szkocjasid

The problem with that, is a club could practically use the same guest in every home match. Mind you home riders don't ride "every week" anymore.

Maybe just keeping his average low for next year, then putting in the effort "when it matters". I don't like it, but the rules almost encourage it - if that is the case of course!

When they first announced SGP2 before I read that it was just a new name for the U12s, I thought a competition for the 16th-31st best riders in the world would be interesting. Top 3 into the GPs? Winner of each round gets a wildcard in following GP? Probably fairer than SEC as Aussies & Yanks get a equal chance of qualifying.

I'm not so sure, Poole won on aggregate by 12 points, so even another 6 point home win, will put the pressure on Redcar, especially after this loss. I think Poole will get a bigger win though, as they'll be high on confidence after rescuing another final.

That's actually embarrassing by the SCB. With the amount of matches riders miss for foreign meetings seemingly perfectly acceptable, this where they draw the line!

That's a bit harsh on Joe, who as the weakest of the 14 riders can't be expected to score much. Maybe Jason Edwards is a target. Does that make him a "let down"?

Normally I'd agree with you, but don't think it will matter in this case. Buxton didn't get great crowds & they've not ridden league Speedway since before COVID, so it's different to the Reading situation. That being said I think Buxton Hitmen rolls off the tongue, so I wouldn't have changed it, but don't see it affecting crowds.

Jeppesen is nearly a point above Zach, if his average fits, of course he's be preferred to Cook. Can't see it happening unless Poole move up.

My memory is when the GPs first started the U21 Champ qualified for the following season. I think Crump, Mikael Max & Jesber B Jensen, got in this way. It got dropped as the U21 Champs weren't always GP standard, even when it was a 24 rider field.

If it's supposed to be the top 15 riders in the world, then you wouldn't get lots of new faces every year. Doesn't bother me as long as they qualify by right. I don't see why the SGP2 Champ should get a spot, as above GPs should be for the top 15 riders, irrespective of nationality, age, gender etc. just because a rider is the best U21, doesn't mean they are amongst the best 15 seniors. I would be happy with SGP2 Champ getting a spot in the GP Challenge, if they are good enough, they'll qualify.

Happens in football with play-offs. Probably many other sports too. I don't agree with it, but it's not a Speedway only rule.

Yeah, didn't understand that decision by the ref.

I think it's a stupid rule, but no difference than a 4th place team winning the Premiership, 6th place team winning the Polish Extraliga or the 10th placed rider winning a GP! Nowadays an "exciting" ending is more important than a deserving winner / qualifier (sadly)!

Why? All matches should have to be raced. I can understand the argument, finish all the semi finals first. The only reason to prioritise the play-offs, would be in case the BSPL were worried all matches wouldn't be completed, that should never be an option imo.

If that was the reason Monarchs lost, I'd keep that to myself. I'd rather say "we were beaten by the better team, than "we didn't pay attention to track grading" 🤭

Simple answer would be the complete the BSN series sooner, especially as it was the season starting competition.

I agree league matches should be completed before the play-offs. But it would be daft to not allow a KOC fixture to be raced between 2 clubs who have finished their fixtures because others still have to finish theirs.

If I was being pedantic I'd say they don't race in the Premier League, they race in the Premiership. Aside from that, I agree the points for draws is daft, I see no reason why both teams can't just score a point without a superheat. But the aggregate points is a good rule. Even removing the extra points from draws Sheffield would still finish first. After all that, finishing top doesn't make you the league winners, as much as I think it should do.

Personally I think the BSN series should be completed first because it was an early season competition. Then the KOC, cause there's no reason that should have run so long either. Finish up with the play-offs. I would think that would get a big crowd whenever it is raced. Whereas the BSN may get a smaller crowd of fans have already just watched the play-off & KOC finals. I can certainly see the logic in finishing semi finals before racing finals, means the other finalists can plan dates without having to wait though. The BSN series should have been completed months ago, no excuse for it going on so long. Of course clubs tend to ignore it as they want to get their league fixtures over & done with, I don't really know why, the cut-off date doesn't need to be so early it'll cause havoc with fixtures. I also think it would have made sense for the Redcar vs Poole match to be a double header, that seems very logical, save on travel expenses & get competitions completed sooner. Oh I forgot, another reason to race the KOC finals first is to get bigger crowds. Poole & Redcar fans can't be sure they'll be in any more finals, so they may turn up in greater numbers for these matches? If it was just one out of 3 guaranteed finals, would they get the same attendance?

I agree with that. But wouldn't have fitted in the current team in place of a reserve. One of the top 5 wouldn't have been signed. In hindsight you'd say Boughen, but pre-season he could've been the next big thing.

That last paragraph is a great point. Part of what makes pre-season so interesting. For the comments saying Glasgow should have gone with a stronger reserve, I've not seen any suggestions of which top rider they should have gone without to fit a better reserve in.

I 100% agree some of the things I read in Bowes' statement were out of order & no rider should be subjected to them. Had he said he was sitting out if the rest of the season due to mental health issues, I'd be full of sympathy. But as he said he was still willing to ride at Poole, but apparently can't be bothered to turn up for Workington, I'd say good riddance to him if I were a Comets fan & we don't need riders like that over as a British Speedway fan.

While you do make fair points about the play-offs. This year in the Prem, the top 4 clubs were known for a long time, have they been racing to lower crowds half the season with people waiting for the play-offs to start. The Ipswich vs Sheffield matches had nothing riding on them, if they were for the title would've got mammoth crowds. For Speedway to be successful we want the Glasgow crowds you mentioned at every match, how do we convince fans that every match deserves their attendance not just play-offs? If every match had a "play-off crowd", there would be no need for them! Obviously I'm in a minority but if Redcar & Poole meet in 3 finals, why will they get bigger crowds in one over the others? Same 14 riders (unless using guests), same tracks, same rules, only difference is the name of the competition!

But your plan had 7 teams in each section, so 6 home meetings, plus one guaranteed match in the league cup. 7 matches across the season is far too little, even the clubs making the finals would only get 12 home matches. I could understand a North / South split for a league cup, then everyone races each other in the league = minimum of 14 home matches each.

To make the racing closer, you want the gap between the top & bottom riders to be lessened. There will always be new inexperienced NL riders stepping up, but if the league on the whole was weaker, shouldn't be such a task for them to achieve the minimum 2.00 average. I'm sure no fans of these riders at their clubs would want to lose them, but if he likes of Lawson, Masters & Harris can race in the Prem as heat leaders, should they really be in the second tier? If we can get to the stage where Prem heat leaders / top second strings race, Prem & Poland / Sweden only, then lesser Prem riders double up in the Champ, there would a lot less guests needed in the Champ, a lot less hassle rearranging fixtures around foreign matches, a lot more youngsters realising a Champ place is a bigger possibility. Riders won't like it, some fans won't like it, maybe the likes of Poole & Glasgow would step up rather than run a Champ at second string & reserve standard (I've no issue with that). But something needs to be done to secure the future of the sport, carrying on as it is now, obviously isn't working.