STEVEHOLS54

Rew is not riding for his parent club Leszno in the U24 Lge this season as he did in 2022. Leszno decided to loan him out to Gdansk Coast in Lge 1 for 2023 to give him more experience against more experienced/better class riders. He is following a similar path to what they did with Jamon Lidsey. This means racing mainly Sundays so no real clashes with UK Prem or Champ. Also in a POL interview he stated that besides Ipswich he also wanted to secure a Champ slot (for which he would be a 5 point rider and not 4 only because he has raced in competitive racing in POL Lge 2 and DK Prem). I understood it was more a cost issue previously in view of flights/mechanic/equipment/accommodation/workshop etc as he planned to base himself in POL with I think his POL girlfriend. You would not have such costs with a Rowe or Kemp or Thompson much as I would like to see Rew at Poole.

Can imagine he isn't. After all the promise showed, this was going to be a big breakthrough season for him. But we have to remember he is only turning 18 on 30th July and even a part season will be good. If he gets snapped up to also do some UK racing when POl tails off (22nd Aug for the last of the regualr season U24 POL EXL matches), he could still get good experience this coming season. He would not have much racing to do POL/DK in those last months of our UK season. As said many times would love to see him at Poole but we will see.

Genuinely gutted for the guy. Means he will miss at least 11/12 of the 18 regular league meetings in the POL Exl U24 league season plus what he misses in that DK Lge 1 (the league below Danish Prem). I wonder if the Ford's may open discussions with him bearing in mind we don't even start our Champ meetings until 24th May and will only have ridden 2 Lge meetings before the 3rd on 12th July. Having said that he will need to get meetings and confidence back after what happened. Showed incredible talent in those 4 meetings I saw videos of him racing in the NSW U21 which he won followed by his runner up slot in the Aussie U21 - a decent individual meeting, and then culminating in 3rd place in the one off Aussie Champ meeting of 2022 where he got injured in that freak accident when he clipped Sedgeman's bike after the finish line in the final. Still wouldn't dampen my opinion of him though as talent is ultimately talent. Can't race but MAYBE can still keep his fitness and ride/practice just to keep his confidence on a bike.

So how come Danny said he had informed the team who would and wouldn't be retained in 2023 incl Danny King PRIOR to the delayed second leg of the final against Leicester. That meeting was on 5th Nov before the Rugby AGM. He mentioned it had been a difficult decision to have to make. Believe this was partly why Kemp had such a strop on because he had already been informed he would not be part of the team in 2023. I believe Danny told the whole team prior to that meeting on 5th Nov that difficult decisions had to be made due to a reduced team points limit and he had been forced to make changes. Of course I could of misunderstood and as they were at 1.03 over the old 42 points that Kemp was the rider chosen to drop, but not how I read it at the time.

Could the 5 pointer have been Rew ?? Number of us thought Poole were after him, but heard a rumour he wanted to much additional costs such as flights/mechanic/living costs/workshop etc as he insisted on basing himself in Poland with his partner. Rew plus Ablitt would have given Danny the comfort of Zach Cook staying at reserve.

On possible mid season change, Newman is an example of that himself. In 2017 he started on a GSA of 6.31 for Poole. Come July he had dropped to 5.26 and was not looking so good. He was dropped before the lower av came in and replaced and come August he in fact dropped further at Leicester to 4.22 (All in Premier Lge or equivalent back then). You can imagine if one or both reserves climb to a 5 or even 6 based on beating other reserves mainly. It could indeed open up an avenue for s certain young Aussie who would have got experience in POL and the 1st (not Prem) Div in DK . Also by that time maybe schedule will no be so hectic considering we don't even start our league matches until 24th May so I assume first GSA new av will be effective from 1st July ??. Of course if all the team is scoring well they may leave as is, but a Basso situation is an indication of what can be achieved by going for a young exciting rider on a 5 assessed GSA as he had ridden in DK but never in UK. We shall no doubt see as the season progresses. Edited: According to Speedway Stats he in fact rode 4 matches for Poole in 2017 with a CMA of 3.53 from his 17 rides, so the drop was even more dramatic.

