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If Leicester were afraid of getting beaten, could have taken Spencer as a number 8 & given him a few rides once they knew they had won!

If you call off matches in June for a spot of rain, then you'll be racing these fixtures in a wet October, not able to cancel them as there's no dates left!

With Leicester likely to get a mammoth win at Newcastle, could they not have given one of their NL riders the guest booking? Tom Spencer perhaps? Not sure they can suggest these are the Lions of the future, but not have the faith to give them Championship outings?

I'm guessing that riding order means Newcastle have read comments by fans on the forum / Facebook & decided to use r/r for Starke & not Wethers?

It's a must win if Glasgow want to be in the top 2, it's a nothing match if Glasgow want to finish in the top 6!

The 7 point loss won't cost Plymouth in their play-off hunt, but it must be frustrating to come so close to a point & miss out. That's sport for you!

But take those 2 riders out & NL teams will be even weaker, making the gulf to the Champ even bigger & too big a bridge to gap. Look at Ablitt, a NL heat leader who struggles to average above 2.00 in the Champ. Can't see how making NL even easier for him would transfer to performing better in the Champ. I think there's a case for allowing riders the likes of Roynon & Complin's standard to race in the NL. When a rider can beat these guys frequently they know they're ready to step up!

Gotta be a riders last average. When Morley signed for Plymouth it was using his final 2021 ave (- 2.5% reduction).

If King's Lynn are serious about wanting to win the league, they should approach Connor Bailey or Dan Thompson to become their RS. Not sure Belle Vue or Sheffield would be keen to let their riders go, but I imagine the riders would rather race every week than be a non-riding number 8! If their clubs won't release them Jason Edwards must be best option! Tbh Mulford should go too, mainly because if Thomas had got injured just before the play-offs, Lynn would have to draft in number 8 Mulford, a rider who has only ridden in the NL for Belle Vue. While using Mulford might be considered what the number 8 position should be used for, if you wanna win the league, should be looking at riders like Shanes or Clegg. These two may never make it to the top (Mulford could) but they'll score more in the Prem just now!

3 home & 3 away needed now for a first average

I just find it hard to believe the Newcastle promotion / team manager could be that clueless about the rules, they'd be using r/r for the wrong rider & losing the chance for Wells to get a r/r ride!

100% agree makes no sense. Unless they are trying to lose?

Andersen can guest for Wethers, so makes sense to have r/r for Starke, means everyone can get an extra ride.

There is a 6 man 15 heat formula used in cycle speedway, 9 heats of HL & SS vs HL & SS, then 3 HL heats & 3 SS heats.

Useful point in the play-off chase for Oxford at Redcar today. Looks like 5 clubs are clear, with Edinburgh, Oxford & Scunthorpe challenging for 6th.

On Thursday Nielsen won heat 2, beating Kemp & Flint. He then had two last places, losing to Becker / Douglas & Masters / Worrall. Never raced a reserve again after heat 2. How can anyone expect him to score more than the 3 points he did?

Indeed looking at starting aves Vs 2022 aves, there's a few dropping more off their ave than Nielsen! Tobiasz Musielak 6.21 to 8.50 (+2.29) Connor Mountain 3.14 to 4.38 (+1.24) Kyle Howarth 6.04 to 6.80 (+0.76) Stefan Neilsen 3.00 to 2.89 (-0.11) Adam Ellis 7.92 to 7.65 (-0.27) Jack Holder 8.87 to 7.33 (-1.54) Craig Cook 6.81 to 5.15 (-1.66)

They are not actually weaker by 2 points as Congreave wasn't scoring 4 points a match. The team now has a lower ave, but I'm my view is stronger (by a little)! If Congreave had shown promise there may have been a reason to keep him, but if Grant feels he'll never make it at Champ level - no point in keeping him.

I completely disagree, signing BWD on an 8+ ave has allowed Newcastle to get a high averaged guest every week.

There is no conversion rate, new riders to the Champ will be given a 2.00 ave, regardless on NL ave.

I think the signing of Smith shows, no one is willing to come to Newcastle otherwise they would have signed a stronger rider (8.08 was available to replace Congreave). But I do feel Smith will score more than Congreave so it isn't a waste of time. Even if it means they only lose by 18 points instead of 20 in matches? Not that it matters as I can't see Newcastle using up their spare points, but isn't Jack Smith on a 3.00 ave?

Leicester Lions already lost it? I'm gonna say no!

While Jack Smith for Congreave strengthens Newcastle it's not the change they needed to make to avoid the wooden spoon!

It's better to call it off two weeks early than 2 hours early. If they've tried all avenues to find volunteers, then can't blame them for the early call off!

Very few team managers "think outside of the box" like this, Zagar or Kurtz at 2 would also have protected heat 8, knowing Ipswich were bound to use their strongest r/r in heat 8 (Batchelor). As you say, if you need a heat advantage, giving your strongest rider the best gate isn't a great idea. I've seen it before though, I remember an Ipswich meeting where Tony Rickardsson was given a fresh tyre for heat 15 (r/r in use) he wins the heat & completes a maximum but Ipswich don't get the heat advantage they needed! Just trying to keep their top men happy?