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Berwick Bullets 2021


Heedthebaw

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Congrats to the Bullets. Pre-season they looked a 2 man team and with Flint leaving midway it could have been disaster but unbeaten at home and useful points away and Crang coming in and scoring straight away puts them back top of the table. Nervy wait to see if Mildenhall can topple Kent at home also otherwise its Silverware.

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On 9/29/2021 at 9:02 AM, Sings4Speedway said:

Congrats to the Bullets. Pre-season they looked a 2 man team and with Flint leaving midway it could have been disaster but unbeaten at home and useful points away and Crang coming in and scoring straight away puts them back top of the table. Nervy wait to see if Mildenhall can topple Kent at home also otherwise its Silverware.

Close but no cigar

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The announcement this morning that Kyle Bickley will be back in 2022, not just as a member of the Bandits, but to captain the Bullets too, is great news for Berwick supporters -- and good news too, for everyone looking forward to another good year of NDL competition throughout the UK. 

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1 hour ago, crescent girl said:

The announcement this morning that Kyle Bickley will be back in 2022, not just as a member of the Bandits, but to captain the Bullets too, is great news for Berwick supporters -- and good news too, for everyone looking forward to another good year of NDL competition throughout the UK. 

I am sooooooo jealous. :( 

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Massive chunk of the points building (if the rules stay the same as last year) and assume most of the decisions just need to be rubber stamped as someone could table a no over 8 point rider rule and the Bullets get screwed. Im pleased to see the commitment to the league but fear the gulf in rider abilities could be bigger than ever this season.

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15 hours ago, Sings4Speedway said:

Massive chunk of the points building (if the rules stay the same as last year) and assume most of the decisions just need to be rubber stamped as someone could table a no over 8 point rider rule and the Bullets get screwed. Im pleased to see the commitment to the league but fear the gulf in rider abilities could be bigger than ever this season.

I’m hoping that they’ve finally realised that the points limit this season was ridiculously low and, even though Bickley will be one of the league’s top riders, there won’t be an influx of newbies for him to lap! Let’s be honest, there isn’t a host of 3.00 riders to flood the league at reserve this coming season anyway!

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4 hours ago, Islander15 said:

I’m hoping that they’ve finally realised that the points limit this season was ridiculously low and, even though Bickley will be one of the league’s top riders, there won’t be an influx of newbies for him to lap! Let’s be honest, there isn’t a host of 3.00 riders to flood the league at reserve this coming season anyway!

You are quite correct but i would like to see the limit held and reap whats been sown. It was clear that the issue would present itself and if its raised back to 39/40 it would almost be an admission of wrongdoing. Riders are now sat on inflated averages so if "progression is the key" then it should remain low and force riders through.

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1 hour ago, Bagpuss said:

So is the 'three league' thing no more, are we going to see one big division or has Bickley ruled himself out of a Premiership spot? Find it a bit odd he's signed up for another season in the NDL.

I see Kyle very much as a confidence rider and think he really needs to nail down a good CL season before thinking about PL places and winning week in week out in the NDL should help that.

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12 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said:

I see Kyle very much as a confidence rider and think he really needs to nail down a good CL season before thinking about PL places and winning week in week out in the NDL should help that.

Yep I get and respect that but there also comes a point where you have to step out of your comfort zone and push yourself to see how good you can be. 

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3 hours ago, Sings4Speedway said:

You are quite correct but i would like to see the limit held and reap whats been sown. It was clear that the issue would present itself and if its raised back to 39/40 it would almost be an admission of wrongdoing. Riders are now sat on inflated averages so if "progression is the key" then it should remain low and force riders through.

If you "increase" the limit to 39 or 40, you are weakening the league by a further 2 or 3 points. The league's average at the end of every season has to be 42 points (less a few 3-2's and 5-0's), 7 riders x 4 rides x 1.5 points per heat (6 points divided by 4 riders per heat). If you want to keep the league at the same standard next season as this, the limit has to be 42, anything lower weakens the league further, anything higher increases the standard. Its basic maths, but people, especially those who set the rules, don't seem to understand this.

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18 minutes ago, Bagpuss said:

Yep I get and respect that but there also comes a point where you have to step out of your comfort zone and push yourself to see how good you can be. 

I fully agree. I don't really know why Kyle hasn't been able to kick on like others around him. He has been raised from a young age to be a professional speedway rider, has secured astonishing sponsorship deals over the years and yet has been unable to unlock the talent he clearly possesses at a consistent higher level. I fear that unless he starts to burn bright soon he might burn out of love for the sport.

