Should Tai Woffinden Ride For Team Gb ?

[BWitcher]

Did i say world cup?..I was referring to the interview he gave at last years British Final.

 

Ah, he wasn't bothered in that meeting either was he.

 

Remind me who won again?

[ColinMills]

like or dislike Tai, utter madness thread..would nicholls of offered his services if Tai wasn't around?

[Sidney the robin]

Are people in the speedway world worried about Nigel Pearson and his feelings on Tai and his decisions he has made regarding his future.? Think i am right in thinking that Rossiter said that he totally understood where Woffinden was coming from on his decision.

[Guest]

Are people in the speedway world worried about Nigel Pearson and his feelings on Tai and his decisions he has made regarding his future.? Think i am right in thinking that Rossiter said that he totally understood where Woffinden was coming from on his decision.

 

Fair dinkum. cobber!

[JC!]

I see Wuffy 'liked' a tweet made by Sam Masters that said '3 Aussies in the final' during yesterday's GP. Doesn't always help himself.

Edited May 1, 2016 by JC!

[Terry]

I see Wuffy 'liked' a tweet made by Sam Masters that said '3 Aussies in the final' during yesterday's GP. Doesn't always help himself.

 

I think we all know that he's a Brit who regards himself as Australian, no matter what he says.

[Shale Searcher]

I see Wuffy 'liked' a tweet made by Sam Masters that said '3 Aussies in the final' during yesterday's GP. Doesn't always help himself.

 

Yea, really gone off Woffy, getting far above his station as me mum used to say.... Gone from a likeable and talented chap, to well, not sure the words are suitable for a forum, so i'll use the term "jumped up, arrogant little so and so"!!

[salty]

I see Wuffy 'liked' a tweet made by Sam Masters that said '3 Aussies in the final' during yesterday's GP. Doesn't always help himself.

Don't know if anyone else noticed but in the interview on BT before last night's GP, presumably in Tai's house, there was a boomerang prominently displayed on the wall. Absolute disgrace. I think he should be made to undertake an Aussie type version of the "infamous" Tebbit cricket test.

[Sir Sidney]

Blimey. I've got a boomerang in my house as well.Does that make me an Aussie or just show that I like Australia?

[JC!]

Don't know if anyone else noticed but in the interview on BT before last night's GP, presumably in Tai's house, there was a boomerang prominently displayed on the wall. Absolute disgrace. I think he should be made to undertake an Aussie type version of the "infamous" Tebbit cricket test.

Perhaps you should re-read the post you quoted. My only point was that he doesn't always help himself.

[Vince]

He's British that's a fact, whether he sees the country he spent the majority of his life in as home is completely immaterial.

 

He's qualified to ride for GB for which we should be very grateful as he's head and shoulders above anybody else who qualifies at this time. Not only that he's highly motivated to win and has the knowledge and drive to help the rest of the team do better so makes the perfect captain.

 

I'm British and like many other countries, there's even some I could quite happily live in but I'd still be British.

 

To me he seems less arrogant and more likeable since his success than he was in his younger days and there aren't many World class sportsmen who aren't exceedingly confident and who can come across as arrogant.

[BL65]

I believe this thread began with a question of whether or not Tai should be selected to ride for GB in view of his absence from British team racing and the British Championship. Interestingly, in all the years that Barry Briggs, Ivan Mauger and Ronnie Moore did not return to compete in the New Zealand domestic season or national championship there were no calls for them to be barred from representing their country. We can ignore the fact that they also represented GB for a number of years as speedway has always had odd rules such as the one that permitted Commonwealth riders to represent GB. Equally, there have been numerous occasions when Australian riders based in this country did not return home for their country's domestic season and championships.

 

In other sports there are many examples of players moving abroad but still being selected for their national team. Football is a prime example, with Gareth Bale of Wales currently playing in Spain, probably half of the Premier League players being foreign internationals and looking back over the years we had Jimmy Greaves playing in Italy, Kevin Keegan in Germany and Gary Lineker playing in Spain. There was never a call for them to be barred from representing their country.

 

I would prefer to see Tai and other top riders competing in a strong league set-up in Britain, but the fact is our Elite League is no longer an attractive proposition for a large number of them, financially or logistically. It is disappointing that Tai has chosen not to participate in the British Championship but he has given his reasons and they should be accepted.

[orion]

I believe this thread began with a question of whether or not Tai should be selected to ride for GB in view of his absence from British team racing and the British Championship. Interestingly, in all the years that Barry Briggs, Ivan Mauger and Ronnie Moore did not return to compete in the New Zealand domestic season or national championship there were no calls for them to be barred from representing their country. We can ignore the fact that they also represented GB for a number of years as speedway has always had odd rules such as the one that permitted Commonwealth riders to represent GB. Equally, there have been numerous occasions when Australian riders based in this country did not return home for their country's domestic season and championships.

