Ben91

There are rules to be followed. Guests are horrible, as are many other rules but nevertheless they're there to be followed. Asset or not Woffinden riding for Wolves would have been wrong. That's the long and short of it as far as I'm concerned.

No. There isn't a country without a league system where the sport thrives. It'd be no different here, just another nail in the coffin.

Lack of communication from the club regarding whether this is happening or not is poor. There'll have been no speedway at Rye for over a month by the time it rolls around, if indeed it does. Just another part of a disjointed season of racing at Rye. A Raiders side is needed for next year to keep the fixtures coming regularly.

Knight's rightly banned but it being just for home meetings is a strange one. Not turning up for a meeting is basically withholding his services so it should be a 28 day ban.

So it's going to be Leicester v Ipswich or Sheffield most likely, both teams have two Leicester riders in their line-ups. Any danger of clarification over who rides for what team?

Let's not let facts get in the way of a good argument though.

It doesn't. The nature of Speedway here is that teams ride in the league they can (at least try to) sustain racing in. With leagues built to differing strengths then it is unlikely that a second tier team would actually win their two legged play-off. So basically it's no more than two token meetings. If there was straight up and down relegation then fine, there's no reason there shouldn't be if promotion and relegation are to be persisted with but then that should also encompass the standalone NL sides really. As a Rye fan, Lakeside in the top flight too gives us a local derby which is fine by me.

Lambert isn't 20 yet let's not forget that. He's shown improvement year on year and he has had the weight of being his local club's number one on his shoulders recently. People need to stop comparing him to Michael Lee, Terry Betts and every other rider under the sun that's come before him. He's his own rider. If he can improve his starts he'll kick on another level. I'd happily take him at Rye House on his current average. It's more than likely only going to go up from there.

Plenty of riders improve at the end of the season to ensure employment for the following year then revert to type. He's not the sort of rider we should be looking at if we want to win things.

That's lucky, we wouldn't want another blow off!

How does the wind compare to the wind when this was originally called off?

Bowen's clashes with Boxall and Roynon should be worth the entrance fee alone for this.

One meeting, shouldn't be signing riders off the back of that. Still only averaged five in the second tier.

More importantly nowhere near good enough too.

Etheridge, seriously?

Fitting an out and out number one with Nicholls, Harris and KK would be unlikely and/or would leave the tail end very weak which isn't good. Drop one of Harris/Nicholls and bring in Lambert and Sundstrom, one or both could end up putting a point or more on their current averages. Perks' average dropped when he was at Wolves. I wouldn't say he's any better than Morley atm. Personally I'd swerve both and use a two pointer (Hume, Jenkins, Thomas etc, there's plenty about). Kennett was averaging over 10 at home, and he won't average three away again next season. If bridges haven't been burnt when he was dropped he's a no brainer on his average.

Not suggesting we sign Luke again, just pointing out the similarities between him and Morley. Indeed. All seems far from rosey at Kings Lynn and I'm sure we'd have the money to bring him in. He's good at Rye (track record holder). The top five I posted would be formidable at home and very handy away. Could swap Nicholls for Bomber but I personally prefer Scotty.

As a two point man Morley would be fine, but he is north of three and was when we signed him. Good at home, will struggle away. Similar type of rider to Luke Bowen (albeit not as good - awaits backlash).

On a six point average he is still more likely to put points on than drop them. Especially if he starts as a second string.

I'd have reservations, but on a six point average he'd be well worth the gamble as a second string. Seems to get on well with the Rye track too. Averaged over 10 at home, that from a second string would be ideal.

1. Nicholls 2. R. Lambert 3. Kennett 4. Kasprzak 5. Sundstrom 6. NBJ 7. 2 pointer Fits as per the last set of green sheets which are going to fluctuate a little bit. Using NBJ's last EL average.

Would have been a massive gatecrash if we had made the play-offs. KK becoming available and signing meant we didn't finish near the bottom. The promotion have shown they're not afraid to make changes in the hunt for success. On to next year. Linus Sundstrom top of the shopping list please.

Morley's signing was nothing to do with the Kennett/Perks team change. So the justification behind that wasn't because we needed to do better away from home it was a necessity because Branford was injured and we wanted to bring KK in. Sedgmen has been bad all season, dropped by Belle Vue and Ipswich also tried to drop him. He had one meeting for us and wasn't great in that. If you have the chance to sign Kasprzak and save your season then you take it. I said Watt was a gamble. But the justification for making it was there. Personally I think we should have gone for Schlein instead but that's water under the bridge. Watt was clearly not at the races and was swiftly replaced. They won't be hailed as geniuses by me because it is clearly luck, that's beside the point though. Sometimes you need a bit of luck. KK fell in our laps and it could secure us the league title. Had we stuck with Sedgmen we'd probably be heading for a relegation play-off (if they're even still happening). Hopefully bridges with Kennett haven't been burned. If he is on the right average next year (sub six) then he'd be an ideal second string for us. Had he been kept though his average wouldn't have been attractive for next year. The rules are the rules and you have to use them to your advantage when you can. I'd prefer to see a team built at the start of the season and stick together. How do you solve that? Get rid of play-offs. Then the team who finish top will win the league and there wouldn't be a ridiculous situation in which a mid-table side can finish as champions. I'll still celebrate if we win the league though.

Be that as it may, Harris was declared in the Rye House team from day one. And why, as a Rye fan should I not be bothered about him riding for a team that will allow their riders to miss meetings to ride in Poland but want Harris even though the situation in which Holder was released for meetings is the same. Holder was allowed to ride for Torun depending on how they did in the league, Rye House could miss out on the play-offs from Bomber's lost points tonight. What's the difference?

I think once the move to bring KK in for Sedgmen was made then Morley was the only option to replace the injured Rob Branford. Morley for Perks was not a straight swap. Barker and Sedgmen for Kennett and Perks was a strange decision. Barker seemingly picked up on the strength of one TV meeting at Belle Vue. It should have made us stronger at reserve and stronger away but it didn't. KK's don't come along on five point averages every year and it was a stroke of luck that it happened and indeed that he looks happy at Rye. Kennett was never going to be a number one in the top league and was a victim of the averages not changing for a fair while lumbering him with the number one race jacket. I hope the bridges have not been burned with him because he could be on an attractive average as a second string next year. Sedgmen was bad, to replace him with a former world number two is hardly mystifying for me. This is sport and to win you have to be ruthless sometimes. Watt was a gamble perhaps. Was it inept? Not at all, he had a good Australian Championship and if it had paid off would have been seen as a masterstroke. It didn't and he was quickly replaced. I think some of the decisions made this year have been strange of course, but if we win the league we can't complain too much because that's the name of the game. All I hope for next year is more consistent meetings at home, well across the whole league.