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2 minutes ago, OML said:

If you "increase" the limit to 39 or 40, you are weakening the league by a further 2 or 3 points. The league's average at the end of every season has to be 42 points (less a few 3-2's and 5-0's), 7 riders x 4 rides x 1.5 points per heat (6 points divided by 4 riders per heat). If you want to keep the league at the same standard next season as this, the limit has to be 42, anything lower weakens the league further, anything higher increases the standard. Its basic maths, but people, especially those who set the rules, don't seem to understand this.

In terms of weakening the product i am 100% in agreeance with you. I was highly against the reduced limit from the start as it was clear that lesser riders would appear, averages would be inflated and the product would ultimately become poorer (which of course is what the powers that be wanted as the NDL was a serious threat to the viability of the CL). 

What would be nice to see though is some actual consistency, if the limit was cut due a long term (poorly thought out) plan then at least stick with it and take accountability when it fails or admit that it was gotten very much wrong and back track. The constant yo-yoing on team building points limits does nothing for anyone except leave a few riders lumbered with inflated averages.

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19 minutes ago, OML said:

If you "increase" the limit to 39 or 40, you are weakening the league by a further 2 or 3 points. The league's average at the end of every season has to be 42 points (less a few 3-2's and 5-0's), 7 riders x 4 rides x 1.5 points per heat (6 points divided by 4 riders per heat). If you want to keep the league at the same standard next season as this, the limit has to be 42, anything lower weakens the league further, anything higher increases the standard. Its basic maths, but people, especially those who set the rules, don't seem to understand this.

That depends on how many teams in the league. 42 is the starting point for a league of the same size. Assuming riders can't be magiced out of nowhere then the average has to go down if the league expands, but can go up if it contracts.

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11 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said:

In terms of weakening the product i am 100% in agreeance with you. I was highly against the reduced limit from the start as it was clear that lesser riders would appear, averages would be inflated and the product would ultimately become poorer (which of course is what the powers that be wanted as the NDL was a serious threat to the viability of the CL). 

What would be nice to see though is some actual consistency, if the limit was cut due a long term (poorly thought out) plan then at least stick with it and take accountability when it fails or admit that it was gotten very much wrong and back track. The constant yo-yoing on team building points limits does nothing for anyone except leave a few riders lumbered with inflated averages.

The limit in every league should always be 42 by default, unless they have a reason to change it, such as wanting to weaken it, as in the case of the NL. By knocking it down to 36(?) They have achieved this, but to retain the league at that standard it needs to go back to 42 the following season. If they keep it at 36 for several seasons, they are weakening it further every year til it gets to the point where teams will be full of woblers. Then they'll wonder why people won't pay £12 to watch stand alone meetings anymore.

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9 minutes ago, OML said:

The limit in every league should always be 42 by default, unless they have a reason to change it, such as wanting to weaken it, as in the case of the NL. By knocking it down to 36(?) They have achieved this, but to retain the league at that standard it needs to go back to 42 the following season. If they keep it at 36 for several seasons, they are weakening it further every year til it gets to the point where teams will be full of woblers. Then they'll wonder why people won't pay £12 to watch stand alone meetings anymore.

Again in complete agreeance but that was the planned ethos of the league according to the powers that be. A massively reduced 35 point limit forcing teams to track new blood and pushing those at the higher end of the average scale up into the Rising Star spots that have been so kindly created for them (with all the pay restrictions that come with it).

The belief being that there will be a steady stream of riders progressing through the bulging youth ranks and all league ready each season ready to take on and learn from those who trod the path before them. 

The reality is already obvious that riders far from ready have been tracked this season whilst others have seen their averages rise far beyond expected levels due to lower levels of opposition and that will continue year on year with basically anyone with a bike getting team place. For those who can host double headers its feasible (if not ideal) but for standalone ventures its wildly unviable.

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22 minutes ago, arnieg said:

That depends on how many teams in the league. 42 is the starting point for a league of the same size. Assuming riders can't be magiced out of nowhere then the average has to go down if the league expands, but can go up if it contracts.

You are correct in as much as if there is a shortage of riders of a sufficient standard to fill the spaces, then that is a valid reason to adjust the average. But then the average should go back to 42, if possible, the following season. By putting it up for an over supply of riders, fine if all the teams can afford it, but it potentially  brings other problems with it, such as we're currently seeing with very little difference between the PL/CL

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