 

In other sports there are many examples of players moving abroad but still being selected for their national team. Football is a prime example, with Gareth Bale of Wales currently playing in Spain, probably half of the Premier League players being foreign internationals and looking back over the years we had Jimmy Greaves playing in Italy, Kevin Keegan in Germany and Gary Lineker playing in Spain. There was never a call for them to be barred from representing their country.

 

I would prefer to see Tai and other top riders competing in a strong league set-up in Britain, but the fact is our Elite League is no longer an attractive proposition for a large number of them, financially or logistically. It is disappointing that Tai has chosen not to participate in the British Championship but he has given his reasons and they should be accepted.

Football is a poor example as you can only play for one club and if was the same in speedway no one would have a problem ....as I said before what top speedway rider does not ride in his own league bar Tai ?

 

I see from it from both ways Tai is looking after number 1 is terms or money and trying to be world champion but at the same time the sport in the uk is falling apart (not his fault of course ) and badly needs there World Champion to ride in it's league ...I wish he could see that

[LunnasPerm]

Of course he should. He has a British passport and he is the world champion.

[Sidney the robin]

Football is a poor example as you can only play for one club and if was the same in speedway no one would have a problem ....as I said before what top speedway rider does not ride in his own league bar Tai ?

 

I see from it from both ways Tai is looking after number 1 is terms or money and trying to be world champion but at the same time the sport in the uk is falling apart (not his fault of course ) and badly needs there World Champion to ride in it's league ...I wish he could see that

Some of us me included have excepted that Britain now is a after thought for most a hindrance for most.As for looking after no1 everyone else in the world has to do that nobody else will do it for you.Does it make a lot of difference Tai riding in Britain NO for me maybe a couple of hundred on the gate no real deal for me his life his choice.

[OveFundinFan]

Of course he should ride for Britain.

[BL65]

Some of us me included have excepted that Britain now is a after thought for most a hindrance for most.As for looking after no1 everyone else in the world has to do that nobody else will do it for you.Does it make a lot of difference Tai riding in Britain NO for me maybe a couple of hundred on the gate no real deal for me his life his choice.

The appearance of the World Champion used to be a big attraction in the days when the champion was rarely beaten. Examples of riders with league averages of around 11.00, or more, in the pre-Grand Prix era included Ove Fundin, Barry Briggs, Ivan Mauger, Ole Olsen, Anders Michanek, Peter Collins, Michael Lee, Bruce Penhall, Erik Gundersen and Hans Nielsen. These champions averaged around 3 wins and a second place for every meeting where they took 4 rides - on some occasions these riders achieved 11.5+ averages, showing how hard they were to beat. When Tai last rode for Wolverhampton in 2014, in 25 official matches he averaged 7.73, that is more or less equivalent to finishing second on average for every ride he took. It could be argued that standards are different now to the days when the other riders mentioned were competing, but I think they are lower overall now (and I accept that the race formula is also different), so if it came to a question of whether the current World Champion would put numbers on the gate I would say possibly a few, but certainly not the hundreds extra who would have turned up to see the near-unbeatables in their day.

[customhouseregular]

Good post BL65.

[orion]

The appearance of the World Champion used to be a big attraction in the days when the champion was rarely beaten. Examples of riders with league averages of around 11.00, or more, in the pre-Grand Prix era included Ove Fundin, Barry Briggs, Ivan Mauger, Ole Olsen, Anders Michanek, Peter Collins, Michael Lee, Bruce Penhall, Erik Gundersen and Hans Nielsen. These champions averaged around 3 wins and a second place for every meeting where they took 4 rides - on some occasions these riders achieved 11.5+ averages, showing how hard they were to beat. When Tai last rode for Wolverhampton in 2014, in 25 official matches he averaged 7.73, that is more or less equivalent to finishing second on average for every ride he took. It could be argued that standards are different now to the days when the other riders mentioned were competing, but I think they are lower overall now (and I accept that the race formula is also different), so if it came to a question of whether the current World Champion would put numbers on the gate I would say possibly a few, but certainly not the hundreds extra who would have turned up to see the near-unbeatables in their day.

Surely it's all relative to what crowds were then and what they are not ..todays 200 was 1000 in the golden days ...to me a British World champion is a big draw ,..

Some of us me included have excepted that Britain now is a after thought for most a hindrance for most.As for looking after no1 everyone else in the world has to do that nobody else will do it for you.Does it make a lot of difference Tai riding in Britain NO for me maybe a couple of hundred on the gate no real deal for me his life his choice.

200 is a massive deal I would expect in terms of breaking even .

[LunnasPerm]

That's a very good and very interesting point raised regarding Woffinden's average at Wolverhampton in comparison to past world champions, such as Hans Nielsen.

 

Coincidently, since I returned to the sport, I've noticed that the heat leaders aren't as dominant as they once were. In heat one during the Glasgow versus Edinburgh fixture, Nike Lunna, Tigers' number two, was leading Masters for three laps until Etheridge caused a stoppage. Lawson was nowhere in sight and I specifically remember watching a Sky meeting last summer, Peterborough versus Glasgow, and Nick Morris, Tigers' number one at the time, came dead last in the first heat.