21st century heathen

I've been told the track man is indeed new to this country but is not new to the track curator's role. He's previously worked at Bydgoszcz. Apparently the announcer was a last minute replacement for someone how wasn't able to be there (don't know why). All the ranting about getting to heat 6 needs to be knocked on the head. It's been years since it was the strict 'cut-off' point. The Coventry programme is horrendously ambiguous but I believe that is down to the club running meetings at different levels and at different admission costs. So I can't give an exact answer but the important part is that if a meeting is called off before heat 10 has been completed a future discount is available. The ambiguity being that the value of that discount depends on the admission cost and at what point the meeting was abandoned. Can someone clarify it for us please? As for other comments - You're all right and more besides. It was an absolute farce. Speedway remains true to form. There was very little one could glean from the heats we saw but in general the Heathens looked sharp. Greaves made a super start in heat one and won it with ease. He made a 2nd flyer in his next only (heat 5) to hit a grippy patch and bail out. Williamson made a good start to heat 2 and also took off to win easily. Phillips didn't make the best start but was all over RTD for the four laps. Perry made a rare start to heat 3 but an error meant he ended up chasing anyway. He looked very racey trying to find a way past Ollie. Clegg made his usual shocker but made up lots of ground and was challenging Dan on the last two laps. Phiilips shot out the gate in heat 4 but hit a grippy patch on turn two and had to bail out. Worrall was 2nd out the gate in this original staging. Worrall made a good gate in the re-run but Sarj made a very good 1st/2nd turn cut back to lead. Worrall charged around the outside of him and won easily. Only in heat 6 did the Storm make the best of it from the gate. For Storm Ollie looked sharp and won his two races. Crang was a comfortable winner of heat 6. Nielsen and Dan both struggled badly with conditions. RTD rode sensible laps to take his points. Sarj looked fine though easily outpaced by Worrall. There wasn't enough to judge Knuckey on.

The only question mark over that team would be Arron but apart from that there's isn't a weak link. It'll be interesting to revisit this thread at the end of the season and see what our dream teams have averaged.

I do think we'll win on aggregate but I don't think we can underestimate the threat Cov pose on their own shale. You've got riders that have plenty of laps around there and I'm not sure how much experience Matt and Danny have there. Not a lot I suspect. Also, Max didn't get on well there at all last season. That's a potentially big hole in our middle order scoring, especially as his opposite number is Dan as he does go well around Brandon. Starkey was superb there generally last season so I expect him to be a constant threat to your heat leaders. Stevie will need to hit the ground running for us and Tom needs to make some half decent gates to get in the mix. I think Nath can match Luke.

I see the final averages being very roughly as follows: Worrall - 9.5 Starke - 9 Perry - 8.5 Clegg - 7 Greaves - 5.5 Williamson - 5.5 Phillips - 4.5

Don't tell anyone I said this but I do kinda like PK. He (and Correy) is alright, for a doghead.

I'd put Pawlicki at 3. Just a gut instinct that it might suit him the best.

I sincerely hope so. Hopefully we'll soon have confirmation from Buxton that all is well.

It's true to state some PL clubs do more for the NL riders than others and more than some give them credit for. However, there are some that show little or no interest in giving the young Brits a shot. It's also true to state that P'brgh are doing more than all of them and they only rejoined the league this season! This draft should have taken place in the PL but some clubs simply wouldn't have it.

It doesn't matter whether you know of him or not, the man has 18 years experience at one of the best clubs in the country; show some respect! -------------------------- Of far more importance is where does this leave Buxton? It's well known that they survive on a shoestring and that raising the money for an air fence was never going to be easy. They are struggling to put together a competitive team and now this announcement too.

Which part?

I don't disagree but based on what you saw at PL level you can understand if the NL fans at KL were a tad disappointed at times. Both points are fair comment. There were some strong riders at the top end of the NL last season which is what is going to make this EL season so fascinating. The draft riders are going to have a huge impact on how a club's season pans out and there's little to choose between many of them.

Okay so I'm a tad earlier than usual but I'm getting excited. I've seen all the lads in practice now and with a view to this meeting I will certainly give the home riders an edge. Their top four as a unit will likely prove too strong for us, though I think our bottom three can match or outscore their counterparts overall. If we're to challenge on the night we will need one of the Storm heat leaders to misfire I believe. Based on what I've seen that may be Nielsen, but equally he could go through the card unbeaten. I'm going for around 49-41 which will set up the second leg perfectly. Possible line-ups below. Storm Nielsen Crang O Greenwood D Greenwood Sarjeant Knuckey Terry-Daley Heathens Starke Greaves Perry Clegg Worrall Williamson Phillips

