Ben91

Arnieg posted this on the Redcar thread when they signed Bukhave, thought it was quite interesting with regard to Karger.

The Bowen, Ayres and Shanes heatleader trio could be formiddible for the Kings. Clifton scored his average across the day and should only get better. Mason will be fine at Central Park once he gets into the swing of things too I'm sure. Very impressive points totals from the reserves too. The Kings have struggled with a long tail every season they've raced so far, that doesn't look to be the case this year on yesterday's showings and they've also retained a potent top end.

Three points away from home for Morley as our number seven is a good return I think, not knocking him by any means. It'll be a long season if we're accepting two points a night from Karger on tracks he's not been to before because that's pretty much every track he'll go to. I'd also put the OTA down as one of the easier ones for newcomers to British speedway to get to grips with.

Looks like Verge has kicked on, honestly never thought he would. If he can keep that up and Thomas can carry on in the same vein as yesterday then the Kings are going to take some stopping.

All the best to the injured Eagles, be a shame if Hughes is out for any period of time, was kicking on again last season at Rye, was expecting big things from him this year.

A positive result for the Rockets when you judge it just on the scoreline. Dig deeper and it's a different story IMO. Robbo's early season form has been very good, can we expect him to be banging in double figures every meeting home and away though? If he can that should be a bonus, not a necessity for us to keep meetings competitive. Second string scoring wasn't great, five from Lanham is about right probably but Kasper and Heeps should be doing better. We all know that Ben Morley has struggled on some away tracks in the past, but he won heat two and did his job last night. Where the match really could have been won, or at least some points, for us was the other reserve berth. I don't want to sound like I'm knocking Karger, I have no problem with him but as with Maassen we've made a lazy signing and it has already cost us match points. A decent, established rider in that spot could have had one of Kasper, Heeps and Morley's rides and scored a few points that would have seen us walk away with something from the match.

Hope there's a back up plan should something happen to Wajtknecht or Morley in the first meeting. The heat leaders could both go through the card, even if they do, can the rest of the team score the other 18 points between them to pick up the win? Priest should be scoring eight at least from five rides, is there ten points in the other three? I doubt it honestly. Think Mildenhall can let Morley and Wajtknecht run riot and still walk away with the win. Priest's the key man, he'll have to be in double figures too if the Raiders are to stand a chance.

Hopefully Karger's debut was just a one off, because if we've signed a duff then there's going to be a whole lot of pressure on Ben to carry his shortfall points wise, as well as anyone in the 1-5 who's having an off night.

Good to see that Davey isn't going to be the last rider for Edinburgh, would go completely against what the rule regarding number seven riders has been implemented to achieve.

Would assume as he's a part of the squad and not a guest that it is allowed. It'll be interesting to see what happens at a side that has a reserve move into the main team though, can he then be replaced by the number 8? That could cause issues because it's depriving a 'fast track' rider meetings for the sake of an overseas rider.

Better hope Karger and Kasper turn up or Ben Morley's going to be a busy boy. Not expecting anything from this meeting in terms of points.

Assume it'll be Banks and a guest for Branford on Monday then. Hopefully it's nothing too serious for Hunter.

Surely NBJ will be in the team and Huckenbeck the number 8 then?

Ultimately it is all conjecture, there are plenty of sides who would be improved by replacing one of their current riders with a Plymouth rider though. One positive result at home, as well as promising developments with the look of the stadium at Rye do not mean the team is suddenly one that will challenge for honours. One point from riders who have a combined average of over ten has to be a concern. While the Plymouth news has only just broken and it is indeed sad, savvy promoters will be looking at the riders that are now available and if they see a way to fit one in to improve their team they will make a change. If you want to win there cannot be any place for sentiment unfortunately, especially in speedway. You can't stick a loyal servant in the reserves or as a back up option like in football or rugby, the riders are in the first team so to speak for every meeting. We learned that the hard way by keeping hold of the likes of Boxall and Allen because they were in the team when we won a couple of league titles.

Missed out on a potentially world class rider in Lambert, could even make a case for saying NBJ has the potential to go that far, Holder would put bums on seats and certainly has GP potential. Success and loyalty very rarely go hand in hand, particularly in speedway. Branford will get a PL spot this season even if it's not at Rye and he will average more than Karger.

Holder and Branford for Kasper and Karger would make the team a lot better, not saying we should do it, but it's the truth.

Couldn't make it but a win over a decent looking Plymouth side is encouraging. Hopefully Robbo can keep up that kind of form going forward. One point from the Danes is a concern, Lykke has been around long enough to be doing better than that. Haven't seen Karger ride but it's imperative he scores to his average, if he carries on in the vein he started then there's a danger he's going to be another Maassen. Good scoring from Morley and Lanham, if Heeps can chip in with paid double figures every week he'll prove a very good signing.

You could have had Branford rather than duffman Castagna.

On paper (NL average) he is the best of the PL number seven riders this year. Has had a fair few goes at the PL, has to make it stick this year and I hope he does, would've benefitted from having an established name in the number six slot next to him though. Nielsen isn't too bad at Rye, tends to lose a lot of points due to bike troubles. Of course he wasn't in the best of form during his short time as a Rocket but he should be the reserve in the meeting picking up the most points. Looking for one of the second string riders to step up and be a real second heat leader this year, we're going to have some long nights if this doesn't happen IMO, one poor performance in the main body and a misfiring reserve and we could be on the wrong end of some hefty defeats home and away.

I make Plymouth favourites for this one. Potentially strong top three, will probably out score our top trio. Reserves will be key, need Morley to be on top of his game as I get the feeling he'll be carrying Karger this year.

Nobody 'discovers' a speedway rider, a lad gets on a bike, if he has enough potential someone will give him a team spot. There are some motorbike riders from other disciplines who are told they would do well at speedway and given a chance to have a go on a bike, if they do well they then get given a team spot by someone. I personally think the asset system is a joke, however if it is in place for the EL and PL then the NL should be allowed to use it too. Even if NL clubs were allowed assets there are no guarantees Zach would have chosen to be a Birmingham asset anyway.

That's good, the higher level of competition should have priority in all instances tbh.

The camber used to produce some good passing opportunities, be it Robbo coming off it to utilise the inside line or Frampton riding the high line round it and scraping the boards at the exit. Was always a handy excuse for riders/fans for bad performances at Rye though. Hopefully the track changes will see even more opportunities for good racing in the future.

At least you know he won't drop his average if he doesn't ride...

Will be the team he signed for first I'd imagine which was Brum I believe.