Ben91

Mear isn't eligible to ride NL, neither is Jerran Hart (PL average now over 4 and in a PL side.) I posted this a while back as a potential Cobras side, think it'd be just as good as a Hawks septet. Tommy Allen 8.84 Marc Owen 6.72 Joe Jacobs 6.43 Danny Halsey 5.34 Ben Morley 4.78 Shane Hazelden 4.2 Brandon Freemantle 3.00 Total: 39.31 Full of upcoming youngsters, whilst Tommy Allen has been mentioned as looking to get back into the sport, it wasn't that long ago he was threatening to break into the EL as a reserve, having some of the meetings at Lakeside may give him more of a kick to ride NL and impress as he can get back to where he was IMO.

Good, the NL should be Brits only, for the good of our nation's future on the international stage, when the commonwealth riders are good enough they will come over and race PL straight off. Simple. All we need now is the points limit to be lowered to encourage teams to use two young British reserves and we will be on the way to starting our own conveyor belt of half decent talent.

I never thought i'd see the day when Shadders and Bryn were flirting on the internet. I was wrong, as is this situation.

Basically, this is cutting fixture congestion at Rye House, whilst Lakeside get to help develop assets Hazelden and Owen on their own home track, whilst also getting first dibs on other young prospects such as Morley, the Hackney name comes in because it is no more a Rye House side. At least there is no more ridiculous Cobras nickname. The promotions should not be looking to older fans to form crowds but the younger generation who will be fans for a long time to come. In all honesty it's a shame the Cobras have been pulled, the National League meetings are generally always very exciting at Rye. Good Luck to the Hawks though

Very good signing for the Heathens, I'm guessing he'll be on an average of about 7 too as it's been a long time since he has established a NL average. The lad deserves a break and he will be busy this year, hopefully he is safe and successful, still one of Britain's best prospects imo.

Presuming the points limit will be 40, the following line up fits and would be very competitive. Tommy Allen 8.84 Marc Owen 6.72 Joe Jacobs 6.43 Danny Halsey 5.34 Ben Morley 4.78 Shane Hazelden 4.2 Brandon Freemantle 3.00 Total: 39.31 I wouldn't be too disappointed with that side at all, could win the league at a canter if the riders all race to their potential.

That's a whole different kettle of fish though, the EL is our nations top tier, the standard should be as high as possible. To say there's not enough riders for the NL Is a falsity, even if we lost the Aussies/Kiwis in the third tier. The solution is a slightly lower points limit, then teams would be encouraged to track two young three pointers, thus giving more young Brits that first step on to the speedway ladder. I hope the Colts run next year, in a NL with as many team as is possible. Not as many as is convenient.

Ah Freemantle of course, could be a very good signing. Get him in and we do realistically have 5 riders who could make the step up the the Rockets in the near future in Morley (already has), Jacobs, Hazelden and Owen. That said, however as Jacobs is an Ipswich asset he may well be loaned out elsewhere, which would be a shame.

I'd fully expect to see Morley, Owen, Jacobs and Hazelden back, I'd also like to see Jamie Smith return if fully fit. If Tommy Allen is looking to get back into the sport we should give him a shot in the NL to show what he can do, whilst Tom Stokes would complete the side as a three pointer. Whether this fits or not i'm not 100% however it would be close and a good side I'd pay to watch at NL level.

Aussies/Kiwi's can do 2 years in the NL, Jade Mudgway and Andrew Aldridge being examples of this, Dyer could line up as a Heathen again next season, unless the rules have been changed. Again.

Peterborough and Coventry seem to have a clear cut choice, NL or permanent closure. Both tracks could survive a season in the National League and then re-apply for EL status in 2012, which they would pretty much certainly get. Both clubs have a fair few assets they could loan out or sell for a large sum, whilst not having to pay these riders wages, this would help cover stadium rent, in Peterborough's case at least, i'm not sure how Coventry operate. A few snobish fans will no doubt turn their back on the sport, crowds will be made up of the die hards perhaps at the start of the season perhaps, but when the fair weather fans start to miss their fix, then they will come crawling back and realise that the NL isn't so bad. Perhaps we may even see EL and NL teams operating out of both venues in 2012.