I think Danny Ford has taken the long game view. With the new 2 point win and 1 point agg win over home & away it will be important to keep matches as close as possible to get that important agg point. No more racing away with the league with the 3 point system. Also with 2 high scoring reserves it does open up more possibilities if one has a dip in form and they wanted to change to a rider of maybe better quality or one of those young riders from DK or Europe or an Aussie who are racing regular but never done UK who they could get on a 5. With so many weak/young and inexperienced reserves in the league this season, getting a 5 GSA is an easier possibility especially with home form. Maybe they won't change but it gives more options than swapping say a 2 or 3 pointer. Very important when it comes to the business end of the season.

Whoops I meant 40 points (down from 42). Thanks Skidder got so involved forgot my basic maths

If he rides like he did in those 2 wins today he could be starting as a H/L by then . But let's not get ahead of ourselves . The lad has enough on his plate riding Prem/Champ plus the Tuesday meetings in the POL U24 league.

He possibly would go up to 3 beating weaker reserves bearing in mind his actual CMA 1.41 or 2 incl BP against plenty of stronger reserves last season. From Poole perspective though the drop to 38 points team limit plus loss of King has in a way forced Danny's hand. He needs stronger reserves to potentially gain extra points to compensate for the loss of that established 3rd H/L. It would be wrong to expect that Ben Cook will fill that spot (although most of us hope he does). Newman & Roynan fit that bill and would not surprise me that both climb to 5 plus per meeting AV against so many weaker reserves. That in effect gives Danny more possibilities going forward if he felt he needed to replace a rider. Hopefully won't happen, but Nathan probably would not give us that possibility to sign a decent one, plus with the 2 point for a win (irrespective of margin) plus the extra 1 point for the aggr win means I think that strong reserves could be so important in keeping away matches as close as possible, plus then have these 2 stronger reserves hoover up plenty of points at home against weaker/inexperienced reserves for the BP.

I think Keleher himself may be the problem. He has one of the best PR sites on social media. Many a top rider let alone one of his ability would love how professionally he is portrayed in that respect. Get the impression (and I may be wrong) that he may be highly opinionated as to his own ability. So much so that even just before he came to UK with Poole, that his PR machine was touting him around as a good signing for any team in POL willing to sign him. he made headlines on Speedway News POL at the time. Nothing wrong with building yourself up but its important you show/have the ability to match the excellent PR machine he has. Also seems to have decent sponsors in Aussie with his personalised Z22 product. Certainly bombed in his short time at Poole and did himself no favours when falling out with the Ford's who I think partly dropped due to his attitude and affect on the rest of the team. (Something commented on by a good few on the forum alone let alone who knew outside of it). I do question what his actual ability is and importantly at that age if much or in fact if he has the ability to improve. If his ability really matched the PR machine he would walk into most teams. Just my opinion. I'm not against the guy as was all for him during the close season before he came over and even FB him and got a reply. However his scores over in Aussie were not as I had hoped in that 21 season and he was also getting injured on top. Maybe at Plym where he did have some decent scores but also plenty of poor one's, he may be able to prove the doubters wrong, but like everything it would be a gamble. But against a lot of weak reserves he could shine and get a decent GSA ??

Subject seems to have veered of Ablitt . I think for Nathan, as we are up to 8 teams in NDL, it will be so important that he pushes his NDL av up as soon as possible to show people that he is progressing. He firstly needs to get his gating sorted so he doesn't have to keep chasing and then with his Champ & NDL experience from last season he should be able to easily do that IF he is progressing as so many expect. On that basis then indeed he should get a Champ reserve slot sooner rather than later. I am sure that missing out on the 2020 (Covid) season and not so many meetings in 2021 has probably hindered his development for those 2 years. He did have some decent meetings if you look at his scores in 2021 on the Speedway Statistics site so there is definitely a decent rider inside of him. Just look at his scores at the bottom of his 2021 results/scores to see that. Remember he was only 17 in March 2021 so he did those as a 17 year old Just needs to push on and show all that he is more than capable.

