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If Sheffield win this I'd say there are 2 Clubs virtually assured of the play-offs & 3 clubs fighting for the last 2 spots (Belle Vue, King's Lynn & Leicester). I don't think Belle Vue look a great team this year, but there home form is why I'd normally rank them higher than teams with similar strength.

I agree if he wants to move on in world Speedway needs to leave the Champ behind.

Not a chance, would have to drop multiple riders to make the team fit. Yes Ben Cook is a stronger rider than Kerr. Yes Poole are weaker than last season. But they can't ignore the points limit, which many fans don't seem to get. Not just in the forum on fb too.

In theory Hagon should be far too strong for the NL/NT. He had a 10+ NL average last year & the league has weakened considerably. With a 4+ Champ average, I commend him for leaving the development leagues behind. His slow start to the season would not normally be a massive concern while he was at reserve, it would be fair to believe he'll come good, but riding at number 3 is a big ask.

With Oxford strengthening up & Birmingham weakening, this should be a double Oxford victory.

That was the most sensible post I've every read from you till I saw the predictions lol!

Hagon can still ride in NL/NT. Anyone who rode in 2024 is eligible for 2025.

If Berwick replaced Hagon they'd have 5.42 available. At reserve i'd expect him to pick up his scores. In the top 5 can't see him scoring more than what he's doing currently.

I didn't see the matches nor have I seen Bastien walking with a limp. My comments are based on Bastien saying he is fit enough to ride.

I can't avoid comparing Starke's scores to Foord's this season. Poole could've kept Foord but let him go (nothing to do with the points limit), be interesting to see how that works out over the full season.

I agree, 3 stronger riders have gone elsewhere, Kerr, Cook & Sedgmen. I don't know if Brummies tried them, but I'd rate them all ahead of Castagna & Hume.

Obviously not, but unless you can name a stronger alternative, can't question the Monarchs reason for choosing Marson as a guest.

A few people (possibly even Crump & Rickardsson said it) tried to make it sound like Lambert was his main challenger after "getting the monkey off his back" with a first GP win. But the very next round he failed to make the semi final. I can't see anyone getting close to Zmarzlik, feel he's gonna be the first rider to win 7 world titles. Probably more of injury doesn't stop him.

I agree Vuolas has been very disappointing, but I wouldn't expect Hume to be an improvement. I guess if it saves money on air fares I can understand it, as the difference in points scored will not be great.

Birmingham had 9.66 available to replace Zagar. Could've picked anyone in the world, apparently Castagna was the strongest rider willing to come? If they had known Gusts was getting dropped, I'd have given him a shot ahead of Hume tbh

I think Killeen has done ok this season, but I don't understand why they took him out of the draft & "saved" him for 2025. Officially they could've picked Jordan Jenkins as "RS".

As poor as Tungate has been he's still got a higher 2025 average than Gusts riding in a tougher position. The team is stronger picking Tungate ahead of Gusts. If there is a 7+ rider willing to come over then Tungate could get dropped too.

I agree with it, I'm pretty sure they asset system would never hold up in court if it was challenged. But feel there should be some reward for NL/NT teams who bring on riders, who then go elsewhere.

It seems 99% of the fans on the Oxford fb page are against the change, plenty give good reasons such as Gusts is promising, hasn't had enough time, Cook is unreliable etc but they all seem to be missing a big point THE SPIRES HAVE LOST EVERY MATCH THIS SEASON. Now if they were a mid-table side or just missed out on the play-offs, all of those reasons would have been valid, but Oxford couldn't afford to do nothing. Quite a few also pointed out Tungate has been poor & should have been replaced with another heat leader instead - but none of them seem to realise there's no heat leaders out there willing to come over, otherwise Sheffield would have signed one. None of them were able to suggest a heat leader either.

I echo Bitza's remarks, can Lewi reply to where it has been explained on the forum?

That's a bit of a daft comment. If you're gonna post that the asset system has changed & affects Poole, surely you'd expect forum users to have a discussion about it? That's what the forum is for. So to then not explain the situation seems really odd to me. Why post a "conversation starter" without enough information for people to have a conversation about it?

I think the plan was Castagna for Vuolas, which makes sense. But they couldn't do that while Zagar was in the 1-7. I'm sure when a club drops a rider they can't bring him back "without management committee approval". I'm this case it's not like Birmingham were attempting to fiddle the averages, so I'm 99.99% sure Zagar would be allowed back. Last year Zach Cook was re-signed after being dropped & that was allowed.

Edinburgh can't remove Max from their team till they have a replacement, even if they found one after a week, I assume Max would still have to sit out his 28 day ban. Maybe the rules are to blame for this more than Edinburgh. As for Berwick, I think 2 matches isn't enough for any rider to prove their worth, unless Bastien said he was struggling & wanted to be replaced, think Berwick should've given him longer in the team.

I think if / when Zagar returns it'll be in place of Hume.

I know people like to exaggerate but they would romp the Champ with that side imo