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SCB 2018 rule that “riders must remain astride their machine when ‘gardening’ at the start-line. As we saw/heard last night in the first meeting of the season at Belle Vue, 3 riders excluded having got off their bikes to prepare their start position. Riders/managers complaining of this rule. I believe rule possibly brought in to speed meetings up. But it doesn’t. Riders in my opinion should be able to prepare their start position, have a cup of tea or what ever within the 2 minutes allotted time. As in Poland a digital clock should be placed by the start, the referee starts the 2min. count down and if a rider not ready, then he is excluded. This system should be in place for all leagues in all countries. Same rule everywhere.

Especially the shorter ones?

Sad but true on all count JC. . .and I still have the Shell suits! :-) We may not have seen eye to eye on some occasions but there is no doubt that you were a forward thinker who had great ideas to move the sport into a new direction and bring it up to date. The atmosphere that we all generate in that amazing era was 2nd to none and one of the best times I can remember in speedway.

He has saved plenty by ensuring his team look will look like the Poundland Pirates

JPB replaced by both teams on the same day he walks.........don't let the door hit you on the @rse on your way out

Looks like a swift and excellent resolution to the issue from Coventry. From what i have seen Connor is far more professionally setup than JPB was and i feel will provide more consistent results from the number 1 jacket. Add in that he is familiar with riding alongside Armstrong & Ruddick from his Mildenhall days and i feel that this move will actually make Coventry stronger in the long term.

As usual it's a knee jerk reaction to appease the vociferous minority who whinge about a complete triviality such as 'gardening'. As said, 2 minute warning, ready to race when clock hits zero, no more gardening at that point. Oh so simple.

You’ve got to feel sorry for Tungate who has no chance of gardening astride his bike

You can be prepared as you like and just have absolutely no luck on any given night, it happens although fortunately not very often. Panning the poor chap is pretty harsh but not unexpected on this platform.....Belle Vue fans know what Tungate can do and won't be too concerned.

I feel sorry for any new promotion team at Lynn, as I think it is hard to meet the expectations of fans who supported the club during that era... and for good reason. The parade track rolling out to the intro of 'welcome to the jungle' always made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, and everyone involved (from fans to riders) were emotionally immersed in the club. 9 titles in 4 years (from memory) is as good as it gets and shows what the club was all about back then. Unfortunately since then the club has lost yourself, Rob Lyon and me and personally I do not believe any have been appropriately replaced... although not through lack of trying as I did recently read a job advertisement for a centre green announcer who must like wearing illuminus shell suits

Didn't finish a race all night? That doesn't happen to the best riders, who are usually the best prepared.

Teams will be getting a bit fed up at being let down by this lad. He's not gone out of his way to make friends in the sport and I'm sure he won't be missed (especially in Sheffield, Glasgow and Coventry).

Jury is out for me regarding Holder. Very busy start to the season with Poole Fri, Torun Sat, Sheffield Sun. Obviously it would have been Wolves Mon too! Dont think he will rock the boat too much as a testimonial is around the corner. Feel sure he would prefer it at Poole. I dont see him as being a real top line NO.1 anymore. Happy to be proved wrong though. Not overly bothered, as long as Poole do well. Happy to see all our riders chip in with some decent scores. Whatever unfolds, I hope everyone enjoys their speedway and there not any controversial moves later on!

If a rider keeps gardening just before two minutes is up, its a choice to ignore the start marshall. So he’s earned an exclusion. Very simple.

Just did. Ha ha

Exclude them under the 2 minutes then, if it's expired.

Jordan Tyrer, Saul Bulley, or for experience go for David Speight. There is, also, your mate, Mason Searsby who are all not fixed up yet.

My all time favourite rider.

I can understand why people don't want to spend their money, it's their money, they do what they want with it If I really liked a drink, for example, and they changed the ingredients in the drink, and I didn't like it anymore, I wouldn't keep buying it just because it was my favourite before, I would stop, same theory applies for sports teams, music, just about anything, so I can see where these people are coming from, me however, I know I will still love watching the speedway on a Sunday night And think it's still worth the money

Sounds like a typical first meeting some riders better than expected others no so good, mechanical gremlins that need ironing out overall a good night's entertainment. It isn't what happens on the first meeting that define your season.

