Ipswich 2023

[blue witch]

ES 10.14

KR 4.00

RD 6.83

ZC 4.81

JD 9.21

DH 4.00

DT - RS

Thought Zach Cook looked very good at Foxhall this year and Ryan Douglas as well. I do think they will have Erik in the team as why bother keeping him and his average to drop to not have him next year. 

[Baldyman]

22 minutes ago, Arch Stanton said:

Quite right. Highly rated but he’s been awful which just shows you it’s always a risk. To be fair to him though he hasn’t been here long so a bit harsh to judge. 

We have the best young Aussie,,, hardly been a success either 

[GeneralMelchett]

2 hours ago, Arch Stanton said:

38.7 currently so under this years rules, your team is doable and just shows you can build a very good side by retaining the top two. You could also replace Douglas with Ellis giving an extra point, move Thompson to rising star and then find a 4 pointer at 6. There’ll be plenty of options if they go the top heavy route again. 

Given how Zach Cook rides (Foxhall) and will be looking for a team place would he fit in there anywhere?

[SPEEDY69]

28 minutes ago, Arch Stanton said:

Quite right. Highly rated but he’s been awful which just shows you it’s always a risk. To be fair to him though he hasn’t been here long so a bit harsh to judge. 

Everyone was rating that Jonas Knudsen as well and he's not great either.  Never really liked many Danish riders in general - Nielsen and Eriksen being the exceptions.

[SPEEDY69]

7 minutes ago, Baldyman said:

We have the best young Aussie,,, hardly been a success either 

I'd say that was LIdsey but you're right, Rew has been pants.

[Chris]

Complete negligence from Louis/Hawkins to not replace Riss early on in the season. To wait for a rider with his illness symptoms and a bottom end made worse by choosing Joe Thompson was shambolic.

Other teams have proved that there were riders out there who could've been signed, but Louis doesn't come across as someone with a lot of knowledge of the foreign market. 

[Baldyman]

9 minutes ago, SPEEDY69 said:

I'd say that was LIdsey but you're right, Rew has been pants.

Was lidsey,,, but he has broken through,, so is now a success 

[SPEEDY69]

4 minutes ago, Baldyman said:

Was lidsey,,, but he has broken through,, so is now a success 

But you said the best young aussie, nothing about 'breaking through' or 'success' so did you mean the best of the rubbish aussies?  Ben Cook is also way ahead of Rew, thanks to his season with the Panthers.

[Baldyman]

Yeah best of the rubbish Aussies,,,, 

[WeslakeJohn]

55 minutes ago, Arch Stanton said:

Quite right. Highly rated but he’s been awful which just shows you it’s always a risk. To be fair to him though he hasn’t been here long so a bit harsh to judge. 

TBF he has been carrying an injury for most of that time following a number of crashes which were not all his own fault. More of a concern is that he seems to struggle with grippy tracks…

[89buttons]

13 minutes ago, SPEEDY69 said:

But you said the best young aussie, nothing about 'breaking through' or 'success' so did you mean the best of the rubbish aussies?  Ben Cook is also way ahead of Rew, thanks to his season with the Panthers.

Ben cook and jaimon lidsey are 5 & 4 years older than rew tho. How did Ben cook get on in the world u21 series 5 years back? Rew miles ahead at 20 on the continent, needs to sort his gating out big time in uk but his ceiling is closer to lidsey than cook imo. That said I like both the cook lads decent riders, be happy with either at Foxhall next year

[Bagpuss]

1 hour ago, Arch Stanton said:

Quite right. Highly rated but he’s been awful which just shows you it’s always a risk. To be fair to him though he hasn’t been here long so a bit harsh to judge. 

Unfortunately he's not the first young foreign rider who has come over to Lynn and been all at sea round the AFA, far too much clay and grip. Granted his away scores have been poor too but he'd fare better on a different home track I'm sure.

[StarBoy]

4 minutes ago, Bagpuss said:

Unfortunately he's not the first young foreign rider who has come over to Lynn and been all at sea round the AFA, far too much clay and grip. Granted his away scores have been poor too but he'd fare better on a different home track I'm sure.

