Islander15

NL team officially return as Scunthorpe Stags. http://www.scunthorpescorpions.co/News.aspx?Team=Saints

http://www.scunthorpescorpions.co/News.aspx?Team=Saints Brilliant news!

He had a thread... It did descend into an unnecessary and irrelevant argument, so just ignore that bit. http://www.speedway-forum.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=75348

Garrity to add 3 points Carr, S. Worrall, Douglas, B. Kurtz, Kerr, Heeps & Blackbird to add 2 points.

That's not fair. Jayne is very bothered and does more than most.

My memory seems good enough, I've looked it up and it was 4.14 in 2010. So I assume he's been reassessed as a 3.00 due to missing 3, nearly 4, seasons?? Having said that, Shane Waldron was assessed as a 5.00 last season and he had even longer out the sport than Blake. Kent fans, his Islanders scores at the start of that season were 5+1 from 4 at home to the USA Dream Team, 4 from 4 at home to Weymouth in a challenge, 7+1 from 4 away to Weymouth and riding in the main body this time in a challenge, before his season ended in his first official fixture which was a league meeting away to Newport when he scored 2+1 and broke his leg in his fifth outing.

Williamson says in the Speedway Star that he's signed a contract with a NL team.

When he signed for Isle of Wight his average was about 4.14 and he only rode about twice before injury... So how can he fit in??

Philips alongside Williamson or Stoneman would made a quality pairing imo. I expect Greaves to be announced tomorrow but hopefully it's one of the bottom 2 to give us a clue as to the pairing.

How about: 1. Rob Branford 8.53 2. Ryan Blacklock 4.43 3. Liam Carr 6.87 4. Luke Priest 4.75 5. Adam Allott 8.15 6. Adam Extance 3.00 7. Tom Woolley 3.64 That's assuming Williamson doesn't return and Branford comes back next year. I can genuinely see Carr as one of the top riders in the league and pushing a high 8 average if not into 9!

Scunthorpe, Workington, Ipswich, Peterborough, Newcastle & Berwick.

Extance guested for you once last season and Carr is doing NL this year. Edit: His guest appearance was away to Kent.

I think a lot depends on the individual team rather than using a general rule. Kent are named after the county yet are getting substantial crowds. Poole fans didn't seem to relate to Bournemouth yet Scunthorpe fans seemed very proud of a second named Scunthorpe team, which I'm not sure of but a Scunthorpe team named Saints didn't exist before their CL team. Similarly Coventry Storm apparently didn't make a loss yet Belle Vue Colts presumably did. Whether that was down to the name is debatable, but my point is a lot of fans need something to relate to and I dont think that can be generalised to say this works and this doesn't as every club is different. Hopefully people come out and support the Devon Demons! Edit: Regarding the projected team I would have liked to have seen some new names. Shanes is but I would have prefered someone like Tyler Govier to get a chance alongside him rather than Richard Andrews again. The same applies to Smart & Bates, I have nothing against them but they're not realistically going to break into Plymouth's PL team and isn't that what it's about? It's good to hopefully see Webster return though and I'm surprised Tom Brown isn't in instead of one of the aforementioned two. However best of luck to the promotion and everyone involved and I hope we see you for more than just 1 year!

Speedway Star suggested it's Tim Webster, yes.

Neil: Where has Extance's signing been announced? Vog: Wright is ineligible for NL this year as he's signed for Somerset.

An honest an open post these Malcolm. I'll make one particular point and I understand that a lot of times when clubs talk to riders that its not in the interests of the club or the rider to make that public, but seeing as you have commented on it so shall I. From an outsiders point of view it looks surprising that Priest has missed out. So imo to give a viable alternative, to accommodate Priest, you'd have to have not signed one of your heat leaders. Wilson takes up a lot of points but several big hitters from last year are missing so I expect him to average around that figure, or drop by no more than 0.5 anyway. The other alternative could've been Lambert at 1 on 9.46 and Priest but maybe Len Silver specifically wanted him at Kent. I'm sure if you asked any Islanders fans who their most consistent rider has been since we've gone NL & they'd all say Ben Hopwood! He won't necessarily add a lot to his average but you can guarantee it won't drop by much either, and wherever he rides he will be in the points. Maybe a slightly biased view but I think he's a good signing. Then we're left with Jon Armstrong. I understand that he's the older head to ride alongside a relative newbie at reserve but both Bens have experience, Wilson has ridden PL & EL and Hopwood was IOW captain last year so I would expect those pair to be able to pass on their expertise anyway. As with the other 2 I can't see a dramatic drop (but I do expect a drop) in Jon's average. And to be successful you need improvement in averages, and with all 3 likely to end on similar figures there's suddenly a lot of pressure on Payne and the bottom 3 to improve. So I would've gone for a lower averaged rider than Jon with more potential, and by signing Priest it leaves 7.23. The obvious candidate to me is Liam Carr who I'm amazed hasn't signed for the 'big 2' of Dudley & Mildenhall as I'm sure he'll average over 8 next year, pushing 9. But similarly I'm surprised he wasn't signed last year, and travelling expenses were reported so I assume the same applies. Or Benji Compton, he seems to ride Stoke well and he didn't seem to dominate at Kent to I'm surprised he's back.

Blackbird is 4.81 because he has a GB reduction.

Very strong number 1. Only 10.11 left for their bottom 3 which means no Luke Priest, yet I would've thought on 4.75 that he'd be one of the first names!

But he hasn't signed for a PL team! He can ride PL & NL as long as he doesn't have a PL team at the start of the season.

Not really, which is why I asked. I assumed it would be oli Greenwood but obviously he's not going to sign for 2 Friday tracks.

Who's going to be at reserve is the more intriguing question... Any ideas?

Yeah as you and others have alluded to. You can ride NL if your average is below 4.00 & you START the season in the PL, and can continue riding NL if you sign for a PL team during the season and your average is below 5.00. Stefan is 4.70 so he can sign for a PL team after the start of the season and carry on. Brundle was mentioned & he had to league the NL as his PL average was 5.14 I think.

Credit where it's due. The top 5 looked alright to good, but with Freemantle at reserve it's become very good! Good luck Brandon

Brendan Johnson has signed too! 4.33 left for 1 rider.

Pretty sure Lambert and Owen will retain their averages from 2011 so they are on 9.46 and 5.33 respectively. The top 5 announced gives you 6.44 for the reserves. Unless one of your reserves is Freemantle, it's a mid table team for me. There's no stand out rider for improvement and I think Kingston will be a bit miss, in regards to upping his average as will Coles.