Re the gardening - it serves no purpose to insist the rider remains on the bike. The 2 minutes is 2 minutes whether they are on the bike or doing a dance around it...

Jenga in talking sh*te shocker but its only banter isn't it. On another subject breaking news Jenga has found another brain cell to go with the one he already had , Joined up writing should now be achievable with lots of practice. Hopefully in years to come the dribbling will stop fully which should save a fortune in washing powder cleaning his bibs.

What a load of old tosh as usual, well happy with the performance from the Robins also for the Aces Bewley/Tungate had bike problems.Zach has just comeback from a serious back injury these meetings are there to blow away the cobwebs and get ready for the league programme.

Its seems the original talk of rollers being allowed isnt so. The only change appears to be tape touching exclusion now for any part of rider or bike touching tapes rather than just the bike.....

Couldn't agree more! Roynon has in the past performed really well at Brough even though I do recall he has had at least one spill with his enthusiasm to wind it on full blast on the outside line. He would undoubtedly be a gamble, but George has in the past proved doubters wrong with his ability to take calculated risks. If it is Roynon, I'm sure his team mates and the crowd will be very supportive and give him every opportunity to shine as our Number 1

Looks like the guy is a waste of space.Cant see Glasgow being messed about.

As an old fuddy duddy (see photo on left) I can remember the heady days when those pesky foreigners weren't allowed in the 2nd tier and we were that flush with British talent that Barry Briggs and co rode for Great Britain. But hey ho, that's another argument entirely. What I'm trying to say is the sport was a joke, even when it shouldn't have been. Reading the posts on here is like watching people arguing over a relatives death bed. The sport is on it's knees in this country, the best thing to do is enjoy it while you can, if you can ignore the nonsense going on in the background that is.

Pretty sure he got a big signing on deal from Glasgow wonder if they will get it back

which to be fair is correct,any official body can only be interested in an official contract,any thin classed as unofficial should be nothing to the with an Official body

Bloody Hell I'm sure you are Jenga in disguise

Everyone needs to stop overreacting to Tungate's performance imo. Obviously something big went wrong in his first heat. Couldn't fix the problem by his next Heat and got excluded under 2 mins. Then he was virtually playing catch up whilst having problems with his bike/bikes all night long. Just a bad night at the office and tbh its a nothing meeting anyway. All about getting rid of the rust and getting some laps in before the real stuff starts.

The rule is a good thing. It's just a case of the riders getting into the habit of staying ON their bikes at the start line. In saying that, ALL tracks should have a 2 minute clock on track.

I'm not moaning, how about you stop telling people that they should support the club no matter what and let them decide for themselves. Maybe you should have a name change to Winditin. For the record as well, I have been going since the seventies, through the good times and the bad times and want nothing but Newcastle to succeed and see them challenging for honours year on year but I am also a realist and know that it is not also possible. I don't expect us to have a fantastic team every year but like to see a team which I feel is worth watching and to that, I am not going to just hand my money over to watch a poor team week after week just for the sake of it. Couldn't agree more. I love speedway and love watching it but I'm not going to religiously pay the money to watch rubbishe every week. Nobody no matter whether your a diehard or an occasional supporter wants to turn up to watch a team get turned over week after week. I appreciate that the season has not started yet and we do not know how well the riders signed are going to perform, but if you judge them against other teams, Glasgow, Ippo and Sheffield it does not bode well.

