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The way I saw it was that the Tobias/Ace move was in essence simply a block pass, be it close/harsh, and Ace had options. Ace should have gone.  With the Kyle/Zac one it was always going to be close/harsh, but the manoeuvre was poorly executed (there seemed to me to be significant contact). But on balance a racing incident, part and parcel of the spectacle we love to watch. If Zac had fallen as a result it would have forced the ref to exclude Kyle. 

Don’t know if I’m easily please but I’m happy with the usual 90mins it takes to run a meeting. Even if it runs over at 120mins its ok with me. The replays and interviews on the big screen plus those over the mike keep my interest between heats, if I’m not chatting with folk that is. Add in the antics of Chase and his interval white line challenge for the kids (big & small) pass the time nicely.  Andy sticks to his regular quick track grades with only two of the four “holding things up” as the others are at the interval and before heat 15 when there are breaks anyway.  Pre meeting we have Philips manager interviews and post meeting we have the press conference with Hayley & Lee before we can have one to one chats with the riders, all in the lovely surrounds of the Peter Craven suite.  Being from an era of three TV channels, a whip & top to play with and chippy tea being a treat, perhaps my entertainment sensibilities are out of step with current trends.    I agree about the stats thing and I’ve spoken with people trying to produce an app to draw the kids in using stats but nothing has surfaced yet. Also there should be more for the managers to do and us second guess them as currently the format is far too ridge, for no apparent reason that I can see. 

Speedway is full of inconsistent referees etc. Max fricke went inside Leon and only went off his line by a few yards and got excluded. Chris Harris went inside Richard lawson and hit Lawson's bike after he had crashed and Lawson got excluded.   At Edinburgh Nick Morris got excluded when Edinburgh showed the referee an ultra slow motion replay but a week or so later that wasn't available when Luke Harrison was excluded.

But you’ve been a big advocate of the rising star system in the Premiership and you’ve just highlighted one of the major flaws. We disagreed on this topic right from the beginning. Cooper will turn 16 by the time the season starts and so will be on the list IF it remains. Someone will pick him and the concerns you’ve just raised will become valid. There is such a disparity between the riders on the rising star list that makes the whole thing a farcical nonsense. It becomes even more farcical that clubs end up being FORCED to include a rider that they don’t particularly want because after everyone else has had their pick, there’s bugger all left except cannon fodder! You're gonna get one or two clubs that will pick up a ringer that will give them an immediate advantage before a wheel has been turned, and a couple that will have to accept a Sam Hagon or Joe Thompson (with the greatest of respect) that could end up costing that club a league title! The rising star list is actually quite extensive if you look at it. But the vast majority of them shouldn’t even be on there. You wouldn’t take a bet on most of them even getting around for four laps! There’s a very small pool of riders that would even be in the hunt for a single point, but even then there’s a disparity between your Flints, Edwards’ and Mulford’s to your Hagon’s and J Thompson’s. Chuck this rising star balls in the bin. Settle on a points limit, and let every club sign any seven riders they like to fit in to that points limit. 

Yeah for me,  Ace should’ve been excluded with the Toby incident.  I just about agree with the Howarth Toby one as I think Toby could’ve done more to stay on.  with the Zach Howarth one I think it was past tough racing, and there was cause for Howarth to go. Left Zach with no chance and how Zach stayed on I no idea.  do you have to jump off the bike for their to be an exclusion? I think in cases like the Howarth Zach one, common sense could be used?

Under CURRENT rules, Edwards is eligible for a rising star birth. You have to be 23 or under on January 1st (Edwards isn’t 24 until September) and have a Premiership average of 4.00 or under. Edwards qualifies on both counts.    Again under current rules, Ipswich have the option of “protecting” their rising star if he qualifies for the following season so the option would be there for Ipswich to retain him regardless of priority “picks”. With changes to the structure of the leagues heavily mooted, I’d be surprised if these rules on rising stars stays exactly as it is. I’m not even convinced there will be a “rising star” for the Premiership next season but we’ll have to wait and see on that. Last I heard a week or so ago, with the AGM a month away, several meetings have already taken place and literally none of those involved can agree on anything! It could be a long winter…