I think Zach Cook must have sprouted wings mid meeting in the last round of the Aussie Champ. Two thirds in his first 2 rides and then won 2 heats on the bounce. In the first he beat Jack Holder & Pickering, in the second he beat Brady Kurtz. Total 8 points and won a place in the semi final. Finished last in that behind Chris Holder/Fricke & Kennedy. Not bad for a 23 year old lad who is about to start only his 3rd season in British Speedway, and who would have been starting in our Champ team at reserve had the team points limit not been reduced. Also congratulations to Poole asset Jack Holder who won the overall Aussie Champ late in the meeting after Doyle dropped points unexpectedly plus Jack also won the all important final as Doyle failed to qualify. Amazing that you can win the first three rounds yet still lose out on the Champ in the final meeting. Good on Jack for staying close to him through all 4 rounds to pounce when it mattered most. I bet Doyle must be gutted.

Might be worth looking at a video of Ply V Oxford in NL where a young 17 year old Killeen rode against Ablitt. Killeen scored a 5 ride paid max plus a pointless 6th ride in his one and ONLY N/L meeting. In the only race he met Ablitt he beat him and beat him well. One swallow does not make a summer but this meeting was in June (his first ever UK meeting) and he only rode 4 meetings in his first season in UK racing. Considering Nathan had been riding for Poole since late March maybe says something ??. Maybe Killeen could prove a decent rider for Oxford against other young reserves. Only saw him in that one meeting on Youtube so no idea what long term prospect he may be.

That's the last time I ever stray off subject on this Forum . Can't believe I have opened Pandora's box last night just prior to Newman's announcement. Won't make that mistake again

Good signing and as anticipated. Won't need much dialing in for heat 2 with a lot of the new inexperienced reserves. Will hopefully also do his confidence good to beat a lot (if not most) of those guys. Just fingers crossed he can stay injury free as imo would have been as good as Howarth if not better had injuries not hindered his progress over the years.

Bugger that. I'm not gonna sit on here waiting for an announcement that may not even come today. Will catch up with twitter before bed tonight to see if anything put out. Got Happy Valley last series to catch up on plus incredibly had never watched Peaky Blinders before but me and my wife thought we would start the series from Series 1 episode 1. After 2 episodes we are sold on it so just another 34 (approx) to go. Can't believe we didn't watch it but now we can run thru as and when we want to on catch up . Sorry - Way off subject

Sounds like you may have already been tipped off ??. If it does happen, isn't it around 7 p.m when the news is released ??

He also probably knows that those of us who follow these things closely will know near enough by process of elimination that if he follows riding order, as he as done so far, that by naming Newman (should it be him) then the number 7 near enough names himself by virtue of the av left after Kyle's 4.29 av as it leaves less than 4 meaning Roynon only the real logical last selection . Having said that chances are the majority of Poole Fans don't even know that the BSF even exists like with most/all other clubs.

It's certainly not kind but with the points reduction can fully understand that Poole having to empty one recognised H/L would seek to go for 2 much stronger reserves to try and make sure they p/up the points against a lot of weaker reserves in 2023 to compensate. Especially if Ben Cook doesn't fill the 3rd H/L spot that many anticipate (or hope) he might. Also I fully appreciate it was Nathan's first Champ season and against many stronger reserves but the stats don't lie. In 38 Champ matches he had 120 rides and achieved a CMA of 1.47 per meeting. Yes he would probably up that in 2023 against some weaker reserves but even that no guaranteed. His 12 match N/L CMA was 7.20. A number of Champ reserves for 2023 had higher N/L av last season so no guarantee he would push on so much say against a Roynon (anticipated at Poole) who had a nearly 2 point higher av and with his experience will probably score a lot more against the younger inexperienced reserves. Yes it is a shame but as said elsewhere hopefully he will pick up a slot, especially if he improves his av in the now 8 team NDL as well as getting experience in the U24 POL EXL in Poland.

