Any news on whether he’s been having a spin at the various practice sessions at Scunny over the past couple of weekends?

All valid points. We had a long dry spell with no one, other than Tai, coming through to challenge Bomber and Scott Nicholls for a place in the GB Team. And even with only three decent riders, we had boycotts and fall outs over pay as well as a lack of professionalism in preparation.  But, over the last 10-15 years, we’ve had several initiatives to help bring the next generation through. Neil Vatcher with the British Youth Championship deserves much of the credit for this but Phil Morris and the late Graham Reeve were also heavily involved. Bev and Marcus Williams in Australia set up the scholarship - some called it boot camp - in their house and Ian Sinderson of ATPI and Richard Cotton of Rentruck got the No Limits training programme going. When the efforts of Vicky Blackwell and Rob Painter are added to this, you can see how individuals are the ones that have created a set of circumstances that have moved us out of the doldrums when it came to developing riders. From a very lowly position, as well as the GP stars, we’ve now got several decent riders chasing for success. Like Tom Brennan, Dan Thompson, Drew Kemp, Joe Thompson, Dan Gilkes, Leon Flint and several more. Each and every person who has helped to create this, and, of course, Simon Stead is part of this, deserves recognition and thanks.  BSPL and many individual promoters are the villains in this - taking but giving little in return. Turning the Development League from amateur to professional was a huge mistake, driven by vested interest. The bottom league should have been a ride for expenses league, but who remembers the year Adam Ellis - and no slight on Adam intended - turned down a championship role because the NDL was paying him too much? For him, it was the right thing to do but it should have been a wake up call for the promoters.  Coming back to the original point, the GB Team has been more than the individuals involved, whether that’s those that operate in plain sight or those in the background. But its strength has been because it has operated as a team and Simon was part of the team. Of course GB will regroup without him, but that doesn’t mean his departure shouldn’t be regretted. 

There’s still a strong desire to make this happen, work is going on at the stadium towards it but I’m told this week is the Final cut off for a yes or no 

Lots of ways to get to the UK from Australia, either east or west but may not be as cheap as usual routes via Dubai etc

Now we have the 5th team and Easter is only  5 weeks away 😧 surely the fixtures should be out this week, fans need to make plans to attend, riders need to make plans regarding travel at home or from away and sort mechanics etc . Can't do these at a drop of a hat 

There’s two northern based premiership clubs with Aussie no.6’s on 3 point starting averages this years isn’t there? 👀