waiheke1

Tbf, toss of a coin has been in the rules for football world cups as a method of determining who progresses from group stages in event of tie on points and goal difference. The 68 euro football champs had a coin toss to determine the winner of the semi final.

I was wrong. Rosco was right! Stead MOM for me with those critical wins in his first two heats. Congrats team gb.

So if we look at the meeting gb were eliminated in last year.An aussie team of ward doyle woodward and Batchelor - are you saying that the aussie team yesterday was weaker? Usa - three rider s same as yesterday. Latvia - admittedly stronger than italy Now team gb last year finished last against those opponents, yesterday tbey finished top. As for tai - I think most would agree he was riding better last year than this year. Fwiw, a lot of small things went gbs way yesterday, but you're just making yourself look more foolish than usual by refusing to acknowledge that yesterday represented a huge improvement on last year.

And tbh I will often go on YouTube or pull out dvds of old world finals, will hardlt ever watch old gps. Forgot to say, thanks to r@r for posting these links.

There will always be riders in a world championship not good enough to be world champion, especially under a gp format where one brilliant night isnt enough. But you csnt compare those riders - jonsson has a runners up medal to his name! - with the likes of starostin, kroeze, verner, dryml etc. The list you have given is closer to the likes of Anderson, morton, shirra, cross riders good enough to make world final s but never getting close to winning it. the "but" for me would be that no gp will match the atmosphere of the 81 wembley final or sheer drama of 82 - even the title deciding holder v pedersen clash in 12 wont get 10% of the ongoing debste the csrter/penhall clash still does. Wouldn't it have been better though - fairer at least - if the questuon of whether penhall or carter was best in the world in 82 had been settled over a season, snd not just one race?

Wembley 81 - the last truly great world final (though the racing was better at odsal in 90) LA - memorable only for the penhall/carter clash (thoughwhat a clash!) Amsterdam - the first step towards gps. What these meetings do show is how much better gp racing frequently is, and how gps dont have a third of the field filled of no hopers. People complain about harris, but look how far off the pace starostin fir exsmple is. Loved the world finals, but dont know how people could look at the 82 or 87 finals and think that is better than what we have now.

Squad system with teams having a gp and none gp rider to cover their number one position? Potentially the increased criwds to offset the extra cost? With one sky fixture per week on monday still?

Just thought I should point out that oldace's post wasn't actually an example of sarcasm, rather it was a play on words. Not sure if that makes oldace more or less intelligent/wittt, but I found it funny anyway

I remember a few years back in nz, one of the kiwi cricketers (adam parore) was accused of pronouncing his OWN surname incorrectly!

How much of the wembley atmosphere was also driven by the fact that it was world final night - not part of the gp series? While I am a big advicate of the gps, they cannot replucate the tension of the one off final. I agrre with other posters, it would be madness to move the gp from cardiff.

In reality tai probably shouldn't have ridden three leagues this season given the additional burden of being world champ and associated commitments. With poland being the league with greatest earnings, and the swedish being the strongest league, Britain would have been the obvious one to drop. However, id suggest a sense of loyalty to both wolves and british speedway kept him here. Think people should accept that he may need to miss the odd meeting, and im not surprised he is exhsusted. I recalla comment from mike lee in 81 about how mauger used to be allowed by his club to miss thecodd meeting to prepare for big meetings, wheras kings lynn allowed him, as reigning british world champ no such leeway. If allowing tai some special dispensation keeps him racing in the el I think its worth it. Long term, to keep top riders in the el I still think an 8-10 team top league with set racenights and sidesracing esch side just home and away (plus a meaningful ko comp) is the way to go. El sides to have priority over pl riders for all matches, but the pl likely to be strebgthened by a number of good riders (I.e. el hl not riding on thr continent) available on all bar two nights of the week.

Except one was on his home track racing pre dominantly against reserves and second strings, the other way away racing predominantly against heat leaders - not really a valid comparison is it?

I'd be bitterly disappointed if stead (or king) scored less than eight points, and happy to bet you 50 quid that stead scores more than four.But the same could be said about pretty much any of the candidates. Reasons I would not have picked stead: Cook - younger, brit final runner up, more potential, averaging about the same from the much tougher hl slot. Was disappointing at cardiff BUT only going to cone up against three gp standard riders ar kl. Lambert - half his age, home track, averaging not much less Lawson - younger and averaging a point a meeting more Bridger - over five years younger, averaging more despite some time in hl slot Barker - over five yesrs younger, 3rd in british final. Nothing against stead, I think he will score +/- 2 points of any of those. And if he scores a dozen points and britain win I will admit I was wrong. But surely when there is very little difference between riders at the current time, and very little to lose the selection should at least consider the future.

Being pedantic, there wasnt a heat 15 in 87 and knudsen/tatum rarely rode in heat 13 together that season.

An english gp at the new national stadium when built would surely work. Only seat 13000 so unlikely to impact too much on cardiff, and you could probably price at 50 quid a ticket and sell out? Attract northern fans gor whom cardiff is too far/costly to trsvel. Dont see why it would require a "massive outlay" as phil described it, you'd just be hiring a purpose built track for a eeekend and putting up temp seating. No roof, but how msny wet meetings have been held st vojens for example and still been completed ok. Really dont see any downside?

Tai 20 more

pc and mort for me. Statistically its got to be the danish pairing of hans and Eric. The moran brothers were great to watch together for usa or sheffield. And the collins/grahame combo for cradley and jorgensen/miller at coventry decent shouts. But for team riding, understanding, consistent brilliance in heat 13 and sheer spectacularness to watch nothing can beat collins and morton round hyde rd.

If you want to attract a younger crowd, then im not sure print ads are the way to go. Social media advertising could be done effectively, for free or at a very low cost.

Tai guested a bit earlier in the season, actually came in for criticism for it I believe, because from memory he had been mentioning heavy workload on one hand and taking guest bookings at the same time.

Very enjoyable meeting I thought, with some excellent racing, though to me it lacks the tension and excitement of the gps. It's even going to be screened on sky in nz next week!

Yes. So much so that zagar went through the tapes on purpose so he could go off 4, 15m back the other week.The cunning plan didn't work however.

The gap between heats is unavoidable - though could be reduced. What speedway needs to do is fill that gap with entertainment of some sort - just as say t20 has entertainment between overs, or sevens rugby does between games.

It becomes the fans problem though if riders leave the sport because they cant afford to race, or have to race on sub standard equipment because they can't afford decent kit. Look at the criticism tai has received for not having top quality engines in the uk. I dont disagree with trying to reduce the number of riders missing meetings, but I think a better way is to have set race nights for the different leagues.

Ffs noone is saying put garritty or Kerr or blackbird in thefour. What they are saying -repeatedly- is that youngsters should have been used for slots 7-10 in the squad. The only youngster touted as a possibility for the four is lambert for the kl meeting only, where tbh he potentially could do as well as anyone bar tai.

Or they stay in the fast track system snd you also bring in the others u mention, so the standard of reserves get stronger not weaker. And have a cut off of 3 seasons or turning 21/3, whichever comes later.