Heathens 2012

[Midland Robin]

Something else to consider before you fix riders with positions. The tac ride can now only be taken up to heat 12. Team managers may decide to use their second strongest rider in heat 12 probably more so away from home.

[21st century heathen]

21st century heathen i think there arguments for both ash at 5 or not i think he does well most of the time when under pressure the 4s and the amount off times he wore black/white hat spring to mind and as i ve said on here think its better he goes out knowing he has a weaker parnter and has to perform and do his job but hay just my opinion and its not my call

 

No problem mate. We're all opinionated otherwise we wouldn't bother posting on here.

 

I think Ash at #5. But all sorts of permutations available here. Just a question, not a suggestion, but what about Tom at #2 with Adam? James at #3 and Byron at #4. Too radical?

 

Not at all, read on for my view.

 

Something else to consider before you fix riders with positions. The tac ride can now only be taken up to heat 12. Team managers may decide to use their second strongest rider in heat 12 probably more so away from home.

 

This is certainly a consideration and basically means teams will once again most likely line up with the top 3 at 1,3 and 5 rather than one of them at 4 to cover heat 14.

 

--------------------------

 

I've long since said that teams should mix it up and try something a bit different to the accepted 'formula' for team line ups. I'm not sure who did it first but whoever was first to put a heat leader at 4 brought a breath of fresh air. It was something different and was a success on many an occasion.

 

One of my ideas was to try something with the number 2 position and have said in the past a stronger number 2 than the 5th in your averages would be an interesting experiment.

 

I expect a straightforward line up of:

 

1) Roynon

2) JWW

3) Bekker

4) Perry

5) Morris

6) Ritchings

7) ?

 

But I would like to see something a bit more forward thinking.

 

At home:

 

1) Roynon

2) Perry

3) JWW

4) Morris

5) Bekker

6) ?

7) Ritchings

 

My reasoning?

 

Roynon has to ride at 1.

 

Perry at 2 should be a strong partner for Roynon in heat 1 and a strong rider for heat 8. Getting off to a good start at home is important so that the rest of the team aren't immediately under pressure. Perry should be looking for a big improvement this season and that should include beating some number 1's on his home circuit.

 

JWW away from number 2 so avoiding a potentially confidence denting first ride. A relatively easier first ride should set him up for a solid night. He loses the generally accepted easier heat 8 but there's no guarantee your number 2 will win heat 8, particularly as he's 'only' (forgive the term) your 5th best rider. He can be tac sub'd from heat 12 if needs be, but hopefully that won't be an issue at home!

 

Morris at 4 to cover heat 14 and hopefully more often than not win the heat to see us home and dry if it's been a tight(ish) meeting. Also I feel that if riding with a partner is a weakness of his then he should be trying to forge a partnership with someone more experienced than a reserve. We've had some strong 3/4 partnerships in the past and I feel Morris could fill a part of that roll in the modern era for us. He really could prove a hell of a 'weapon' in the middle order this season. Anyone remember the job Pete Nahlin did for us in the middle of the team in the 90's?

 

Bekker at 5 because my personal preference, as I said before, is a more experienced rider to partner the reserve 3 times. It also gives us a bit more experience in heat 13 with him partnering Roynon. Hopefully we'll see some consistent sharp gating from him, especially in heat 13.

 

? at 6 mostly because I want Ritchings at 7. However, it's not a total sacrifice as it gives our 3-pointer the inside gate in heat 2.

 

Ritchings at 7 because it means his 2nd ride should be a relatively strong pairing with Bekker and then his 3rd ride is heat 8, again this should prove a strong pairing with Perry. His 4th ride will be heat 12 when the reserve may be partnering a tac ride in the worst case scenario of us having a nightmare.

 

Away from home I would change the line-up.

 

1) Roynon

2) JWW

3) Morris

4) Perry

5) Bekker

6) Ritchings

7) ?

 

The differences because:

 

Away from home you may be 'wasting' Perry at 2 when he may only score the same as JWW could but he should be stronger in the middle order than JWW would be. On balance the more traditional line-up with JWW at 2 would be the less risky option.

 

Morris at 3 for heat 12 when it's more likely away from home that you may look to use a late tac ride.

 

Perry at 4 is particularly as a stronger rider to cover heat 14 than JWW would be if they were the other way around, which gives us a more powerful end to the meeting.