I've been over to Brandon to check out the opposition this evening. Nielsen - Had a bit of a stop-start practice. Some quick laps, some 'meh' and some time in and out the pits. I'm sure overall he'll do his job but I suspect nights where he look unbeatable and nights that he frustrates (probably with bike problems) may predominate rather than steady form throughout. Crang - Did plenty of laps and seemed to be slipping in to gear quite nicely. I don't whether he's done many/any laps yet this winter/spring but he didn't look rusty. O Greenwood - Seemed, to me, to be a bit quicker as practice wore on. Perhaps a sign of a bit of 'getting to know you' again if he's not had much practice yet. Dumped himself on his ass once but there didn't seem to be any harm to rider or machine. Having had most of last season to shake off his couple of injuries I think this could be his season to really step up. D Greenwood - I can pretty much ditto the above. Dan certainly got quicker as the laps went by. He also had a little sit down in the shale, and again not obvious harm to rider or machine. And although not looking to move on from the type of injuries Ollie had Dan should also be targeting a big step up this season after consolidating his form toward the end of 2013. I look around the league and there aren't too many teams that can boast a rider with Dan's potential as their fourth in averages, Potentially the Storm's key rider. Sarjeant - Sarj looked very good and wasn't really outshone when he lapped with his EL team mates. He certainly looked the part as a NL heat leader. Storm are not lacking 'punch' at the top end that's for sure. Knuckey - He looks like he needs laps to me. I don't that to sound like a negative as such I just mean he needs to get going. I think he can do a commendable job for the team but he is, in my opinion, targeting 3/4 points a meeting rather than anything too spectacular. That's his job and if he does it then fair play to him as he'll have played his part in whatever Storm achieve. Terry-Daley - I couldn't work out what I thought to be honest. Sometimes I was thinking he looks quite smooth and reasonable on pace and other times not so much. He's a bit of a dark horse and might randomly score good points that could even prove the difference on any given night. If he beats most reserves at home and the odd weaker 2nd string then he too will have done his job. Storm will need him to chip in away too if they're to prove one of the favourites for silverware, as I expect. I do think it will be hit and miss from RTD though. Overall I'm sure the feeling amongst the Storm team was a positive one and that they're very much looking forward to testing themselves in a week's time.

A lot of people, myself included, are expecting Matt to improve a lot this season. Personally I thought it might be a steady start and continual improvement. But it looks and sounds as though he may hit the ground running. It will certainly bode well for our chances if he does, and with Nath looking good in practice it's time to sart getting excited about the season ahead.

I've been over to see your lads today. Andersen - First time back out there on the bike but didn't look rusty. Plenty of showboating for the cameras and fast laps for Hans. Howarth - He looked pretty quick and very comfortable on track apart from one 'moment' caused by losing his steel shoe. He'll be very important to the Bees this season for sure but I don't think anyone should have any particular concerns about him. Fisher - Frankly he looked slow and didn't do too many laps. Based purely on what I saw today there would be a slight concern here because at that speed I can name a few NL draft riders that would take points off him. Next week's outing at B'ham should give us all a better idea though. Hansen - Not as fast as Andersen or Harris when they were flat out but he did look quick when lapping at the same time as Andersen. He wasn't really losing much ground to him. The question mark over him may be his racing rather than gating or speed though. Harris - It was a stop-start practice for him. His practice starts looked okay and I wonder if all the stop-start stuff was down to tweaking the clutch set-up? When he did do back-to-back laps he was looking pretty lively. Garrity - Pick of the bunch for me. Of course all-action style riders like him can look good on their own but for me he looked genuinely fast with all the hanging off the bike stuff. He's going to be a thrill a minute to watch and I can't wait!! Sarjeant - Sarj looked quicker than I expected too. I wonder if he's got better kit than ever before. He did plenty of laps with the Bees (and some with the Storm) and didn't look at all out of place. Certainly looked quicker to me than Fisher. He knows Brandon inside out so might just spring a surprise or two. And speaking of springing a surprise or two I wouldn't be knocked over if Coventry finish 3rd/4th this season.

Just noticed this post. Does this lad wear white and blue with a #11 on his back? There was a rider I couldn't identify at both Wolves and Birmingham P&P this week so I wonder whether it was him?

Kerr's PL form did't fully transfer to the NL last season though. Saw Cov's P&P today. Garrity was on it.

Bu££er!!!! --------------------- It's been announced that this season Cradley will have a B5 size, bigger and better, programme. http://www.cradleyheathens.co/news.php?extend.978

Riders seem to prefer a settled riding order from what I can work out from comments they make. I doubt you'll see a riding order that's different from one meeting to the next, though obviously it could change over the course of a full season.

