Islander15

None of the 3 teams announced look great and this only looks marginally better. The trick is to find riders that improve their average and Hawkins will go well at home and he'll end up with a similar figure like usual. Tungate did really well last year and he'd do well again to retain that figure. Manzares was a find and I don't think anyone would begrudge him a year of consolidation and I think that's what will happen. So that leaves King who will probably add a point and a lot of pressure on Heeps to be the man that pushes on. The obvious man at reserve surely is Ellis, especially as he'll increase his average but for some reason it isn't Adam and I think it'll be Lanham. So rather than an up and coming rider it's someone who has been going backwards for a few years now, and the one time I saw him last season his machinery looked awfully unreliable and if he didn't gate he couldn't be bothered! If the number 7 spot is the rumoured Bates though then it's a very good signing.

yes

That comes to 42.73. At least you agreed that it doesn't look as ridiculous as soon have made out... At the end of the day, Somerset need a number 1 and Edinburgh need to lose points (ok, it may well be Grajczonek) and Howarth looks like he's leaving Worky and has been at Somerset before. Greenwood guested for them last year if I remember right and both of those are improving riders that are Rebels type signings. Then I had some points left and picked the best rder out there imo in Heeps, as Somerset are one of the biggest teams in the league atm after all and Heeps stalled at Ipswich last year.

1. Sam Masters 8.23 / Josh Grajczonek 8.11 2. Cameron Heeps 5.38 / Jack Holder 5.00 3. Kyle Howarth 6.57 4. Charles Wright 6.64 5. Brady Kurtz 7.54 6. Oliver Greenwood 3.12 7. Paul Starke 4.79 Total: 42.27

Freemantle's scores this year: Devon (NLKOC, away) 3 from 4 (withdrawn) Scunthorpe (NL, away) 0 from 1 (withdrawn) King's Lynn (CH, home), 7+2 from 4 Coventry (NL, away) 0 from 3 Stoke (NT, away) 1+1 from 3 (withdrawn) So that gives him an overall average of 2.93 and 3.73 with bonus points. Ok, so his scores weren't as good as I remembered greyhoundp but they're still significantly better than 1.45 hunters. At the end of the day he cleared the fence at Scunthorpe* and missed a couple of meetings with concussion, after he cleared the fence at Plymouth the meeting before* and then suffered a hand injury at Stoke! Not many riders did well against Coventry this season and it was probably his first visit to Plymouth. Greyhoundp, even if injuries meant that he never got going last year, he still did very well in 2013 with the Islanders beofre injury cut short his season again! At the end of the day, apart from when he was 15, he's never got past July with injuries. That's unfortunate! * 'Travelling at such pace, literally through the air, the 2009 250cc and 2010 500cc youth national champion a unique distinction still, found himself bouncing off the air fence and up and over the safety barrier landing on a grassy knoll.' taken from http://www.kentsportsnews.com/brandos-still-a-contender-after-crash-20-03-2014/ * Also, I don't know how to put a picture on here, but if you go on my twitter and go back 18 photos to April 3rd you'll see his crash at Scunthorpe, where his bike hit the air fence and it flung him over the safety barrier.

Wilkinson isn't going to improve his average, but if you brought back MPT it leaves little options for the second strings if Lunna is to start at reserve. Who else are assets? Like the outsider said, it's looks like the team is being built around Lunna and it remains to be seen if he'll even achieve his assessed figure! Especially when the rumoured rider was Jack Holder or Max Ruml.

The comments on Freemantle are ridiculous! Firstly after a year at Rye he signed for the Islanders where he broke his leg/thigh in the winter before he even took to the track and missed the whole season. The next year he was averaging 6.00 and 8.00 including bonus points after about 10 meetings (Cup, Trophy & 1 league meeting away from getting a real average) until he suffered a serious injury. That injury basically ended our season as we were missing him and Ellis and suddenly didn't have the reserve scoring power especially as we were replacing someone scoring a 6.00 average effectively with another 3.00! Last year he went to Kent and again was scoring well above his 3.00 average but cleared the fence at Scunthorpe and that ended his season. Now he's retired despite the fact that Eastbourne wanted to track their asset.

Having only done this in a couple of minutes, here are riders that I think would realistically sign for Glasgow: 1. Morris 8.14 2. Thomsen 5.68 3. Wolbert 6.19 4. Pijper 7.09 5. S. Worrall/Vissing 7.46/7.09 6. Berge 4.90 7. Sarjeant 3.00 And a money no object at all team: 1. Cook 9.19 2. J. Holder 5.00 3. Blackbird 6.30 4. C. Wright 6.64 5. R. Worrall 7.32 6. O. Greenwood 3.12 7. Starke 4.79 Edit: Panthers89 I must have started editing when you posted. You have Kerr's average wrong but do Brits still get an average reduction if they were in the NL within 2 years? Oh and I ignored riders already signed up, else Rose & King might have been there.