 

Ritchings at 6 so that he has the generally more favourable inside gate in heat 2. This is more a factor away from home where the away reserves will probably be stronger. The hope being he pops out and we at least share the heat. He would ride twice with Bekker and once with Perry which should be useful too. Also he could take the extra ride in 14 in a reserve swap if needed.

 

On paper it makes us relatively weak in heat 8 but that's always a favoured heat for tac rides anyway.

 

Again on paper I'm very much favouring being strong at home. This is by design as I feel gaining maximum points at home is the right platform to build your season. Consider that maximum points at home and nothing away from home on 2012 would give us more points than we managed in 2011. Also, from a business point of view it's far more important to be strong at home. Through the dodgy spell (putting it mildly!) at home last season the crowd stuck behind the lads and turned up despite grumbling as we did so. But would the crowds levels be maintained if it became a regular problem? My experience, from being a regular at Monmore and Brandon over the years, is that crowds can dip somewhat significantly when a team has a poor home season. We need to build on our first two seasons and hopefully attract even more of the old guard, not see a few start to drift away.

[greyhoundp]

Seems that we have signed our final rider, and it will be announced tomorrow night, you know it does my head in when Teams do this. Why dont they just announce we have signed so and so rider, blah,blah,blah. Instead we get this announcement that it will be revealed in 2/3 days time as to who it is that we have signed.

[21st century heathen]

More hits for the website = more page views for advertisers.

 

Club's FB feed says 8am announcement.

[bigred]

Seems that we have signed our final rider, and it will be announced tomorrow night, you know it does my head in when Teams do this. Why dont they just announce we have signed so and so rider, blah,blah,blah. Instead we get this announcement that it will be revealed in 2/3 days time as to who it is that we have signed.

daniel greenwood !! ??

[greyhoundp]

Very rarely go to Club website, unless i want to check an official figure, there again maybe i am one of the exceptions.

[villiers210]

Its not only hits on the website that prosper from announcing the team in "dribs and drabs". The reason teams do it is simple - to gain maximum exposure in the press, on the radio etc etc. If we had announced our line up in one go 4 weeks ago, there would have been nothing further to report and the name of Dudley Heathens wouldnt have surfaced again in the media untill the start of the season. It's for everyones benefit really.

 

'Ommer 'Um

[Islander15]

Your final rider is confirmed & it is Dan Greenwood (BSPA press release). Got to be favorites for the title atm

[21st century heathen]

Very rarely go to Club website, unless i want to check an official figure, there again maybe i am one of the exceptions.

 

I don't use it on a daily basis so you're not alone.

 

Its not only hits on the website that prosper from announcing the team in "dribs and drabs". The reason teams do it is simple - to gain maximum exposure in the press, on the radio etc etc. If we had announced our line up in one go 4 weeks ago, there would have been nothing further to report and the name of Dudley Heathens wouldnt have surfaced again in the media untill the start of the season. It's for everyones benefit really.

 

'Ommer 'Um

 

Personally I think clubs miss a trick by taking this seemingly annually accepted approach. If it were me I would get all the riders signed up before Christmas (where possible - odd occasions may have stumbling blocks). I would announce all 7 Christmas Eve morning. Most people are about to have time off and will see friends and family more than most of the year, so plenty of time to have a chat about what they think of the team, and more time available for those that use forums, Facebook and/or Twitter. A week later, on New Years' Eve morning, announce your pricing for the forthcoming season. Hopefully this is before everyone spends their Christmas money as the sales haven't gotten into full swing yet.

 

At face value you could argue there is then nothing to say for 3 months before the NL season starts. Well, yes, if you don't think outside the box and take the same old tired approach. How much effort would it take for the club to collate career data and personal (to an extent) information on rider and post a rider profile on a weekly basis, which would be sent to local press in the hope that they print it too? Included in this should be some rider comments, even if it's just a few sound bites from some of the more shy and or younger riders (the club should be helping the lads with the off track stuff from a young age too anyway). Start that in the middle of January, and if you have a number 8 (which I think we, and every other club, should have) that takes you to the middle of March. Two weeks to go so pre-season thoughts from the Team Manager, followed by (or visa versa I s'pose) pre-season thoughts of the Promoter.

