BWitcher

Of course there were some incidents that were that way, but many others (indeed most) will have been promoted up to seem more than they were. Folk were a lot more gullible back then

It's ironic WK that you get very worked up when you feel artificial means are used to enhance the sport, yet back in the day when the sport was often promoted more along the lines of WWE you loved it.

Likely the same issue there seems to be between Barker and quite a number of other riders...

Anyone care to translate?

Always innocent is Barker isn't he.

That makes the incident a lot better.

Hmm.. The support for the British riders is first rate compared to the support the US team gets from their ruling body.

Still including Auty in the conversation? He's nowhere near the same level as Bridger/Cook, nor have anywhere near the same potential as Worrall.

There is absolutely no comparison between speedway and rugby/cricket in terms of press coverage and media exposure. Rugby Union and Cricket are both 'elite' sports and have always enjoyed heavy exposure especially from the BBC. It would have taken a major cock-up to mess up with the so-called 'plan'. They were starting from an entirely different position. It's made little difference to the national team anyway, they are no stronger than they were before. Throughout the history of the sport there have been good England teams and poor ones. What's new is the World Cup which has only been around for so long. More excuses.. that's the British problem I'm afraid. Woffinden wasn't cruising through was he? Up until this year he has struggled outside the UK, been exposed in the GP. This season he is entirely dedicated in all areas including attitude, fitness etc. You're getting confused also Sidney. Cook/Worrall are quite ok to double up at this point, they are just moving into the EL. However, that should be used for their first season until they establish themselves in the EL. If they are going to progress they then have to drop the PL and get out and secure spots abroad. The whole point is to get them OUT of their comfort zone. You say they need to earn money, of course they do. That should drive them on to succeed abroad in order to do that. Sadly many aren't up for that challenge, take the easy route and bleat about it. You seem obsessed with Auty.. he is going nowhere. He's reached his level, that's it. Barker got so high, took the easy option of dropping down a level and he will not progress any further as a result.

Strange for Poole to sell their tickets via the Peterboro site.

You never fail Sidney, just when I think you can't make yourself look any more ridiculous, you come up with another classic. Woffinden is where he is because he has dedicated himself to the sport and worked hard to pursue his goals. He hasn't sat around on his butt and expected everything to be given him on a plate. When he moved up to the EL he had no thoughts of looking to 'double-up' but immediately looked abroad to obtain team places and broaden his experience. He struggled aborad initially, but he learned and that experience has helped him become the rider he is now. How do you think the Danes reach the top level? Sure they have the starting blocks of their 80cc system, but that only takes you so far. Their league system is nothing to write home about. They progress because again, they get out and secure places abroad, be it in the UK, or moreso now in Sweden and Poland. They don't live the comfy life of staying at home riding in their own country. So they had a decent crop of players come along in a sport they should really be dominating given the size of the UK's population, number of rugby clubs etc and of course the fact that very few countries take the sport seriously anyway. Odds are you're going to stand a decent chance of winning the World Cup at some point. Besides, although they won the World Cup, they were hardly dominant either side of that.

England are the best in the world at Rugby right now? When did this happen?

Whilst agreeing that the lack of opportunites has an impact, I'm still of the belief that attitude is a far bigger reason. There are many many foreign speedway riders and football players who have lack of 'opportunities' but knuckle down, train hard and make the best of their ability. The problem with too many Brits in both sports is they get to a certain level, usually a very average one and think they've made it. Craig Cook's comments show him to be the latest example of this. It's worse in football's case as young players quite a long way down the scale are earning far more money than their peers, meaning they are the centre of attention and it all goes to their heads. Speedway, on a lesser scale (without the money so much) is similar, we've all seen the entourages around the most average of British riders. Tai Woffinden has shown with the right attitude you can make it to the top echelon. He may have been raised in Australia BUT he has worked through the British system and steadily improved to become the rider he is now. Messrs Holder and Ward have also come through the same system. The difference is they don't sit on their butts and look towards doubling up in the PL to earn a bit more money, they got out and sorted spots out in foreign leagues and continued to progress as a result.

No EL snobbery at all. Once again a PL fan invents 'the snobbery' line when the only snobbery is coming from them. As you quite correctly point out, Barker and Bridger have 'attitudes' and not necessarily good ones. No Elite League fan has ever denied that. It was hoped that Cook wouldn't go down that route, but his comments appear to now put him in a similar bracket. All 3 of them should take a look at what Tai has done. This season he has displayed a much more mature attitude, concentrated on his racing and done everything possible to ensure he is at the top of his game. The results speak for themselves. I am impressed with Bridger in that he has gone out and secured team places abroad. This is the ONLY way they are going to improve and take that next step.

I understand what you mean, you can do that, without the 'kiss my backside' comments etc. Shows a sign of immaturity which unfortunately seems to be a recurring theme with the British riders. The most worrying part is his comment of "I'm up at the top now".. he is nowhere near yet as last night showed.

Until Cook flat out denies it, then it will be believed. That's laid out as a direct quote.

Oh dear oh dear.

Why a joke? Injuries are part of the sport and that's what have weakened Sweden, Australia etc. The Russian situation is different, although they often flatter to deceive anyway (Emil aside).

It used to be only speedway this occurred, and as others have said it's due to having an affinity with the riders you see on a weekly basis. It is now starting to spread to other sports. There are lots of kids around now who support 'Spain' in football and other nations. Again much of this comes from then seeing a Premier League full of foreign players so they levitate towards the countries their teams stars are playing for.

How do you work this out Steve? They will be up against Latvia and very likely 2 of GB, Sweden or USA. You're saying they are too weak to compete with those??

Not talking about friendlies. There's been a 20/20 game just recently where a player was caught out by a member of his own team (who was fielding for the other team).

They don't mind it in cricket though.. and they can sometimes have a player from the opposing team play for them!

Precisely. The new silencers are the best thing to have happened for Peter Johns.

Best not to feed the troll anymore.

Come playoff time, I would rather have Sqora all day long.