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StevePark

Newcastle "BTS" Gems 2021

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16 minutes ago, phillwhitewasmad said:

its a development team the way it should be :t:local teams giving local lads a chance and long may it continue

Two of my favourite articles in the Speedway Star this winter were on the Ipswich and Mildenhall teams of the late 70s. Both made up almost entirely from homegrown riders. If speedway wants to re-generate interest in the fans, that's a big way of going about it, producing local talent. Also sponsors are more likely to come on board for a local lad.

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16 minutes ago, Dandelion said:

Well if the limit IS 35 points, I'll take this team to watch every Sunday evening thank you very much :)

1. Max Clegg 10.14

2. Joe Alcock 4.36

3. David Wallinger 3.87

4. Josh Embleton 4.83

5. Leon Flint 8.80

6. Danny Smith 3.00

7. Archie Freeman 3.00

Total: 35.00 exactly

Don't see it anywhere that Leon is with Armadale again? But if he is I'm sure there's many other options with the 8.80 left... James Sarjeant for example? Two big hitters will help the kids (And Wallinger) along nicely. Tom Perry (8.50) would be a welcome addition for me as I've always enjoyed watching him, but I'm not sure if he rides anymore??? He will bring a lot of experience to the side at this level too.

Would Danny and Archie not be 2 pointers, rather than 3??

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3 minutes ago, StevePark said:

Would Danny and Archie not be 2 pointers, rather than 3??

The 2 pointer thing was dropped after a season obviously it could have been re-introduced as nobody knows despite riders being signed, team building averages being changed and no official releases at all being made to joe public. i would think given how other teams are building the sensible 3 pointer being the base remains. As it stands Clegg will need a max every week, Freeman bags quite a few (hopefully due to less fixture he will get longer at reserve) and the the other heat leader is more than the suggestions ive heard. Providing Alcock has got dialled in from the CL meeting he could be a threat if not the others will be queuing up to take his place. 

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11 minutes ago, StevePark said:

Would Danny and Archie not be 2 pointers, rather than 3??

As far as I'm aware, if the rules are the same as they were in 2020, the lower limit in the NL is 3.00, which is kinda stupid if they are wanting to bring new kids in to race, they look way more attractive to teams on a 2.00 than a 3.00. Things might change for this season though? And I hope they do

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5 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said:

The 2 pointer thing was dropped after a season obviously it could have been re-introduced as nobody knows despite riders being signed, team building averages being changed and no official releases at all being made to joe public. i would think given how other teams are building the sensible 3 pointer being the base remains. As it stands Clegg will need a max every week, Freeman bags quite a few (hopefully due to less fixture he will get longer at reserve) and the the other heat leader is more than the suggestions ive heard. Providing Alcock has got dialled in from the CL meeting he could be a threat if not the others will be queuing up to take his place. 

 

4 minutes ago, Dandelion said:

As far as I'm aware, if the rules are the same as they were in 2020, the lower limit in the NL is 3.00, which is kinda stupid if they are wanting to bring new kids in to race, they look way more attractive to teams on a 2.00 than a 3.00. Things might change for this season though? And I hope they do

Yeah, I stupidly looked at 2019, rather than the abandoned 2020 team lists.  If they want to encourage new riders, then 2.00 would be better than 3.00 in my opinion too, all they have to do is drop the points limit accordingly, so teams are not overly "top heavy." 

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19 minutes ago, StevePark said:

 

Yeah, I stupidly looked at 2019, rather than the abandoned 2020 team lists.  If they want to encourage new riders, then 2.00 would be better than 3.00 in my opinion too, all they have to do is drop the points limit accordingly, so teams are not overly "top heavy." 

I agree with the encouragement part but the lower team building limit is naturally encouraging new 3 pointers in.  2 point average rider can run two thirds, a last and been swapped out each meeting and still see their average increase. To prevent top heavy i think a max average cap should be introduced and potentially a maximum on the teams combined league experience? That would encourage new riders in rather than the NL journeymen who know how to keep their averages in the attractive signing zone.

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Great news that we are going full on in the NL full rather than just the cup competition and I appreciate we need to balance the team with the number of local untried youngsters in there but Max Clegg should not be in there.

Nothing against the lad but he’s been riding as a professional for about nine years, he was in the Elite league draft system in 2014 and he is way too good for the NL. Add the fact that the pressure of doing the previous championship match and then being expected to clean up doing another 5 rides afterwards is just too much to put on him. This is supposed to be a development division , he isn’t going to learn anything that he doesn’t already know. Yes, he will be a big scoring number 1 but isn’t the point of the exercise to give new youngsters opportunities ? There are bound to be clashes of fixtures away from home so he will miss meetings anyway and there won’t be many 10-11 point averaged guests knocking about!
I know we need a competitive team but there’s room there to bring in two less experienced 5-6 pointers who , with the reduced standard, will become the next generation of heat leaders.The likes of Josh Embleton will double his average based on that so let’s look around at the least experienced lads out there.