If money isn't a problem I'd have expected a better team than that. Individually they're all good riders but where is the team improvement going to come from? Only Sarjeant looks like he could put more than half a point on his average and even then it'd be his first proper PL stint from the start of the year.

Danny Warwick signs http://www.eastbourneeagles.co/news.php?extend.664.1

Yes, I think Kurtz rode in the Aussie Champs and that meant he didn't get a British reduction on his PL average which took Newport's team average over the limit. Yes, I think Kurtz rode in the Aussie Champs and that meant he didn't get a British reduction on his PL average which took Newport's team average over the limit.

They're wrong, ask Will Pottinger.

Ermm 3.96*2 = 7.92 not 6.60 but he isn't confirmed and isn't ineligible atm anyway.

Well, a promoter and a team manager have both said its against current rules.

He's over 25 so wouldn't be able to double-up.

Holder: consistently top of he averages and became world champion after all.

To double up from NL to PL, using current rules which of course may change at the AGM on the 9th Dec, you must have a PL average below 4.00 if you have a PL team at the start of the season. However if you don't have a PL place, you can ride NL but if you join a PL team mid season, you can only continue riding NL if your PL average is below 5.00. For any 'new' riders dropping down from the PL the conversion rate is double your PL average, though if that's lower than a previous NL/CL average then the higher of the 2 is used. Also all riders doubling-up have to be 25 or younger! So, licking riders with Birmingham connections, Starke is ineligible if he gets a PL place (which I assume is almost certain). Mills is also ineligible if he gets a PL place, but if he doesn't he would be able to ride and, from memory, he'd go off his Bournemouth average from 2010 of about 9.96. Rusty's average is too high and I thought he was an Aussie anyway. You could have Simon Lambert, and Jake Anderson would be an interesting one. The Isle of Wight tried to sign him in April 2013 but because he'd ridden in the Aussie Champs that year he was classed as 'Aussie' for that year, but if he hadn't ridden in the Champs he would have signed for the Islanders and been classed as 'British' for that year at least!

Atm only riders 25 and younger can double-up from NL to PL. Atm only riders 25 and younger can double-up from NL to PL.

Davies, Wells, Newman, Jensen, Wright, Simota, Benko. It might not have a number 1 there but it has a potent reserve.

Thanks for clarifying that, it wasn't clear in the press release.

I may not have watched Rye like you guys but I think you're going b bit over the top with the negativity. Ok so they won't win the league but you won't finish bottom again. Not signing Greenwood is a mistake but he's on a very attractive average so can basically go where he wants. Kennett is a decent number 1 at this level and if he shows the form that he did guesting for Poole at the end of last season, he'll add a little to his average. Jakobsen seems a decent enough rider (certainly a lot better than Scunthorpe's 7.00 man) with potential and probably won't hit the ground running but I expect him to be averaging 7 to 8 later into the season. Garrity should continue to push on and if he focuses on the PL, should be the second heat leader you're missing. Him and Nelson are at least entertaining riders and Nelson should retain his average. Boxall as a second string is a good signing, especially at home and he might even have a spell at reserve. There's the usual issue of his equipment but even if it's at this year's standard, he's not going to get worse. I think the reserve pairing is good. Greenwood should be there but if Bowen had to be back he's at least on a very good average and will be one of the stronger 'junior' reserves in the league and even if he doesn't score great away, based on Lykke's form last year the Dane will do the points scoring on the race . If Bowen heads up the Raiders team it should only make him improve by giving him some confidence and cash. It's hard to judge when you don't know any other teams, but it looks midtable to just above.

But those riders tend to be the ones that are going to increase their average and therefore win the league for their team. So if they can do it financially of course they're going to sign them. It's nothing specific about wanting to bring on youth and bring the individual riders on,just look at how often Cradley dismantle their team at the end of the season and sign people on attractive averages.

I agree that as has been previously mentioned, dropping the points limit effectively does the job of putting 3.00 men in teams. If we have 11 or 12 teams I think 36 would work as a limit but I wonder if fans would be tempted not to come back as for several teams their team will look a lot weaker on paper than the one a few months ago. I think the limit should have been 38 this year though, so 38 with another 2 or 3 teams might be a tad high. If it's 38, I think it's worth looking at raising the PL average also. But 21st, at the current 4.00 I can only see Bowen doing NL if it's at Rye, I doubt Mills will ride in 2 leagues but he doesn't look a cert for a Pl spot & Schramm has retired. But if you raise it I'd make it 5.00 in line with the 'if you join a team midseason' rule and then we can add Ellis and Starke to the list you've mentioned and maybe say that riders can only ride NL for 2 years if their average is between 4.00 and 5.00. At the end of the day, Morris, Rose, Jacobs and Co are only going to get better by riding more and I think it keeps that quality standard of rider to get the fans through the NL door!

Yes Atkin is the oldest. The rider I think you're referring to gustix (as you commented on another thread when he was mentioned) is Jon Armstrong

They did actually... Once Sneddon dropped to reserve they didn't win every meeting anymore.