 5. Guess I'd favour Redcar to finish higher than Glasgow. Mind you Redcar haven't been invincible at home in recent years, but this year could be different.

It's not an awful team, but the fact they'd have to put 2.8 on their averages to even reach the points limit feels like an opportunity lost to really challenge at the top. Can't blame Birmingham if a rider chooses to go, but just imagine Brennan instead of Vuolas.