Ben91

Are you taking the mick?

My reasoning for not wanting/expecting to see riders has been backed up by explanations. I was expecting to see Hopwood as he is an asset. I still expect to see Chessell as he is also an asset. I wouldn't be averse to Benji Compton and/or Chris Mills leading the line. Both riders are a lot better than Priest and have achieved more in their careers meaning they would be able to give more guidance to their younger/less experienced team mates, also they would score more points on track. Going down the route of signing a rider such as Sarjeant, Greenwood or Branford would also be a mistake in my opinion as they will only be picking up experience to benefit other Premier League clubs, we have to remember the Raiders should be seen as a feeder side for the Rockets. Perhaps these lads would score more than Mills/Compton but the two older riders would be there to serve the purpose of passing on experience and making sure the Raiders are competitive in the league. I'd be happy to see us field a team that just reaches the minimum points limit and give 4/5 training school prospects a chance to compete in a full NL league campaign and hopefully one or two may eventually become established Rockets riders.

Not problems, sensible reasons. Big difference.

Maybe the whole team is not signed but some members are, Rye teams are usually announced in one go rather than drip fed to the fans. I believe that is the simple truth behind the lack of news so far. Drip feeding news across the winter keeps fans engaged however, something that our promotion have always seemed to struggle with.

Priest would be a poor signing, not going to score enough to take pressure off the lower order and he's never going to get any better. There's plenty of time to name the team. We're not the kind of club that announces that we're running and then pulls out last minute. Riders are probably signed up already and awaiting announcement.

Hopwood to Buxton, interesting move. Perhaps the Raiders are going to go down the route of signing a Greenwood/Branford.

No.

You'll only get a reduction for Rose, been more than three years since Worrall and Kerr achieved their first averages.

I have a feeling it is but I'd hope not as I agree it is awful and not a great first impression of the place. The crater at the entrance needs addressing urgently. After the recent rainfall it currently resembles a ford!

Entertaining rider on track though never fulfilled his initial promise. Probably wasn't helped by taking a year out in 2012. Sounds like a less desirable character off track to put it mildly. Think Robin can do a decent job for us, possibly put his average up to the 7 point mark if he gets to grips with Rye.

There's no rush at all, three months til the season starts and there's still plenty of riders to go around. Would be nice to have some news though!

I meant three pointers around him in the league as a whole, should have made myself clearer in the first post. I agree that he should have delivered by now for sure. Lot of question marks around him IMO and that's not usually a good omen.

I'd say he's nailed on to complete the Potters side, which looks pretty decent IMO. Definitely improved last season and can see him doing the same in 2015.

There are more three pointers around him though and given his experience he should be expected to do well against his completely raw counterparts.

Adam Ellis in place of Allen would leave 3.99.

Just falls into the same category of helping another team's rider develop and therefore is a bad idea IMO. Chris Mills may be an option as a number one, local and not fixed up with a PL side. A top 3 of him, Hopwood and Chessell would be competitive.

Been around a long while, looks a poor signing being totally honest. He's been around a long time and never progressed beyond third tier reserve appearances and second halves. A bad workman blames his tools and all that.

Harris is a better rider than Neale and will average more than him this season IMO. Will probably average more than Mogridge too for that matter.

Something which is highly unlikely to happen IMO. His best bet could well be to sign for the Raiders and take any Rockets reserve bookings which may well come his way. That being said I'd hope if the Rockets were short at reserve for any reason they'd either use a PL guest as they're entitled to for either reserve this year or give Danny Ayres a shot as we should be looking towards him for a PL reserve berth in 2016 IMO.

Don't think we'll struggle to field a team above the minimum without having to use someone else's asset/helping to develop a rider for another club tbh. If his performances for Peterborough at Rye turned out to be match winners and he was racing at Rye regularly as a Raider then yes it would be better to not have him. The Raiders are our second team and about development of our own riders not in the league to win at all costs. I could be wrong but saw that Benji was selling some kit on Facebook as he was taking a break. Would take him as the Raiders number one, not a Rye asset granted but don't think he'll progress much further in the sport and it would be good to have one experienced head in the line up.

Compton taking some time out I heard.

I doubt we'll ever see Bunyan as a Rye rider at any level again after last season. Can't see us using Greenwood, would like to think, however it probably wasn't the case, we made an offer for him to race as a Rocket again this season and assuming that if we did he has turned us down. A cracking prospect but why help develop a rider for another club to prosper? We'll have away meetings at Berwick and Workington on Saturday nights, they will more than likely be filled with Raiders meetings. Then expect a few other Saturday night race nights when the Rockets don't have a home meeting too. Bank Holiday Monday double headers are to return too.

Cheers Jayne, rules Luke out for certain then. Considering he's riding for Coventry in the EL and Glasgow in the PL I doubt he'd want to sandwich a Saturday night at Rye between to two. Plus he's not our asset and we wouldn't see any long term benefit from using him so I highly doubt it.

I was under that impression however Len has stated in the press he intends to use Luke, granted Andrew is in sole control of the Raiders now so may have his own plans. Haven't seen anything to suggest he will be allowed to obviously but then getting information about rule changes etc is usually harder than drawing blood from a stone.

Can see Chessell as a Rye asset and I believe Hopwood is a Rye asset too for that matter. Not sure what the Bowen situation is but if he can ride then we may see a top three of Bowen, Hopwood and Chessell with 4 training school graduates taking the remaining slots. Watts and Sheppard seem likely inclusions.