What? Have you ever thought of being a politician? You're good at dodging a question. There has to be a reason for your argument, you can't write something off as "twaddle" and expect people to accept that because of who you are. My comments were opinion, rather than a blunt, pedantic answer which there was no need for, you could have simply pointed out that my view was in fact not the truth in an adult manner.

This is where we have a problem Malcolm, you shoot posts down however you do not support your argument with a point. Read the bits in bold, I supported my argument with an opinion, a sound one too, not facts, I was not 'fabricating' any 'notion' merely stating something which could be true. If I had stated that these were the reasons Leicester had been accepted over Plymouth then you would have a point to argue, however I didn't so you haven't.

Sad to see a new team come in and jump straight into the PL when Plymouth have been looking to move up and have been around since 2006. Not to sound petty or accusation-al but it could well be a move by Stoke, letting Leicester take their PL licence, to ensure they have at least 1 more opponent in 2011 in the National League in the shape of Plymouth.

Maybe the club has a fair amount of debt though, Bartlett is simply getting ride of that debt for nothing.

Right, so the BSPA say this has to be cancelled due to the Young Shield, so why all the moaning at Rye? Len took on the fours and has obviously tried to make sure this goes ahead, yet the sports ruling body are the ones depriving the fans and riders of the event it seems. This has been an absolute shambles no doubt but the blame should not be placed at Ryes door here.

Bruno you will probably lose Lee Smart but due to his PL average being over 4 rather than his NL average. I think a points limit cut is a good idea tbh. There are plenty of riders without teams floating around who could ride NL not just those in the Under-15's championship. Lower the points limit and bring through more young Brits, simples.

No, Marc is fit, rode for the Cobras over the Bank Holiday weekend. Would have done better than Newman, Garrity and Howarth for that matter too. The experience would have been fantastic for him as well. I'm sure, if fit then Jerran Hart would have been the man riding of course.

Track bashing yet again, yawn. The meeting was not brilliant, yes but the lack of smooth running was more due to the FIM referee rather than the track grading. Firstly, as parsloes has said, why let the riders back into the pits if a race has been stopped due to a tapes exclusion? Well done to the Danes, they deserved their victory. Bach looked fantastic. If we had Tai I'm sure we would have been third today, possibly second, around rye I'm pretty sure he'd have gone unbeaten in the field we saw today, that's 15 points rather than the 0 which Newman accrued. Why Robert Mear wasn't called I have no idea, he may not have a team but he is racing on the grass regularly and knows Rye very well, I'm sure he'd have done a decent job. Even Marc Owen would be a better bet than Newman at Rye, no disrespect meant to Kyle of course. Bridger was the pick of the Brits, though a little too cocky considering a lot of the riders he beat were only PL standard and he was racing for the last placed nation. Josh deserved a lot more than he scored, whilst Haines let a lot of points slip and did his gating tart credentials no harm at all. Kyle Hughes was poor, such a shame for the lad, I await the Rye excuse #234.1.2 that his first bike blew up before his first race. That'll explain his performance at least

I see we did have some heavy showers, you must have had the worst of it Rye v Scunthorpe always seems to be a cracking meeting whatever venue competition.

Don't know what part of Hoddesdon you are in but there were no rivers running down the roads... Meeting was very good, wouldn't have felt short changed if I'd paid to go tonight. Buzz Burrows is always highly entertaining, wonder whether he'd fancy being the Conras old hand next year?

Firstly, there has been absolutely no 'little englander' style postings on this thread, all have been about Mark's possible visa issues. It doesn't matter if he is from Australia, America or Outer Mongolia, if his visa does not allow him to work here, then he is an illegal rider, just as Tyson Nelson was. I highly doubt that all the Commonwealth riders in the league are racing illegally is true, that would mean a major cock up on the part of pretty much every promoter in the league plus the BSPA and even that is unlikely IMO.

To describe the result last night, in the words of David Brent: "I think there's been a rape up there!"

Rain over night by the track, pretty grey at the moment, I'll keep things updated. Not going to this one as I have other plans, should be a good meeting though.

If you had signed Hart it would be exactly the same, he is at the top of the NL and doing well enough in the PL, does he really need a NL team spot? I agree with you though Greyhoundp, you aren't the Dudley manager and it isn't a Dudley issue, you are just a fan starting a thread