Maybe a double up if 2 leagues still exist will help him develop and gain more experience on UK tracks

[SPEEDY69]

21 minutes ago, 89buttons said:

Ben cook and jaimon lidsey are 5 & 4 years older than rew tho. How did Ben cook get on in the world u21 series 5 years back? Rew miles ahead at 20 on the continent, needs to sort his gating out big time in uk but his ceiling is closer to lidsey than cook imo. That said I like both the cook lads decent riders, be happy with either at Foxhall next year

I find age a total red herring, JL was a novice at 28, Lee British champ at 17 I think. I'm also uninterested in performance outside of the UK but was merely responding to the 'best young aussie' and jawing with Baldyman. No doubt these riders will all improve. 

Edited September 6, 2023 by SPEEDY69

[Arch Stanton]

58 minutes ago, GeneralMelchett said:

Given how Zach Cook rides (Foxhall) and will be looking for a team place would he fit in there anywhere?

Always a possibility but on 4.81 from being at reserve all year to being in the main body if he was here at Ipswich, I’m not sure personally. I’d give him a miss. 

47 minutes ago, Chris said:

Complete negligence from Louis/Hawkins to not replace Riss early on in the season. To wait for a rider with his illness symptoms and a bottom end made worse by choosing Joe Thompson was shambolic.

Other teams have proved that there were riders out there who could've been signed, but Louis doesn't come across as someone with a lot of knowledge of the foreign market. 

Hard to disagree with any of that. 

[MP78]

I can see little parallels with 1999 team building… Rickardsson, Louis and Gollob become Emil, Doyle and King in the 2024 version… Management’s loyalty to King either creates a very very long tail or (and I hope this isn’t the case) like 99 forces one of the big 2 out! If the latter happens then I’d be inclined to get Masters in, great at foxhall and currently on 7.61 

[GeneralMelchett]

1 hour ago, Arch Stanton said:

Always a possibility but on 4.81 from being at reserve all year to being in the main body if he was here at Ipswich, I’m not sure personally. I’d give him a miss. 

 

I think the weakeness for the Witches this year was those 3 home losses, so to cure that riders who are very good at Foxhall are a must - Klindt and Zach Cook fit that bill for me based on this season.

[Baldyman]

Klindt and Ellis middle order would be very strong at foxhall

[GeneralMelchett]

2 hours ago, 89buttons said:

Ben cook and jaimon lidsey are 5 & 4 years older than rew tho. How did Ben cook get on in the world u21 series 5 years back? Rew miles ahead at 20 on the continent, needs to sort his gating out big time in uk but his ceiling is closer to lidsey than cook imo. That said I like both the cook lads decent riders, be happy with either at Foxhall next year

To be fair - Lidsey tho he's been about a few years and is a SWC rider etc - I keep thinking he is much older than 24! Id say he is a senior Aussie now for sure

[Falcon1983]

bit of a slow afternoon, so put together some sort of teams IF they persuade Glasgow to come to the top table and make it a 6 team top tier again

so if Ipswich went down the route of
 

1. Sayfutdinov

2. Rew

3. Douglas

4. B Cook

5. Doyle

6. D Thompson

7. Boughen

 

Belle Vue - 1. Kurtz 2. Blodorn 3. Wright 4. Brennan 5. Lidsey 6. Z Cook 7. Bailey
Kings Lynn - 1. R Lambert 2. Breum 3. Becker 4. Klindt 5. King 6. S Lambert 7. Rowe 
Sheffield - 1. Woffinden 2. Howarth 3. Pickering 4. Ellis 5. C Holder 6. Wojdylo 7. Gilkes
Leicester - 1. Fricke 2. Kerr 3. Lawson 4. R Worrall 5. Masters 6. Riss 7. Kemp
Glasgow - 1. Musielak 2. Basso 3. Harris 4. Tarasenko 5. Bewley 6. Jenkins 7. Edwards

How would the witches fare against comparible teams?

One thing I have noticed is that if they did only have 6 sides next season there would ultimately be a few riders without top flight rides who you could argue should be in there, missing a fair few from that list above