Id throw in the name of the likes of Greg Blair who is on the comeback. Seen him at Redcar in 2020 and he’s already on the pace, he’s experienced enough and has been unlucky with injuries and don't think he’s actually ever had a full season under his belt . He’ll score points and be entertaining to watch and he’d be an ideal rider to step up into the diamonds side if required!

 

 

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18 minutes ago, Ringitsneck said:

Great news that we are going full on in the NL full rather than just the cup competition and I appreciate we need to balance the team with the number of local untried youngsters in there but Max Clegg should not be in there.

Nothing against the lad but he’s been riding as a professional for about nine years, he was in the Elite league draft system in 2014 and he is way too good for the NL. Add the fact that the pressure of doing the previous championship match and then being expected to clean up doing another 5 rides afterwards is just too much to put on him. This is supposed to be a development division , he isn’t going to learn anything that he doesn’t already know. Yes, he will be a big scoring number 1 but isn’t the point of the exercise to give new youngsters opportunities ? There are bound to be clashes of fixtures away from home so he will miss meetings anyway and there won’t be many 10-11 point averaged guests knocking about!
I know we need a competitive team but there’s room there to bring in two less experienced 5-6 pointers who , with the reduced standard, will become the next generation of heat leaders.The likes of Josh Embleton will double his average based on that so let’s look around at the least experienced lads out there.

Id throw in the name of the likes of Greg Blair who is on the comeback. Seen him at Redcar in 2020 and he’s already on the pace, he’s experienced enough and has been unlucky with injuries and don't think he’s actually ever had a full season under his belt . He’ll score points and be entertaining to watch and he’d be an ideal rider to step up into the diamonds side if required!

 

 

The point you make about Josh and the team building limit is quite valid. Riders need to be careful, too good a run of form in a short season could easily see averages increase by 3-4 points, now not knocking Josh just using him as an example but if he ends the season on an 8.5 average will he truly get signed up as a number 1 next year? If not and he doesn't land a CL spot he could just as quickly be frozen out of the sport as he got into it. If the team building average is set low then it needs to stay low for the next few seasons at least but riders must be prepared that success via artificially inflated averages will come at a cost to some.

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With the team average been low naturally lots of riders will increase there average sizeably. But with this surely the following year it will make riders like max unusable so we won't have the constant stream of he's to good to be there posts. 

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2 minutes ago, phillwhitewasmad said:

With the team average been low naturally lots of riders will increase there average sizeably. But with this surely the following year it will make riders like max unusable so we won't have the constant stream of he's to good to be there posts. 

I would have thought a 10 point average with the current building was unusable but here we are. Yes if he ends up on 12-13 then maybe but if he ends on 10ish again he could get a place again next year but an improving 3 pointer who ended on 6 could miss out. 

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1 hour ago, Sings4Speedway said:

I would have thought a 10 point average with the current building was unusable but here we are. Yes if he ends up on 12-13 then maybe but if he ends on 10ish again he could get a place again next year but an improving 3 pointer who ended on 6 could miss out. 

Agree totally but do feel they powers that be ensure those riders who's average inflates due to the low average should be looked after especially the younger ones or newcomers. 
also I have no axe to grind with max hope he gets his opportunities in the leagues above 

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29 minutes ago, phillwhitewasmad said:

Agree totally but do feel they powers that be ensure those riders who's average inflates due to the low average should be looked after especially the younger ones or newcomers. 
also I have no axe to grind with max hope he gets his opportunities in the leagues above 

Agreed but sadly they won't.  Last time the team building was cut low it lasted a season before upping it again. It still cast riders adrift because despite 2 riders averaging 8 in different seasons wont be comparable if one season had a 35 limit and the other a 40 limit.

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On 2/22/2021 at 11:50 AM, StevePark said:

 

Yeah, I stupidly looked at 2019, rather than the abandoned 2020 team lists.  If they want to encourage new riders, then 2.00 would be better than 3.00 in my opinion too, all they have to do is drop the points limit accordingly, so teams are not overly "top heavy." 

You don't need to lower the minimum limit from 3.00 to 2.00 to encourage newcommers, as the limit is low every year, clubs will always need 3.00 men to fill the bottom end of the team!

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On 2/22/2021 at 9:41 AM, *JJ said:

About five years ago, I commented that Clegg was too good for the NL: he certainly is now. He should have moved on a long time ago.

If a Premiership club gave him a team spot he wouldn't be riding in the NL!

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