I haven't read every post but I've got the gist of it obviously. Trust speedway to make something so easy so long-winded. Bates has opted out of the draft so should not be included this season. It's not hard on the lad as some suggest and nor is it in any way unfair. He, and he alone, made a choice to back out having known full well what the rules are as he had to sign to that effect. No changes should be allowed unless a rider is out long-term, which we can perhaps define as being a full calendar month for the sake of this post, due to a speedway related injury. If he's dropped from the EL club he's not allowed to ride anywhere for a month. When fit he returns to the back-up list of draft riders as a grade A or B rider as he was originally or can be reinstated with his original club replacing his replacement only. An injured rider dropped can only be replaced by a rider A or B as relates to the injured rider. This will prevent clubs manipulating a situation whereby come PO time they suddenly line up with two grade A riders at reserve. With regard to Bates in general - The lad has some very fast kit but he does seem to think the throttle goes one way and then it has to stay there regardless of what's going on around him. If somebody can get his feet on the ground and channel his speed then he could be an asset if/when he does find his way in to the EL. Dan Greenwood was in the original draft because I recall many, myself included, being surprised that he was overlooked, particularly by Poole, as his late season form was as good as a heat leader in the NL. Going back to the original question raised by the thread author if I may - The obvious answer that most will trot out is Garrity or Newman. These two have similar PL averages. On paper the answer is Kerr as he was around half a point higher in the PL and improved a lot last season. I'll throw another name in the hat though. Lewis Blackbird had a cracking season last season in the NL and PL. His PL average was not too far short of Garrity and Newman and he topped the NL averages. I saw a lot of him with the Heathens, as you might have guessed. He was generally sharp from the starts, quick out front, fast when chasing and always willing to take half a chance when offered to force a pass on the inside or outside. He was good under pressure, as evidenced by his Fours winning ride for us when holding off Boxall under severe pressure, and his team riding skills were superb when riding with Ash Morris. He's at Eastie which, sadly, has become something of a gaters track in recent seasons so I fancy him to make good starts and score very well down there.

The thinking for Wolves could be to protect Piotr from the pressure and expectation of having to go out and win heat 1, particularly at home as it's not really going to be home track for him this season when you consider the more experienced visitors he may face (depending on others' line-ups).

As you acknowledge it's tough to make a call from practice but I'd say that overall there was little to choice between the two. I'll give you a 45-45 based on P&P. I do give Wolves an edge over the season though as I think they will be very difficult to beat at home whereas B'ham could slip up more often. Okay, 32! That nice big bold B does look good but overall I don't like them; there's too much black. Do Birmingham use the same designer as Coventry?

I've long since thought that opportunities to mix things up a bit are often missed but I can see the logic in wanting to get off to a heat winning start. It does rather backfire if your number one cocks it up though.

Well I was one of about 12 people to show up to see the Brummies have a spin today. King - Looked sluggish to me. Certainly not as fast as he can be around PB. He can look so-so sometimes then come to life the week after so overall I'm sure he'll do his job. Skornicki - He looked quicker if anything than he did last night at Monmore so positive signs there for you. He's had some good rides around PB when I've seen him so could have a really solid season. Barker - He was definitely quicker toward the end compared to earlier on. He always looks pretty wild and on the edge of control so I never read anything in to that. It's just a case of how fast he's going while looking wild with him!! Nermark - Bit of 'meh' practice by him. Can't see him pulling up any trees if I'm honest so nothing much to say really. He wasn't all over the place or notably slow though. Kennett - Easily the stand out rider there today. He looked very quick, sharp, smooth and riding the track pretty hard for a practice. He could make or break the Brummies season. Starke - I'd put him up there with Kennett. He looked very comfortable and quick too. He alongside Kennett will have a big impact on the way their season pans out. He can gate consistently well and can be very quick when out from in clean air. He could surprise a few. Lambert - Simon looked a tad uncomfortable going in to the turns a few times but seemed to have some pretty good kit under him. If he can get to grips with PB and just smooth out his cornering compared to today he and Starke are my tip to be potential spoilers at reserve. While everyone is watching Kerr/Rose and Morris/Jacobs these two might be racking up the points themselves.

There were some stand-out showings for your lot Wolves fans. Tai - When he did ride flat out he looked very quick indeed - could have binned it once. Wells & Proctor - I can cover these in one. Nothing much to report to be honest. Looked okay but nothing more nor less. Morris - Ash looked okay but I've seen him faster around Monmore. Hopefully it's just a case of blowing away the cobwebs. I should stress that this isn't to suggest he looked in any way poor. Now those that stood out. Pawlicki - He looked very quick and although he overlocked a couple of times he looked perfectly at home. He was perhaps just starting to spin up a touch around the middle of the straights but that'll be no more than fine tuning his set-up. He's going to bolster the dogheads' bid for silverware on the road and if he gets dialled in to racing Monmore as well as riding it fast then they are going to be tough to turn over on their own shale. Jacobs - Joe looked really smooth and fast (fast being a relative term for him compared to EL riders before anyone chirps up). Wolves fans who know little about him will soon be won over I'm sure. He and Ash will form a potent pairing, particularly at Monmore. Thorssell - Assuming that who I think was Jacob was indeed he then he looked very sharp indeed. Fast, smooth and comfortable. A potential match winner. I'm not sure Ty will replicate last season's early form but that apart I can see Wolves being a tough nut to crack at home and on their day tough to shake off away. Tai will likely win races for fun and Ash and Joe might not concede too many heat advantages so they could well often pick up points on the road.