I have to agree - I had written him off before a wheel had turned. One swallow does not make a summer but if he can keep it up - he may not be replaced early doors

I really cannot understand why anyone can not blame the riders for not knowing the rules. Imagine the uproar if a footballer didn't know the offside rule or a rugby player was ignorant of the high tackle rule. They are supposedly professionals. People in any walk of life should know the rules of their employment. Yes the team manager should make sure the riders know the rules. From tweets last night, the riders were told by their respective managers, which proved exactly how much notice they take of them As for the need for such a rule, that's beside the point. I assume they thought it would speed up meetings, which it won't. Anyway if we have to blame someone for the rule the blame lies purely at the feet (or should that be the shovel) of one Tai Woffinden

Mmmmmmm.... Atmosphere at a high octane, adrenaline fuelled sporting event? No doubt infused by fans' noise and engagement to what they are watching? Now that there is a 'novel' idea..... Wonder if it will ever catch on? Who knows, if it does, maybe some fans would go back the next time to sample some more of the same?.... Nah... What am I thinking?....

I just don't see what the purpose of this rule is. If riders are at the tapes and ready to race by the end of the 2 minutes, what is the issue?

The riders had been told of the new rule but as Fricke said "old habits die hard". Overall, there was much less gardening so maybe the new rule has achieved it's purpose although we probably need the evidence of more than one meeting before making a judgement.

Yes. I suspect it may not be about him, let's give the lad a break and move on.

The die hards found out that he only attended when it was deep and hounded him out, he became disillusioned with speedway and now lives a solitary life in a pigeon cree with only distant memories and a jason king framed photograph to keep him going. :-(

We moan at the BSPA for not being professional but the riders really should read the rule book. The fans know the new rules why dont the riders. Almost as if they don't care.

Too late after losing 3/4 home matches the damage will have already been done.

It isn't a dream team for sure but you have a 1 to 7 to start the season - you may find it won't be your 1-7 for ever besides the sport is about racing - not necessarily winning - if they put a show on that's worth the admission

Fully agree. If Newman was ever going to achieve anything like that level in the top flight he would be dominating in the 2nd tier by now. In fact the last season's he has dropped year on year in the 2nd division. 6.84 (2015), 6.31 (2016), 6.10 (2017). A good reserve , and pretty poor second string in the top flight. That's pretty much his level. No doubt he had ambitions much higher than that and injuries have halted process but not to the level of top flight heat leader. I don't. I will be waiting to mock you if you fail.

meetings @ Glasgow , riders will be allowed extra time because of the weed situation on the back straight . they will have to kick out at least 2 weeds before they are allowed to make their way to the start gate . ITS A JOKE GIRLS !

Doesn't give us long to find a 2 pointer. I expect we may use Ryan McDonald for the first meeting, although it will be tough against the strong Monarch reserves

Sick of listening to idiots (young and old) ranting and hijacking this thread. Here are some facts. Birmingham are being vilified (by some) for trying to use the rules in their favour. (Well DUH!) when no-one REALLY knows which rider they have been trying to sign, its all supposition. Even if it is the rider in question it would appear that they have only tried to stay within the rules. Something that many other sports would recognise. (Cricket and Rugby spring to mind.) Birmingham have been vilified for not bringing youngsters on. Well, I could of course point out that recently we had the youngest team in the league and (possibly) of all time. But that was under previous management so does not point to what the current management are doing. The current management have joined the MDL to bring on juniors and have stated that is a big aim of theirs. This despite the severe restrictions placed upon Birmingham via the planning permision. This should be applauded. But here is the crux of the matter for me. Why should any team in the NL (with the exception of Belle Vue) spend money and time and effort on developing ANY rider when they are not allowed to profit from such investment. Until the NL is allowed to gain assetts via such investment then they have NO incentive to develop any rider. Why spend that money and then let the boys from the higher leagues just step in and gain an assett without having developed that rider. Its wrong and does not help supporters to become emotionally attached to their team. The incentive is to sign Riders that have all ready developed and shown form at this level.

Hope every club in the league downloads the King's Lynn anthem and plays it when the Stars come visiting. Should demoralise the KL riders.

Point proven stick in the mud the reason the sports ruined .it's all foreigners fault isn't it there's no one watching the sport is the reason it's on its knees because it's not been allowed to progress and get with the times like other sports because old fuddy duddys are so out of touch with the modern world it's untrue