Ben91

Jake Knight has had more breaks than Jimmy White I think.

That team looks pretty solid tbh. The Worralls are heatleaders as far as the Premiership goes, this isn't the EL anymore. Look at Swindon, they're likely to have Ellis/Bellego as one of their heatleaders and top second string. Their lower order will be similar to one containing Jacobs, Bewley and Williamson too. Personally think your team will be Cook, Fricke, Worrall, Worrall, Jacobs, Bewley, Williamson.

Of the number one riders announced so far only Doyle is head and shoulders a over any of our riders and his average is four points more expensive, not worth it for what you sacrifice in the lower order. Lindgren and Andersen can certainly be beaten by Harris, Nicholls and Eddie in big heats, so talk of us being weak at the business end of meetings is codswallop as far as I'm concerned. Branford's signing is very important in my opinion, he was averaging six plus in the PL last year but comes in on a 4.6 average. I'm not sure who we'd go for as his partner though, a JPB/Hume/Smith would see us a point under the limit overall.

All action style = he falls off too much. Think Berwick is a track that will suit him, always thought he'd become a NL heatleader at Rye if he stayed on the bike a bit more often and seems to have kicked on a bit this year. Believe he is a Rye asset still so it'll be interesting to see how he gets on in the Championship at Berwick.

Was stated that the top five have been signed and will be announced this week so it won't be Branford tomorrow. Kennett would be the icing on the cake as far as the top five goes.

I think most of the negative comments on here are from fans of other teams.

Speaking of fish, hopefully the fish and chips will be back to its former high standard next year.

Personally think that the announcements just got the new signings out of the way first and rightly so, don't think it's being done in average order. I want us to sign Eddie again, I wanted us to sign Robbo again too but if they were the first two names announced it would have killed the buzz around the drip feeding of names. We got our two big names in first, people are hooked by the release of names each morning. Watt's signing looks better knowing he is going to be at least third, probably fourth in the averages. Should tomorrow's name be Kennett it is, as I've said above the icing on the cake and completes an impressive top five.

Especially as his average is 9.22. Don't think Chris will have a PL ride, too hefty an average for teams to cope with and still put a good side together.

I wonder how the relationship is between the promotion and Nicolai Klindt after he signed for the Rockets for 2016 and then pulled out to take an opportunity with Leicester in the EL. Could see something along the lines of 1. Kennett 2. Robson 3. Harris 4. Watt 5. Nicholls 6. 2 pointer (Hume/Bacon/JPB/Smith) 7. Klindt While not amazing at reserve it certainly wouldn't be the weakest reserve pairing I reckon. Negatives of Klindt are that he seems to be a gater but he was Leicester's number one in the EL and knows the tracks we'll be visiting well. I'd like to see Rob Branford back but he'd leave us having to find a decent three pointer, tbh there aren't any out there so we may as well go with a two pointer and a rider like Klindt in the last slot.

Looks like it's going to be long year for Swindon.

Pretty sure Kennett will be staying at Rye and we'll just have to cope with a weak reserve pair all year.

Surely Bailey will get his 2.5% British reduction, would mean he starts on a two. I like Scunthorpe, it's always good to see them do well, I don't think this team will be one that brings success though. Klindt and Davies instead of Wallner and Wilko and the team would have looked a lot better imo, providing Bailey got his reduction.

Good to see Robbo back, he had a renaissance last year. I don't expect him to maintain a seven point average but he'll do a good job at second string. Looks like that does rule out Schlein/Jorgensen then, unless Eddie isn't coming back which I can't imagine being the case. Looking across to the Swindon team so far (our first round opponents in the cup) and I'm much happier with what we've got so far.

We have to remember it isn't going to be anything like the EL though. Rye will be an exception, not a rule by putting out a top five that could have been seen in the EL in recent times. Most clubs won't be tracking more than one, or two at a push, riders that rode EL only last year I'd imagine. It is going to be PL standard riders, against whom Robbo managed to average seven points across the season last year. If a seven pointer (Robbo/Schlein/Jorgensen) along with Kennett complete our top five then we're going to be seriously short of points at reserve and then end up tracking a similar pair of reserves to those that have been riding EDRs the last few years, if not weaker. The 50 point limit means most riders will drop their averages, the teams that do well will, rather than increasing total team average, probably remain around the 50 point total.

I'm pleased with the way the promotion are handling the announcements. If Watt had been first up it would have been somewhat disappointing, but knowing he will probably be a second string (Kennett must be a part of the team) shows how good his signing is in the context of team building so far. I'd expect Kennett's return to be the icing on the cake come Friday. As for tomorrow, I have the feeling it's going to be Schlein. Perhaps the Jorgensen rumour was just a rumour after all. Not that I'd be disappointed if it is Schlein. If that turns out to be right we could see every member of the top five wearing the number one on his back at some point of the campaign. That would leave 7.55 for the reserves. If we have a two pointer then we have up to 5.55 to sign our top reserve, there's nobody better for the role than Branford however between Branford's 4.6 and the 5.55 left realistically, leaving us with 2.95.

Could but shouldn't. Not a bad move as a second string signing Watt. Kennett and Schlein to come I reckon, no room for Robbo unfortunately by the looks of things.

That's the exception not the rule afaik, and he was a lot closer to home.

Back under your bridge, Robson averaged almost a point more than Newman last season. People forget we have had Davey Watt ride for us before I think. Sometimes from the outside he seems to have meetings where he just can't be bothered, Robbo on the other hand is a true team man. I'm not against us signing Watt btw, just trying to put some perspective on why people aren't going wild over him potentially signing.

My only worry is that it's been announced the top five are wrapped up but reserves haven't been signed yet. One thing I would fault the new promotion on from a team building standpoint with both the Raiders and Rockets in both of their seasons in charge is that the reserves have not been good enough, at least one strong reserve should always be included.

I'd be surprised to see Bridger last the year. Odd signing but hope it works out for the Bandits, always enjoy my trips to Shielfield, will try make one in 2017 even with no Rockets visit.

7.09, if Kennett is retained then I can see Robbo's average being too high to fit, especially if the Jorgensen rumours are true. It's all been quiet on the Robbo front, NBJ too for that matter, despite a number of fans wanting both back. With rumours of Jorgensen, Schlein and even Watt it's obvious we can't have all of them.

Good to see Robbo go a whole year injury free. If we can have him back next season I'd have no problem with it at all but he could be a victim of the numbers.

I don't think age is of any importance, we're potentially building what would have been a solid enough side in the EL in a league that is a slightly stronger PL. Watt wouldn't be on my shopping list personally but if he did sign on I wouldn't look at it as a bad move. Schlein's name has been mentioned as has Jorgensen's, I'd be happy with either of those. I'm hoping that we don't sign Morley, he has improved year on year and is pretty loyal to Rye I'd imagine, but he has no chance of maintaining his average in this division IMO. We'd be better served either having Rob as our lowest averaged rider or signing a two pointer to give us more scope for the rest of the main team/final reserve. On his average I suspect Morley won't be short of Championship offers, if he can go and become a second string in that league at a different track to Rye then he could be in with a shot of a reserve berth here in 2018.

I'd rather a two pointer and a stronger rider in the 1-5 as opposed to Morley and NBJ. Branford would be the 7th averaged rider in an ideal world.