 

Your final rider is confirmed & it is Dan Greenwood (BSPA press release). Got to be favorites for the title atm

 

Welcome on board to Dan. I can't really comment on whether he's a good, bad or indifferent signing.

 

Our team is packed with potential average improvement. If that's realised we'll have had a much better overall season than 2011, but it's a little early to suggest we can go one better than 2010. There are an awful lot of blanks in the team line-ups at the moment. But of those named we look competitive. Stoke also look good to me.

[Main Man]

"Welcome on board to Dan. I can't really comment on whether he's a good, bad or indifferent signing. " ................

 

 

I can tell you --GOOD!!

Edited January 18, 2012 by Main Man

[21st century heathen]

Good enough for me!!

 

I retract my previous. We're gonna win everything.

[greyhoundp]

Great stuff, we finally got one rider that i hoped would sign for us, we seem to have a competitive Team right from 1 to 7, i wish all the riders the best for 2012, and especially our three new riders JWW, BB, and DG.

 

To be honest, things had to change after the disapointments of last season, our final points tally was just not good enough, and to finish 7th out of 10 teams,when at one time we were top, that really said it all, i applaud the management for taking the decisions that they have, sometimes its hard on riders, some more than others, but i would like to thank Armo, Richard Franklin, and Danny Stoneman for there efforts over the past season and more, and i wish them well in there efforts to find other Teams, if they do, and then come back and score well against us, I for one wont begrudge them that.

 

At the moment we have a competitive Team, but so do Stoke and i really fancy Mildenhalls line up, that is looking good at the moment, but i think we may have the edge over both of them down at the bottom end, and Royno for me, is the stand out NL rider, lets hope he can have an injury free 2012.

[JCookie]

Is this the Dan Greenwood that rode a few years ago and then retired?

[21st century heathen]

Correct. Former British U15 champ, took some time out, returned to racing last Sept and got the bug back. All the press release states regarding his time away was that he appeared lost to the sport when he quit for personal reasons in the winter of 2007/8.

[CrystalCastles]

Correct. Former British U15 champ, took some time out, returned to racing last Sept and got the bug back. All the press release states regarding his time away was that he appeared lost to the sport when he quit for personal reasons in the winter of 2007/8.

 

Class signing IMO was simply fantastic in his meetings for the Hornets end of season.

[21st century heathen]

Do you have his scores by any chance?

[Main Man]

Dan worked three jobs to raise enough to get a bike last year and get back on track and is totally self-financed. I have been talking to some potential sponsors for him but as yet nothing concrete. Anyone interested in sponsoring him can e-mail me : laurenceogers@blueyonder.co.uk

[CrystalCastles]

Im sure Main Man might be able to give you a more definitive list of meetings he rode in & his scores but from checking updates:

 

(both) @QM Vs Kings Lynn he scored 7+1(5) (i texted the updates so they best be right) and Vs Scunfield he scored 10+1(5) when Main Man texted results.

 

Im not 100% certain if he rode more meetings than that for the Hornets but he did ride for Birmingham and scored 3+1(5) at Stoke.

Edited January 18, 2012 by Feelthebuzz

[Main Man]

Im sure Main Man might be able to give you a more definitive list of meetings he rode in & his scores but from checking updates:

 

(both) @QM Vs Kings Lynn he scored 7+1(5) (i texted the updates so they best be right) and Vs Scunfield he scored 10+1(5) when Main Man texted results.

 

Im not 100% certain if he rode more meetings than that for the Hornets but he did ride for Birmingham and scored 3+1(5) at Stoke.

 

I have never texted results !!

 

Dan rode his first away match at Buxton and was beset by bike troubles (will check what he scored later) and at Belle Vue where he had an exclusion and a fall whilst challenging for the lead with his throttle cable was jamming and a lot of hard work in the pits kept him on track and I will look at his score there when I get home but I do remember , as I was team manager that night, he was unlucky not to get 9 or 10 points.

 

He was due to come out in ht 15 against Scunthorpe but the air fence was damaged beyond a quick repair and the race was not staged other wise he would have scored more but his paid 11 included a fall and remount to get a point from behind .

[21st century heathen]

Thanks both. The gist of it sounds very promising indeed, but I suspect the club will have to just keep on eye open for potential gremlins unless he can secure some solid backing.