With no Bournemouth football match until Saturday, I wonder if we might get a reserve/s naming during this week. Bearing in mind we had the first 5 riders named in a 17 day period in December and Jan 1st I assume there is no reason why they can't announce at least one this week. Especially as most of us on the forum have an idea who they are so no work permit issues as both are Brits . I wonder if it is a work permit thing that may be holding up Plym & Brum if they are going for Aussie 4 pointers. Can't see any other reason for their delayed announcing.

A nice 8 points from 4 rides from Zach Cook in the 3rd round of the Aussie Champ earlier today after a pointless first ride. It's good experience for him to be mixing it with the top Aussie riders and importantly getting used to riding against more experienced and quality. Also importantly giving him racing experience before the UK season towards end of March. Never expected him to score lots of points against the top guys but getting odd points here and there can only be good for his development going forward, and importantly time on the bike.

Personally I hope he does well for Poole and brings lots of experience to the table. His 2021 CMA was 5.73 or 6.27 in 16 matches for Newcastle so well capable of achieving a decent av at reserve if staying injury free Was also a decent scorer in his 4 only N/L matches last season so has proved he is more than capable of beating most of the young/inexperienced reserves. Hence why I feel he could score well above what his starting GSA is currently. Ultimately I suppose it will come down to how the team are performing - his actual GSA at the time and if there would be any benefit to the team in changing things. That's something that won't happen initially anyway BUT if you had the opportunity say to sign mid or last third of the season a rider of say a Rew or Basso potential on say 5 points if Adam's GSA is around that level mainly based on beating weak reserves it would no doubt be tempting. In the meantime let's hope we get our last 2 named soon as it's intriguing that us Plym & Birm are the only ones left to name reserves to complete their teams. Even if our's are allegedly done and dusted.

Don't disagree with you on that. But my point remains whether Roynon stayed in reserve or not. If his GSA rises to the 5 or 5.5 level as a result of beating a lot of weak reserves would Danny consider swapping him for a rider who has proven ability at a similar GSA of 5 to 5.5 based on beating stronger reserves last season or even if spent some or most of the time in the main team, or a talented overseas rider (Basso being a prime example) on a 5 having raced in Europe. Other things to consider is that Roynon has i believe secured the gig of co commentator for BSN in 2023 which assume means he will cover both Prem/Champ meetings all season when not riding. I assume he will be paid for his services. Only mention it as should Poole let him go at some stage, he could well secure a slot elsewhere and have a back up income stream. Also another thought. What would stop Poole/Newman letting Kyle finish behind Roynon when on a 5-1 or 3-3. Bonus points don't count in GSA's but riders do get paid for the bonus point. Could it be that knowing the reserve also has the option of getting extra rides, that Kyle position at reserve is protected with a view of later in the season when a rider better than Roynon on a higher than expected GSA was released. All conjecture of course but suppose it does throw up potentially various scenarios now we have the much weaker/inexperienced reserves in quite a few teams.

I assume you mean him and not the whole team . Timing is going to be interesting though as I'm sure they won't want to leave it too late, as no doubt others will be trying the same. Although looking through the other teams can't see many who have such an advantage who would want to release that rider i.e Edwards at Redcar who I expect to also see go up. No way they will want to lose him. Opens up a whole range of options if he did go to a 5 or higher although in fairness would't do him any favours in respect of getting another team as I assume his GSA would be 5 plus when released ??. Of course it may not happen and he drifts in and out of reserve all season and gives a chance for a stronger reserve such as Zach Cook or Thomas to take extra rides if they find themselves down there. Its another string to Poole's bow I suppose.