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I disagree with that, most team managers stick with their riding order & don't change it depending on the opposition. When Berwick were at Belle Vue, the Bullets had a weaker rider at 3 & a stronger rider at 4, but Belle Vue still had their strongest middle order rider at 3!

You can say that again again lol!

You can say that again

Think Edinburgh have got their riding order wrong with Spooner at 3 & Roynon at 4 tbh. If Roynon is the 9 point man Edinburgh are hoping for he should win heat 12 or 14. Whereas Hagon is much closer to Spooner's ability so heat 12 is now 50/50, but putting Spooner at 4, would mean a bigger chance of him beating Marson in heat 14!

Totally agree with you, Speedway can't demand Wednesdays be left for them every week from March to October when they only have a minimum of 11 matches this year (will be more once Poole qualify for later rounds). A multi-use stadium has to be the best chance of surviving!

Just as well clubs didn't vote for 2 home & 2 away matches. Where would they have fitted in all the rain offs?

A few thoughts, Kemp just posted his highest ever Championship average in 2022 so can't say he didn't make a step forward (not so successful in the Prem but wasn't in an RS position). Using their Championship averages as a guide, Rowe & Kemp could not improve, stay at around 5 & still be stronger than Joe T! I'd say a 5 point rider is better than a 3.5 rider who ups to 4.5? In the Champ it makes sense for Scunthorpe to sign Joe, because they have a points limit to build to, not quite the same in the Prem with the RS rule!

All I can go by was the announcement they "we're going another way / trying something new etc" I'm guessing Louis is trying to be polite & not publicise any flaws he sees in Kemp or Rowe, but the bottom line remains, he willingly picked a weaker RS (as did Belle Vue)

Not sure I can agree with all your points. When Stoney qualified for the GPs the top 10 from the meeting qualified (he finished 3rd) so it was easier to get in, plus the field was 24 riders, so the lower end of the GPs wasn't as strong. However I reckon both Stoney & Cook should be applauded for qualifying as Premier League / Championship riders. Also Cook would've qualified again if the qualifiers were as they were in Stoney's era (i.e no wild cards) as Cook finished 4th but was overlooked for those below him. It's tough to judge if the 2nd Division was stronger in Stoney's time or not. For example heat leaders in the 2000s would only be reserves / second strings in the Elite league. Whereas now Premiership heat leaders also race in the Championship. Does this mean the current period is stronger, or that the top division is now weaker? As there is no definitive answer, all I can go by is the stats! Even if people still feel Stoney / Wilson were better division 2 riders than Cook, they must admit there's not a lot in it, saying Cook "isn't fit to lace their boots" is far from the truth!

Gotta disagree with the last sentence, if it was a 5 point reserve like Jakobsen or Kerr then yes, the team has been built to score well at reserve. But you can't just pick a lower averaged reserve & expect him to score well just because he's stronger than the RS! Also Ipswich wouldn't have needed so much from Hume, if they gave him a stronger reserve partner!

Then Louis has to take the blame for Ipswich being weak at reserve! Rather than avoid stronger riders, why not work with them to improve their attitudes - if that's why they weren't signed?

Gotta disagree there, while I don't approve of Cook's recent actions, at his best he had far higher averages than Stonehewer or Wilson did.

I often wonder why team managers very rarely swap the riding order around based on the opposition or track they are racing on. The anti- Richie Worrall crowd are almost suggesting Richie only did well because he's a Leicester track expert. So why didn't Peterborough use that to their advantage by swapping riders around? If Peterborough's riding order is based on having the stronger second string (Basso) at 4, why not swap them around so the stronger second string at Leicester (Worrall) rode at 4? Or they could've put Richie at 2 so he'd get his r/r in heat 13 (or put NKI at 2 & RW at 5, so they'd both still be in heat 13?). I find it a tad dull that 90% of team managers make no changes match to match! Look at Wolves, Nicholls at Monmore Green vs away is a very different rider, but they've just stuck him in Luke Becker's team spot & as far as I can tell put no real thought into it?

Ipswich could have chosen from two 5 point Championship riders (Kemp or Rowe) but chose a 3.5 Champ rider in Joe T. I'm sure they had their reasons, but those reasons CANNOT be making the team as strong as possible! For the record, I don't blame Joe T for the loss, he did what I explain to do, beat anyone of equal or lower standard in the meeting, unfortunately for him, there were none in this meeting.

Well done KK

Well done to Richie Worrall, I'm glad the Panthers promotion didn't listen to some on here who were desperate to see him dropped after ONE match. Will we get an "I was wrong" post lol!

That would make sense, so naturally won't happen lol!

Do you have a link to the rule change, I'm sure I read the exact opposite.

Not sure i agree with Plymouth's riding order (Starke at 3, Barker at 4). With Oxford having weak second strings, Plymouth should have an advantage in that position. I'd fancy both Starke or Barker to win heat 14, but see little chance of Starke beating Nicholls in heat 12!

Totally agree, why would they try & hide something that's legal?

If Hume goes in heat 1 & beats Blodorn, then beats Mulford (or guest) in heat 2, I'd be putting him in heat 8. As much as a team has a plan, there's no reason for the TM to have to stick to it.

I think a lot of the fuss is because Wolves kept the whole thing secret, even after the 12 noon match was cancelled, they still posted a team with Nicholls in for the 8pm match. 1) to me keeping it a secret sound like they have something to hide (i.e breaking rules) 2) why not advertise Harris - might bring more fans through the gate!

If Leicester aren't offering a date, just have a one-off final at Poole. Home advantage cancelling out Leicester's stronger team? Joe T from the cubs can replace Lawson for Leicester!

Personally I find it hard to take the competition seriously, when one team is allowed to strengthen up to Premiership strength. As it is a "Championship" final would it not make sense for Leicester to include a couple of their NL side to compete at Championship strength?

Why no James Wright?