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My mistake Hope that both Andrews and Neale recover quickly, but Wright does make you stronger.

Looking at the declarations, Michael Neale

You reckon? Lambert and Birks will both ruffle feathers, and I think any one of 4 or 5 riders could win it.

You say on the grapevine, he posted it himself on facebook and it has already been mentioned on the Stoke forum I'm not quite sure the 2 events are related though, given that Chris informed people of this about 3 days before Rambo was released from Leicester...post hoc ergo propter hoc and all that

Doubtful, not sure how he is doing after his back injury last season.

So, Stoke have re-signed Simon Lambert in place of the unfortunate Richie Worrall. Due to averages, we have also had to let Jaimie Pickard go, with a replacement to be named soon Looks like we will probably line up: 1) Rambo 2) New Signing (Up to 5.42) 3) Atkin 4) Walter 5) Birks 6) Carr 7) Reade Even more top heavy, but glad changes were made before Ben's new average. Will make for some interesting meetings, and some very interesting heat 13's and 15's!

I think, given the fact he will probably move up soon, his average will dip slightly at the end of the season from what it is now, mainly because he won't be having 6 or 7 rides a meeting. I'm just happy at the massive leap that he seems to have made. He looks much smoother as a rider and much quicker than last season. I'm just glad we stuck with him and he chose to come back to us!

With Ben, these last 2 meetings have been interesting, because he has ridden on a track where people have turned up without the will to ride, but by the same token, let's look at his scores this season: IoW (H): 5 Dudley (A): 10+1 Dudley (H): 14+3 Scunthorpe (A): 15 IoW (A): 13 Scunthorpe (H): 15+1 IoW (A): 11+2 Buxton (H): 14+1 Buxton (A): 11+1 Scunthorpe (H): 15+3 IoW (H): 17+4 He has been fantastic this season. If he a 9 pointer? Nope. Is he a 7 pointer? Quite possibly.

Not the best meeting, but thankful for any speedway given the British summer. IoW were awful. Looked beaten from the moment they turned up. Slow from the gate, over-riding in the early heats and falling, and generally looking like they wanted to be anywhere but Stoke (Which is perfectly understandable!) Lots of EF's and falls cost them any chance of doing anything. For Stoke, Birks showed what the track was capable of in the later heats, and Reade was pretty much untroubled to a paid 21 pointer. Everyone else chipped in well barring Jaimie, who took a hefty fall in his second ride and looked uncomfortable in his other 2.

Weather has been surprisingly good thus far, with the sun peeking out! Hopefully the track will be good, and having Birks back will really help us! I think Stoke have enough to get all 3 points, but it will be close.

Ben's average is closer to 8 than 5 at the moment! I think, based on NL meetings only, he is around 7.8.

Updates site has it as 56-35. Would imagine that the 2 point difference is down to a TR being used? Maybe one has missed it/included it when it didnt happen?

No idea. There aren't many riders about on a 7.75, and no-one who could do the job Richie would do. It becomes a question of who can do a better job than R/R! Personally, I'd be tempted to search out a couple of 5 pointers, replace Richie and Ross (Who tries, but needs to gain more experience) and go that way. Ben will be going into the main body when the new averages come out, so it would give us a more solid look.

Mildenhall by about 10. Stoke are weakened ridiculously by having R/R for Richie. The battles between Birks and Heeps should be fun though.

Seems a sensible date, especially as the only other meeting that day is at Leicester and that's an individual. Means that every team can track their strongest line up, and could draw a few neutral fans in, as it will be 24 heats of speedway, with some recognized PL names for a reasonable price!

Was good enough over the 2 legs to beat you I must admit, so long as both teams are at full strength, I'm looking forward to the Dudley meetings. Roynon v Worrall/Birks could be some fantastic races.

Stoke came closer in a pre-season challenge

If a rider wants more rides, they need to ride well. It's ridiculous that riders wouldn't want to challenge themselves against the best riders in their league on one of the fairest tracks in the league. Frankly it shows a bit of a lack of ambition. Speedway isn't cheap, but showing that you have the ability to beat the best riders around you under pressure is worth a lot more than £100.

Let's not forget, Adam started in 2003 in the CL...9 years ago. I have no problem with Adam riding in the NL. Gives younger riders something to aspire to, and gives them a notable scalp if they manage to beat him, but surely there should be some limit on how long you can ride in the NL for? Maybe changing the ruling of over 30's to saying that you can ride in the NL for the first 5 seasons from your first NL race, with 1 exception per team? Give riders an incentive to move up? Maybe even do it like the American College sports systems, where you have so many years of eligibility?

Don't forget it's the fours, not the NL meeting.

If he did have to ride at number 2, that could make heat 1 very interesting! Birks, Worrall and Heeps? Fantastic!

I hope Richie can ride! More importantly, I hope we get a meeting. The weather isn't looking too great unfortunately. However, if there is a meeting, and Richie does ride, Stoke by about 5.

] And what would you suggest then? Only having 4 teams?

Probably because it's only Richie's second full season racing league speedway

Seems fair. Ben is on fire at the moment.