DJWolves

I would put Nichols down for 7 or 8 points tomorrow which is a few points less than Freddie's usual contribution

Don't think there's a guest available that would get more points than sharing the rides between Jacob, Rory, Sam and Kyle. But the extra rides do put pressure on those riders particularly over the last few heats so clearly Freddie will be badly missed. So what would have been a home win by at least ten points will now be much closer

Big crowd with the parking filling the road by east park. And the vast majority watched both matches

Either Lynn or Poole will benefit later in the season when Holder gets his act together as he surely will. If Lynn hold on to him and bring in other riders when his average has gone down then there will be far less doom and gloom at Saddlebow. But if they do let him go then Poole would surely snap him up and would doubtless get the best out of him. As for Wolves the changes to the team have worked a treat and retaining the title looks a real possibility if the riders stay fit.

Belle Vue and Wolves both have good racing tracks, lets both celebrate that, not argue about it

As much as the doubling up rule makes no sense to people who don't follow speedway, surely it is common sense to those that do. Riders cannot make a decent living riding for one club only. Top riders have been riding for more than one club for years, albeit in different countries, now there are the opportunities for lesser riders to improve their income by riding in more than one club in the UK. Unless you are prepared to put lots of money into the sport to make it possible for a rider to pay his mortgage riding for one club, this is something that isn't going to change. Where I do agree is that to have play offs at the end of the season between clubs in two leagues that could include the same riders in their normal team is a stupid idea. A deciding heat 15 between Sam Masters and Rider Replacement for Sam Masters.

Riss will become a very important rider for us this season as unless Greaves improves massively, he will be having 5 rides a meeting

To think that until recent years this Wolves promotion were being criticised for showing too much loyalty to riders in a team that clearly wasn't strong enough. They have certainly been pro-active the last couple of seasons and we are seeing the benefits

Replacing Adam with Schlein makes for a very solid top 5 to make us play off contenders. But we won't be title contenders unless we strengthen at reserve when the new averages are out

Whoever the replacement is for Adam, it should be done with an eye on being able to strengthen at reserve when the new averages come out

Don't see any sense in letting Jacob go. His away scores need to improve but are we saying that at 23 years old that will never happen? He is someone that I would like to see in the Wolves team for years to come. He is already as quick as Freddie at Monmore and over the next year or two I am sure his away scores will get much better. I can see the short team gain in having a stronger all round team but why alienate a rider who can do a good job for Wolves for years to come just for a short term gain. If the averages allow us to improve the team by just replacing Greaves then that must be the way forward this season. But if we do have to sacrifice one of the top 5 to strengthen overall, then it has to be the sensible decision for the club to let go of a 40 year old rather than an improving 23 year old.

In my opinion it would be utterly ridiculous to release Thorsell. A match for most riders in the world at Monmore and his away performances will improve this season I'm sure. Getting better all the time and I would like to see him in the Wolves team for years to come. If we are going to release one of the top 5 it would have to be Skornicki, but I think we will just see changes at reserve.

Wolves cannot be contenders to retain their title with only 5 riders. We know Clegg can ride better as we saw last season but even so the tail is too long. But what other options are there? Are there better riders in the National League we could turn to? Or does Skornicki need to be sacrificed to restructure the team? Very early in the season to be talking like this about the team, but the writing does seem to be on the wall if we do nothing

I don't think the lack of points at reserve are any great surprise. I think that was generally predicted before the season started. Can either or both improve? Time will tell but it does look like the Achilles heel of our team. Not the only problem though because only Lindgren consistently looks like a heat leader away from home. So improvement is needed there also. I do think Wolves will be a difficult team to beat at Monmore and that in itself might be enough to scrape into the play offs, but hard to see us getting enough points away from home to go close to retaining the title.

I thought last night was a really entertaining meeting, better than is often the case at this early stage of the season. A very well prepared track was a big factor in that, quite an achievement given the lack of rain in the area over the last week. Thorsell was excellent and looks set to be another Swede off the treadmill for Wolves that looks capable of beating any rider in the world on his home track. Lets hope he can become a genuine heat leader away from home too. Freddie also rode well as did Masters after blowing the cobwebs away in his first two rides. And Howarth looked to have made a real step up on last season. Wolves did look weak at reserve but not many clubs have a rider as experienced as Klindt at reserve to exploit that. Will be close on aggregate as Kasprzak, Kurtz and Holder will all score better at Wimborne Road but I can see Wolves just about winning it overall. As for the season, Wolves certainly have one of the better top 5's in the league but need to get their share of points from the reserves. Clegg needs to keep improving as he did last season, while Greaves rode ok last night, and at least at home should have the beating of some of the other reserves in the league.

Do Poole fans post like this on every team's thread or is it just Wolves that worry them?

A lot of the concern seems to be about the strength of Wolves second strings but apart from maybe Rye House I don't see a team with stronger riders in those positions. Add that to the strength of the Wolves heat leaders, and there is every reason to suspect Thorsell and Masters will continue to improve, then I think the Wolves team is quite strong relative to the rest of the league. We may prove to be weak at reserve, particularly away, but the revised heat formula makes that less of an issue than last season

All the riders that scored well for Wolves in the final made a difference Just as did the sensational 5 points coming from superstar Zagar at Monmore, not to mention the memorable point that Fricke got that night too. And Scott Nicholls three points in their home leg was also a factor. Maybe Zagar should have helped his team by loaning his bike to someone that would have ridden it a little faster round Monmore? Over the two legs one team rode better than the other from what I remember

Doesn't look a great team until you look at it in comparison to the other teams and suddenly we look one of the strongest. Much will depend on whether the reserves can hold their own against their equivalents in other teams. But if Thorsell and Masters continue their improvement I would be hopeful of another successful season

I am not sure Howarth is a good signing on his average Hope we stick with Masters although it might make us weak at the bottom end of the team. Is Parkinson-Blackburn fixed up as a number 7 for an elite league club yet?

I thought Musielak rode well at the Olympique, much better than he had looked previously. But if his average is 6.34 as stated above then maybe not a good signing Do hope we retain Masters but we are in danger of having a team with a long tail. Would be happy to have Morris back, and maybe get in Parkinson-Blackburn as a low average reserve

To me Thorsell and Masters are the riders that the Wolves team should be built around for the next few years. Both capable of becoming top heat leaders and possibly Grand Prix standard. Would certainly prefer to see those two in the team to the unreliable bomber, but be good to have them all if the averages fit I thought Musielak looked good at the Olympique and be happy to have him in as a second string Lindgren Musielak Masters Harris Thorsell Clegg Morris

How ridiculous the line ups are for this match. Is no account taken of rider availability when fixtures are arranged. A potentially attractive match now looks like a bit of a farce. Speedway does itself no favours