NDL predictions 2023

[szkocjasid]

Still waiting for two teams, but this is how I rank the completed sides:

1) Workington

2) Oxford

3) Leicester

4) Mildenhall

5) Kent

6) Berwick

[Barrow Boy 2]

On 2/2/2023 at 9:30 AM, Barrow Boy 2 said:

As it stands but with some teams still to complete it looks like Oxford are looking most likely to come out on top. They have 4 riders who are established front runners wheras such as Leicester who will certainly be up there again only have 2 but have perhaps riders who will improve. Will be interesting to see how things develop.

1-Oxford

2-Leicester

3-Belle Vue

4-Kent

5-Workington

6-Berwick

7-Mildemhall

8-Edinburgh

 

 

[mc131]

17 minutes ago, Barrow Boy 2 said:

1-Oxford

2-Leicester

3-Belle Vue

4-Kent

5-Workington

6-Berwick

7-Mildemhall

8-Edinburgh

 

 

Edinburgh team definitely won't be last there quite strong, belle vue and Kent above Workington no chance 

[Sings4Speedway]

1. Oxford

2. Mildenhall

3. Leicester

4. Workington

5. Kent

6. Belle Vue

7. Edinburgh

8. Berwick

[Fromafar]

5 hours ago, Barrow Boy 2 said:

1-Oxford

2-Leicester

3-Belle Vue

4-Kent

5-Workington

6-Berwick

7-Mildemhall

8-Edinburgh

 

 

Edinburgh certainly won’t be bottom.Hook Bickley and Roynon look a decent top 3 .

[TotallyHonestJohn]

6 hours ago, Fromafar said:

Edinburgh certainly won’t be bottom.Hook Bickley and Roynon look a decent top 3 .

Do you know what it is....

I can't disagree with you because I think all of the teams in the NDL are pretty evenly matched... I keep looking at the sides as they are and I can't pick an out and out favourite... yes a couple look slightly stronger than others but ultimately it will be down to away bonus points and any unfortunate injuries...

IMHO I think any team is in with an outside chance if they click as a team... to me there does not seem to be any one team super strong but likewise there isn't a whipping boy in the league either....

Think it will be a very interesting season... can't wait to see what happens...

Regards 

THJ

[lynnboy]

Leicester to win. Good strong heat leaders and they have the trump card in Ashton Boughen watch him go this year,

this 15 year is very special talent it’s unreal that he didn’t even know what speedway was last June ! 

[arnieg]

9 hours ago, lynnboy said:

Leicester to win. Good strong heat leaders and they have the trump card in Ashton Boughen watch him go this year,

this 15 year is very special talent it’s unreal that he didn’t even know what speedway was last June ! 

Boughen, Perry and James to up their starting averages by 10 points between them, leaving Spencer and Foord as reserves on 5+ averages.

[PotteringAround]

1.  WORKINGTON - A powerful 4 heat leaders and will always have very strong reserves.   Easily the strongest on paper.  Looks a similar build to the Belle Vue team which was expected to win last year's ttle, but they were let down by the form of the McGurk brothers.

2.  EDINBURGH  - Bickley, Hook and Roynon are the strongest heat leader trio in the division.  Spooner & Simpson have the potential to show support.  Nothing really known of Wood.  The only problem could be if the travelling between Poole (CL) and Edinburgh (NL) gets to Roynon.

3.  LEICESTER - The Thompson twins won't drop many points.  Spencer needs to show up regularly as third heat-leader, though Perry, Boughen and James will give strong support especially at home.

4.  BELLE VUE - Don't know much abour Pearson, but he needs to challenge Smith for No.1.  Hagon and Marson battling for the 3rd heat leader spot.  Bottom end is solid, at least at home.

5.  OXFORD - Good top four, and Kileen won't be at reserve long.  But Stoneman and Kileen can be accident prone, they need to stay fit.  Clouting & Fellows aren't the strongest reserves.   

6.  MILDENHALL - Powerful top two.  Don't know much about Congreve, but he and/or Trigger need to offer support.  Bottom end looks weak away.

7.  BERWICK - Connor Coles is on a big average which I don't see him maintaining at No.1.  Blair & Phillips are good heat leaders on their day.  They'll need to find some improvement from the bottom 4 if they are to challenge the big teams.

8.  KENT - Morley is a big No.1, and Ablitt, Woolley, Alcock and King will score well at home, but I see this team travelling very poorly.

 

[szkocjasid]

Gonna be tough to predict (how it should be) quite a few strong looking teams & no-one who looks especially weak!

[secsy1]

On 3/17/2023 at 1:50 PM, PotteringAround said:

1.  WORKINGTON - A powerful 4 heat leaders and will always have very strong reserves.   Easily the strongest on paper.  Looks a similar build to the Belle Vue team which was expected to win last year's ttle, but they were let down by the form of the McGurk brothers.

2.  EDINBURGH  - Bickley, Hook and Roynon are the strongest heat leader trio in the division.  Spooner & Simpson have the potential to show support.  Nothing really known of Wood.  The only problem could be if the travelling between Poole (CL) and Edinburgh (NL) gets to Roynon.

3.  LEICESTER - The Thompson twins won't drop many points.  Spencer needs to show up regularly as third heat-leader, though Perry, Boughen and James will give strong support especially at home.

4.  BELLE VUE - Don't know much abour Pearson, but he needs to challenge Smith for No.1.  Hagon and Marson battling for the 3rd heat leader spot.  Bottom end is solid, at least at home.

