MrMungo

I agree, Baggy. Bound to see him again when Lakeside are at Saddlebow Road!

Can you be sure it wasn't a free-for-all from the very beginning?!

4.00 PL average appears to have been the magic figure for a few years now. Clegg is under it, Morris is over.

If Morris signed for Wolves, he wouldn't have been able to ride for Cradley?

Noone seems to know who was and who wasn't on the reserve list, so who knows! I suspect this may be one of the reasons why the draft was done furtively. I am sure there are other options out there, as Jon Cook mentioned of a 'Plan B' if Blackbird didn't return. Despite what others say, I think Batchelor is a fine signing, and always performed well at King's Lynn - even when it was wet!

too = to

I was told a rider who rides in either EL or PL, can not ride in NL next year (assuming an average of over 4.00 PL), but have not seen it confirmed elsewhere. Either way, it would rule out a number of potential #1's.

Kerr to go to Lakeside?

Isn't the 'rule' 30 miles, or something similar?

If Leicester were going to change race night, surely they would have done it earlier to try and keep Doyle?

Presume 8.83 = PL average doubled with 2.5 reduction?

Higher of PL average (x2) or old NL average.

It certainly stands out!

Is Bjarne still a number 1 though?

I don't think the side looks too bad at all - I wouldn't expect to see them in the play-offs, but think they will fare better than this year. As a rough guess, 6th or so, but still too early to tell of course. They are banking on Lindgren getting back to his best, or close to it. Whilst he won't be unbeatable anymore, he can still increase his average significantly. Bech down to Masters (2nd to 5th) will probably all spend some time in the HL & SS positions. Potentially one of them may have a run at reserve too. I can see marginal improvements for Bech & Masters, although it will depend on how long they spend in the HL/SS positions. The biggest plus is they should have a high-scoring reserve for the whole season, which is not something they had this year.

I would imagine averages would be a little restrictive there

Surely that facility would only last a limited amount of time?

Could struggle a bit when Glasgow have to use R/R for Worrall (due to EL matches taking precedence). That tail! Should start as big favourites for the Fours already though! Not a bad side at all, but have yet to see a PL side that really stands out though, so should be there in the mix by the end of the season

Maybe they could make it an annual thing?

I see in the Star Gjedde is looking to make a comeback, would he have been a better option?

What is the alternative to someone like Ashley Morris? He has no EL spot (currently), no PL spot (unless he is signed by Workington (who look like going with Campton) Somerset (can't see it), Plymouth (!) or Redcar (possible) which I consider to be main possibilities. Whilst he made really strong progress at the end of last year, and I am sure he would prefer not to drop down again, but getting rides, keeping race sharp and putting yourself out there has to be far better than nothing at all. Then again, maybe he has a team spot already lined up, and I am barking up the wrong tree!

Jacobs, Morris, Nielsen (et al) could all be possibly looking at NL spots too if they don't get PL places, which looks likely for most of them, sadly.

My gut instinct is that was very much the case too. The teams this year with surprisingly strong reserves (Wolves, Leicester, etc) were the teams who may have struggled to attain the higher averaged 1-5 riders, so were 'given' stronger reserves. If King's Lynn had more of an inkling that Iversen wouldn't return, maybe they would have opted for a stronger reserve to partner Kerr? I think they were genuinely surprised Iversen didn't return, especially since he lives locally

Added. Done it based on 2015 averages, so missed him out by accident.

Or may want the same meetings, eg meetings at start of the season? This could get a bit complicated, so looking forward to seeing what they come up with next year!