Ben91

Clegg and Branford, while both only averaging just over three have actually averaged that figure rather than being below it and rounded up to three. Shows what you can do if you persist. Makes me laugh that some people are happy to watch riders who come in on an assessed seven point averages originally and drop three to four points off of them but won't give a Brit a chance on a three who will make a good effort at maintaining or bettering their assessed figure.

So the likes of Olly Greenwood, who has had an average over three is ineligible for a number seven spot too?

Might even wait til April if nobody breaks the tapes til then!

Put Konopka, Stichauer or Dilger in the NL and they wouldn't average any more than the likes of Morley, Branford etc. Reserves still play a big part if other riders are underperforming, if you line up with two three pointers then there's always the chance they'll both struggle and then you're buggered. There are enough riders for a two tiered reserve draft system, the bullet should have been bitten and it implemented with a 36.5 limit for top fives.

I don't see why someone can't work out what the draft riders EL averages are without the reserve races included. That would have been a sensible thing to have kept track of across the season, a shame nobody seemed to foresee this happening at the end of the year.

It seems like the light has been seen regarding the EL race format being rubbish and drawing riders' averages towards six a piece and they'll hopefully be reverting to the old format. The wording of the press release could be open to different interpretations, is someone like Adam Ellis on a four plus figure eligible to be a number seven because he is still eligible for the NL, and if so this seems to mean he'll start on a three point average? If the number seven has to be a three point rider then Ellis, along with Branford and Clegg who are just above three each may be casualties of the new system?

Two title winning teams since the Rockets' return to the Premier League in 2002 have to be applauded, we've had more success than a lot of teams have in the last ten years and seen riders such as Tai and Linus Sundstrom come through the club. Things had started to go stale though and many will see the dropping of Jason Doyle for Steve Boxall as a turning point, along with the rant on the mic that went with it. Hopefully the new broom being swept through will reinvigorate our speedway team and Kent will benefit from having Len's full attention. Time will tell.

There's absolutely no reason Kent couldn't be accommodated still, however it appears it's NL only for the Kings then.

The points limit is the same, having a NL rider at reserve rather than a Dilger/Davey/Maassen/Konopka won't make things any cheaper for fans but it is better for the sport in Britain. Imagine having to watch a British prospect improve across the year rather than a poor foreign import go through the motions in his 14th spell in the PL on a 'bargain' average.

The problem with the draft has been that reserves have been protected, riders aren't going to improve if they're only racing other draft riders and second strings, the majority of whom they race week in week out in the PL. Bringing Brits through is good but there was no need to change the race format to do so. Newman/Garrity etc are not good enough to be EL second strings yet, they should be starting at reserve again next year with the provision that the race format returns to the one used in the PL and NL still and once they get averages they move up the riding order if their averages dictate that they should. If they are replaced they must be replaced by another young Brit however much they are averaging at the time.

You can dislike something that your own promotion do/have done, if it was Russell saying it then it would be ironic perhaps.

Points scored at the start of the season are just as important as those scored at the end in the league when there are no play offs. Think it's doing Birmingham a disservice to say they only won the league because of the time Zach spent at reserve, especially when the Eagles have had Spiller at reserve for a spell too.

Expect to see Parkinson-Blackburn at Buxton, if the Brummies line up with him and Smith at reserve though then that's probably the best reserve pairing in the league for next season.

Yes, the basic product on track is great, the way it is served up isn't in the majority and that is what drives fans away. Of course it can, a speedway race can be spectacular, people don't get bored of the racing they get bored of the drawn out meetings, poor presentation and constant delays for no real reason. Why do riders need two minutes to get ready for something that takes less than a minute? As long as there are no legitimate hold ups or riders facing back to back rides then there should be a one minutes time allowance for riders to get to tapes as soon as those in the previous heat have left the track.

So would you happily pay £18 to watch NL speedway? That's more than £1 per minute of entertainment, that's a rip off. The world today isn't one which just accepts what they are told by the press or by people in authority. If people want to watch the best that is their prerogative and it is a completely understandable thought process, it's like having the choice between a burger and a steak, they may both satisfy your hunger but the steak is going to be the choice made by the majority. Again, try debating and not just shooting people down because they don't agree with your own ideas, ones that you are struggling to justify making here.

Good racing is important yes but people want to see the best. Why do Premier League football teams get better crowds than Conference League football teams when there are good matches in both leagues? Because the top stars are in the Premier League. Now with Speedway in Britain it's a little different but the better riders who do ride here ride in the EL however there are better riders in the world, why shouldn't we aspire to having them race in our top division? Top riders and good racing shouldn't be an either or scenario, stick four of the best riders in the world together on one track, a good track mind, and they will have a good race. Stick four equally skilled NL riders on the same track and they will also probably have a good race, albeit at a slower pace. The issue is disparity of talent on track half the time, why are there strung out races? Because there are differing abilities in each race and lets not kid ourselves and say that is just an issue in Britain, there will be strung out heats in Polish and Swedish meetings too. Why should we pay through the nose for second rate Speedway though? This is half the problem, there's too much of an 'any speedway is better than no speedway, take what you're given' attitude in the sport now. We don't want to see tracks close down but fans need to be treated with the respect they deserve and be given the best product available at the cheapest price possible for teams to viably run. PS: The forum is far more readable when it's used to debate properly and not just to stick the knife into people who don't agree with your viewpoint.

Speedway is Speedway, four riders, four laps. To implement anything like this would mean rule changes in every country that hosts the sport really, and why would the Poles change when the sport is doing well there? These ideas may work here as part of a meeting or an entertaining second half idea but ultimately they won't bring people through the gate. The sport just needs promoting, races over four laps are fine, they last long enough to be entertaining and not just a circular drag race, while they don't drag on and become boring. A beauty of Speedway which not many other motorsports have in my opinion is that you see the whole race in front of you when you are at the event, people pay stupid money to go to F1, Moto GP etc and just see the competitors whizz past them in the same spot 40-50 times. We have a great product being undersold basically.

You've answered your own point there, cost. However the answer to that again is to impose a pay scale for draft riders that all have to agree to if they want to be a part of the draft. Additionally each team should include at least one Brit in their 1-5.

Could always just pick them up from the away track before the meeting with proof of id. If all tracks offered in advance prices for all fans then they'd probably see more people through the doors.

Like the EL draft, if riders agree to bring a part of it they would have to agree to ride no matter where they were drafted. Do this and reducing the team limit by 6-7 points for the main team (1-5) doesn't actually dilute the product at all at the start of the season. Decent PL fare? Graversen, Konopka, Dilger, Maassen... Really? Riders given more chances than any of our riders are given and being pants, it's criminal, moves need to be made to improve the future British speedway, each team tracking two young/inexperienced reserves is a good start.

That's my favourite Fleetwood Mac album too.

Tickets for away meetings sold online and to be collected from your own track shop at a meeting before the away meeting they are for.

Does it really matter if the blokes name is Arthur or Martha? Reserve draft, two young/inexperienced British riders at reserve all season. No change to heat format needed. Points limit of 35-36 for 1-5. At least one British rider in each team's 1-5 at all times. Doubling up for British riders only. Foreign riders averages never go lower than their assessed figure only upwards once they surpass that starting average.

You shouldn't hold grudges, it's bad for the soul. Every post is a moan, I'd look past the end of your nose before you begin tarring others.

http://ryehouserockets.co/news.php?extend.1106 If he's not back for 2016 the comments here may well come back to bite Warren Scott's backside.