5.  OXFORD - Good top four, and Kileen won't be at reserve long.  But Stoneman and Kileen can be accident prone, they need to stay fit.  Clouting & Fellows aren't the strongest reserves.   

6.  MILDENHALL - Powerful top two.  Don't know much about Congreve, but he and/or Trigger need to offer support.  Bottom end looks weak away.

7.  BERWICK - Connor Coles is on a big average which I don't see him maintaining at No.1.  Blair & Phillips are good heat leaders on their day.  They'll need to find some improvement from the bottom 4 if they are to challenge the big teams.

8.  KENT - Morley is a big No.1, and Ablitt, Woolley, Alcock and King will score well at home, but I see this team travelling very poorly.

 

1. Bit harsh on McGurk brothers, being conned by any promotion is not nice.

2. Providing Adam can steer clear of injury and with Wood a relative unknown to some lots of surprises to uneducated.

3. Spencer does not receive the credit he deserves, probably underrated because people make assumptions without knowing the lad and his determination. As long as he avoids injury comfortable team and watch Boughen.

4. Oh dear. Scraping the bottom of barrel in lots of areas but lets see.

5. Killeen is not accident prone, just needs coaching properly like most riders to be patient, good prospect under correct tuition.

6. Mildenhall are a special team and always deceive and deliver, Congreve and Trigger will deliver handsomely.

7. Berwick will be okay with Coles, Blair and Phillips. Bottom end all will supply at times when needed.

8. Kent surprised everyone last year and sorely missed Alcock. No worries.

All in all 8 well balanced teams and prefer to watch meetings in the NDL than any other league.

Would not like to make any prediction, but lets have a safe season and no injuries.

Best of sliding to all riding. 

[phillwhitewasmad]

2 minutes ago, secsy1 said:

1. Bit harsh on McGurk brothers, being conned by any promotion is not nice.

2. Providing Adam can steer clear of injury and with Wood a relative unknown to some lots of surprises to uneducated.

3. Spencer does not receive the credit he deserves, probably underrated because people make assumptions without knowing the lad and his determination. As long as he avoids injury comfortable team and watch Boughen.

4. Oh dear. Scraping the bottom of barrel in lots of areas but lets see.

5. Killeen is not accident prone, just needs coaching properly like most riders to be patient, good prospect under correct tuition.

6. Mildenhall are a special team and always deceive and deliver, Congreve and Trigger will deliver handsomely.

7. Berwick will be okay with Coles, Blair and Phillips. Bottom end all will supply at times when needed.

8. Kent surprised everyone last year and sorely missed Alcock. No worries.

All in all 8 well balanced teams and prefer to watch meetings in the NDL than any other league.

Would not like to make any prediction, but lets have a safe season and no injuries.

Best of sliding to all riding. 

Please expand on point one 

[Bagpuss]

Yes please do.

[gazzac]

16 hours ago, phillwhitewasmad said:

Please expand on point one 

Does he not mean good racing and no injuries? Or am I answering for the children? 

Edited March 19, 2023 by gazzac

[szkocjasid]

20 hours ago, secsy1 said:

1. Bit harsh on McGurk brothers, being conned by any promotion is not nice.

2. Providing Adam can steer clear of injury and with Wood a relative unknown to some lots of surprises to uneducated.

3. Spencer does not receive the credit he deserves, probably underrated because people make assumptions without knowing the lad and his determination. As long as he avoids injury comfortable team and watch Boughen.

4. Oh dear. Scraping the bottom of barrel in lots of areas but lets see.

5. Killeen is not accident prone, just needs coaching properly like most riders to be patient, good prospect under correct tuition.

6. Mildenhall are a special team and always deceive and deliver, Congreve and Trigger will deliver handsomely.

7. Berwick will be okay with Coles, Blair and Phillips. Bottom end all will supply at times when needed.

8. Kent surprised everyone last year and sorely missed Alcock. No worries.

All in all 8 well balanced teams and prefer to watch meetings in the NDL than any other league.

Would not like to make any prediction, but lets have a safe season and no injuries.

Best of sliding to all riding. 

By your comments it seems all 8 teams will make the play-offs lol!

[secsy1]

9 hours ago, gazzac said:

Does he not mean good racing and no injuries? Or am I answering for the children? 

Hit the nail on the head.

Wishing all that are involved safe and successful riding.

And yes looking at all the teams will be the most entertaining of all the leagues, with no clear favourite.

[Sings4Speedway]

Certainly looks a league this year where all teams should win the majority of their home matches and the top spots will be decided by who can find away points and they look a hard find for a couple of teams. I actually think the understrength Kent side will probably score ok on the road a couple of times but also look likely to have a costly home slip up.

[ch958]

I'm slightly depressed about who's going to win a development league. to me, the winners are the teams that unearth and develop a couple of nuggets

[mc131]

1 hour ago, Sings4Speedway said:

Certainly looks a league this year where all teams should win the majority of their home matches and the top spots will be decided by who can find away points and they look a hard find for a couple of teams. I actually think the understrength Kent side will probably score ok on the road a couple of times but also look likely to have a costly home slip up.

It definitely looks like it's goin to be a competitive season 

[Sings4Speedway]

3 hours ago, ch958 said:

I'm slightly depressed about who's going to win a development league. to me, the winners are the teams that unearth and develop a couple of nuggets

Thin pickings there but to be fair it is most seasons if you discount the riders who do the hard miles themselves to get practiced, race sharp and in a position to make an impact on the NL. In terms of unearth id more go for riders that raised an eyebrow when signing but developed on like Hodder last year. This year Richardson could be one and its arguable that Leicester have given Max James additional opportunities so could be counted as another but thats about it.