torpointfanatic22 Posted April 20 Report Share Posted April 20 On 4/18/2024 at 9:26 AM, szkocjasid said: I thought Oxford would do well, but be prone to the odd howler away, due to the inexperience of their bottom end. For Plymouth everyone looked at their top end & couldn't see where the race winners would come from, that's the reason why they were predicted bottom. I thought Oxford had the best 2.00 riders in the league, so would end up with 2 x 4.00 reserves. Couldn't see as much improvement from other teams reserves. I have to ask who is the "top rider in the league" and who is the "good heat leader" as Oxford arguably have the strongest top 2 on the league, think you've sold them short on that point. I hope Plymouth can do well at home & not do "a Birmingham" by throwing away decent away performances by losing at home. Masters for me is the top rider in the league, Nicholls is a good heat leader, but he's not the 2nd best rider in the league IMO. I agree they do have the strongest top 2 but I don't think they have the best 2 riders in the league. Going back to the meeting though, I expect the Oxford meeting to probably be a blueprint into how Plymouth matches will go (if we're lucky). I don't see us taking points off the top riders very often but hopefully we can be stronger in the likes of heat 8, 12 and 14. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bojangles Posted April 23 Report Share Posted April 23 On 4/20/2024 at 8:02 AM, torpointfanatic22 said: Masters for me is the top rider in the league, Nicholls is a good heat leader, but he's not the 2nd best rider in the league IMO. I agree they do have the strongest top 2 but I don't think they have the best 2 riders in the league. Going back to the meeting though, I expect the Oxford meeting to probably be a blueprint into how Plymouth matches will go (if we're lucky). I don't see us taking points off the top riders very often but hopefully we can be stronger in the likes of heat 8, 12 and 14. Based on last season's averages (discounting Ryan Douglas), only Sam Masters (9.80) and Charles Wright (9.66) were above Nicholls (9.54)....so while you're right that the Cheetahs don't have the best two riders in the league, they're pretty close. Back to Plymouth, and I was impressed with what I saw, especially from the Thompsons and Bowtell. If all three of them have good seasons (and Covatti returns and scores well), I think Plymouth will pick up plenty of points. No real weak link in the team. Dan Thompson is riding like a heat leader at the moment. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noelinho Posted April 23 Report Share Posted April 23 1 hour ago, Bojangles said: Based on last season's averages (discounting Ryan Douglas), only Sam Masters (9.80) and Charles Wright (9.66) were above Nicholls (9.54)....so while you're right that the Cheetahs don't have the best two riders in the league, they're pretty close. Back to Plymouth, and I was impressed with what I saw, especially from the Thompsons and Bowtell. If all three of them have good seasons (and Covatti returns and scores well), I think Plymouth will pick up plenty of points. No real weak link in the team. Dan Thompson is riding like a heat leader at the moment. Not quite the averages I have for them. For championship league meetings, I have (exc. bonus points): Tarasenko 10.22 (yeah, two meetings, but I'm a Glasgow fan!) Douglas 9.73 Masters 9.23 Basso 9.19 Harris 9.14 Cook 9.13 Kerr 8.94 Lawson 8.81 Nicholls 8.75 Wright 8.56 Scott was actually third in averages on his team. Glasgow had the best two two (and three) in the league, with Oxford not far behind. Oxford definitely have the best top two now though, I would agree. If I had to take any #5 in the league, it would be Scott. He's really come back strong the last couple of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bojangles Posted April 23 Report Share Posted April 23 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Noelinho said: Not quite the averages I have for them. For championship league meetings, I have (exc. bonus points): Tarasenko 10.22 (yeah, two meetings, but I'm a Glasgow fan!) Douglas 9.73 Masters 9.23 Basso 9.19 Harris 9.14 Cook 9.13 Kerr 8.94 Lawson 8.81 Nicholls 8.75 Wright 8.56 Scott was actually third in averages on his team. Glasgow had the best two two (and three) in the league, with Oxford not far behind. Oxford definitely have the best top two now though, I would agree. If I had to take any #5 in the league, it would be Scott. He's really come back strong the last couple of years. The averages I quoted were the official averages for the 2023 season (all comps, inc. bonus points and minimum of six meetings). Copied below from Wikipedia (which I presume are also taken from the official averages as they are exactly the same) 1. Ryan Douglas Scunthorpe 10.09 2 Sam Masters Oxford 9.80 3 Charles Wright Redcar 9.66 4 Scott Nicholls Oxford 9.54 5 Chris Harris Glasgow 9.47 6 Benjamin Basso Glasgow 9.45 7 Richard Lawson Poole 9.37 8 Craig Cook Edinburgh 9.08 9 Danny King Redcar 8.58 10 Josh Pickering Edinburgh 8.55 Edited April 23 by Bojangles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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