Both Birmingham & Cradley Riding N L At Perry Barr In 2015

[Mjolnir]

Brilliant news for both clubs and for British speedway! NL will definitely be even more appealing next season, and I've already been enjoying it since Kent opened.

[21st century heathen]

I'm disappointed that the opportunity for Cradley to progress up to the PL or even the EL has gone but delighted that we have a team to support in 2015 and the fact that the Brummies come to tapes too makes a slightly bitter pill a lot easier to swallow. The idea of starting with a challenge v Brummies is a good one but I'd go with a single meeting rather than a two-legged affair (as we have the NL Sheild to defend early season) and then crack on with league action as soon as possible.

 

With regard to team strengths and riders I do feel that to a large extent the example of dropping the points limit more or less controlling overall team strengths is pretty accurate. But I do feel 36 is a tad low. 38 could be do-able with a tweak to the rules regarding PL average and eligibility to ride in the NL too. Currently it's under 4 PL (apart from the exception of those without a team place in the PL etc). As things stand the NL will lose Jacobs, Nielsen and Rose due to this rule. The like of Mills, Schramm and Bowen become available should they be interested in NL racing. Also, Luke Crang will be back from long term injury. So in terms of number of riders it's more or less evened out.

 

But with more teams joining and a need for top end riders, without opening the floodgates, I propose the maximum PL average be raised to 4.50. This is not a dramatic change in terms of rider ability but will make available Jacobs, Morris, Nielsen, Hall and Rose in addition to Mills, Schramm and Bowen. Add to these the fact that Cradley, Coventry, Mildenhall, King's Lynn and Kent will have to slash their team strength and plenty of good riders will be available to spread around.

 

Thoughts?

[Islander15]

I'm disappointed that the opportunity for Cradley to progress up to the PL or even the EL has gone but delighted that we have a team to support in 2015 and the fact that the Brummies come to tapes too makes a slightly bitter pill a lot easier to swallow. The idea of starting with a challenge v Brummies is a good one but I'd go with a single meeting rather than a two-legged affair (as we have the NL Sheild to defend early season) and then crack on with league action as soon as possible.

 

With regard to team strengths and riders I do feel that to a large extent the example of dropping the points limit more or less controlling overall team strengths is pretty accurate. But I do feel 36 is a tad low. 38 could be do-able with a tweak to the rules regarding PL average and eligibility to ride in the NL too. Currently it's under 4 PL (apart from the exception of those without a team place in the PL etc). As things stand the NL will lose Jacobs, Nielsen and Rose due to this rule. The like of Mills, Schramm and Bowen become available should they be interested in NL racing. Also, Luke Crang will be back from long term injury. So in terms of number of riders it's more or less evened out.

 

But with more teams joining and a need for top end riders, without opening the floodgates, I propose the maximum PL average be raised to 4.50. This is not a dramatic change in terms of rider ability but will make available Jacobs, Morris, Nielsen, Hall and Rose in addition to Mills, Schramm and Bowen. Add to these the fact that Cradley, Coventry, Mildenhall, King's Lynn and Kent will have to slash their team strength and plenty of good riders will be available to spread around.

 

Thoughts?

I agree that as has been previously mentioned, dropping the points limit effectively does the job of putting 3.00 men in teams.

 

If we have 11 or 12 teams I think 36 would work as a limit but I wonder if fans would be tempted not to come back as for several teams their team will look a lot weaker on paper than the one a few months ago. I think the limit should have been 38 this year though, so 38 with another 2 or 3 teams might be a tad high.

 

If it's 38, I think it's worth looking at raising the PL average also. But 21st, at the current 4.00 I can only see Bowen doing NL if it's at Rye, I doubt Mills will ride in 2 leagues but he doesn't look a cert for a Pl spot & Schramm has retired. But if you raise it I'd make it 5.00 in line with the 'if you join a team midseason' rule and then we can add Ellis and Starke to the list you've mentioned and maybe say that riders can only ride NL for 2 years if their average is between 4.00 and 5.00. At the end of the day, Morris, Rose, Jacobs and Co are only going to get better by riding more and I think it keeps that quality standard of rider to get the fans through the NL door!