drew2

Jake was already back in Oz on the date of the re-arranged Presentation Night.

I see Jake has signed for Scunny in the CL and with the points limit I reckon he would be great value once again for the Rebels as plenty of scope for average improvement from him.

It was more an issue with the visa Jake was over here on rather than no one wanting him. He was raring to go and wanting to ride his bike during the Rebels PL summer break! Once the visa got sorted he flew around Scunny as we all knew he would.

Somerset on a Friday??

I haven't witnessed him this season at the OTA but he has been a class rider for many years and would be a good signing. I follow Hans on Twitter and he is always honest in his opinion of himself as to how he performed which i also like.

Last season the Rebels Presentation Night was considered too expensive by some, even to celebrate the PL Trophy winning season. This year a 'cheaper' option was planned, as some had requested, but the support was low once again. One difficulty in any club situation, whatever the sport, is pleasing everyone with these type of functions as I well know. Sometimes you just can win! I will openly admit I wasn't planning on attending this event originally due to my work commitments I have over the weekend but that all changed to assist the club as mentioned below. Coupled with the lack of current riders available/fit//willing to attend it was always going to be difficult. If we had stayed with the same one to seven we started the year with, I guess a few more riders (Starkey and Jan) might have also been available to attend (although Rohan is now a SGP reserve on Sat). The usual announcer and his stand in were also unavailable for the re-arranged date so I was actually lined up to stand in for them, (so even that role was requiring a 'NL guest', quite apt really with how the rest of the speedway season has gone!! ) I was actually looking forward to compering it though but was also thinking it might not be an easy 'baptism' for me on the mike. (BTW the way I am just a fan of the club but have plenty of experience of this type of event through my work as a professional golfer) People have said what about holding the event in November but for those of you maybe not that local to Somerset the first Saturday in November is Bridgwater Carnival followed by the Burnham and Highbridge event on the Monday evening. The rest of the Guy Fawkes circuit then follows at various Somerset towns over the next 2 weeks. Trying to run it that weekend would have been very difficult as so many local people are involved in that huge event in some way or another. Travelling around Somerset that weekend isn't easy either. Some of our Aussies would have already returned home as well so wouldn't have been able to attend either by then, especially if they wished to return home in time for their home SGP. Somerset's first year in the top league has been a struggle. The inconsistent fixture list with massive gaps is a joke and I am not sure how that came about to be as bad as it was with all fixtures crammed into the end of August it seems. Somerset almost HAD to move up due to the geographical nature of the setup of the two leagues, which I completely understand, but that brought with it the issues of the weekend of SGP's accounting for certain riders missing more often than they appeared at the OTA. Add that to other rider availability issues of doubling up etc it was a complete mess. Other teams also tried to bully the 'new boys' into fulfilling fixtures at certain times to suit them it seemed to me. I don't think one match all season happened at the OTA without a guest or R/R on one or both sides which is wrong for everyone. I know the Hancock family love their speedway, and along with Garry May, put their heart and soul into running that club but this year has been extremely trying on so many fronts within the sport for them. The frustration maybe boiled over in the statement but that is probably because they love it so much. Whatever the outcome over the winter months within the sport I will certainly be back supporting the club next season along with my family though. I will also now try to support other functions within the club when I possibly can. What happens next as a whole for this sport in GB, who knows though??

and we are all entitled to one of those.

Yeah all those air fares must be great!

Do believe Rebels wanted the 15th but you were scared then as your number one couldn't be bothered as he wanted to ride in some tinpot in Germany instead and you wouldn't get a facility!

Is anyone from Wolverhampton way able to tell me when they wish to try again to race this meeting at Somerset? I guess they have probably already announced it but I haven't seen it yet.

One announcement made me laugh earlier when they were debating the track conditions was that 'Wolverhampton riders were not keen to ride with so many big meetings coming up for them' ......... hang on I guess that was both of them there tonight then??

Jake Allen is back for the Rebels I understand which makes us stronger.

Aren't Peterborough riding anyway??

Looking at the other fixtures on Thursday, the doubling up riders and of course the averages they (Kennett and Starke) are pretty much the only options available to the Rebels as guests. Another great one in the wonderful world of speedway we have Paul Starke, a Somerset asset I believe, who we dropped in May, who rode against us on Monday for Leicester and now is back in Rebels colours three days later. Wonder if he will dust off his team suit from the start of the season for one night only to look the part???

Running the Rebels Golf day yesterday I spent a bit of time in the company of the Belle Vue management team and what a great bunch of guys they are. They have got some great ideas and plans for the club. They need to improve their golf though but that is another story! Regarding Rohan, he was actually due to play in the golf day but called Lemo early in the day to say he couldn't play golf but felt he could ride. I saw Rohan in the pits and he was mostly concerned about gating/starting but reckoned he could ride. His bikes were out of the van and all ready to go. He also showed us the bruise and wow speedway riders are a different breed!! His leg was so so swollen at around 6pm (which a picture was on Twitter) so when they announced nearer the start time that he had been ruled out he wasn't a great surprise to me. Apparently the bruising had got worse as the day had gone on and I ain't no doctor but I can imagine if he had had another fall and hit/damaged that area again (as always seems to happen) he could have been in big trouble. In the end his well being must come first. Ok, the three rider races were not ideal but things change so fast sometimes in speedway. On Tuesday morning, the two line ups absolutely looked fine with Bellego being a decent guest for Bjerre (which he most definitely was!). After Max's accident in Sweden and then Rohan's spill the two teams that actually took to the track looked far from matched equally. The only thing I can see that could have been avoided/improved the situation was the naming of a number 8 for Belle Vue to cover Fricke. As Somerset had no second half racing planned the only other rider there with a bike was the rebels mascot who is under 16 anyway! No team ever seem to name a number 8 anymore for whatever reason and the Rebels suffered a similar fate against Glasgow in the KO Cup last season at home when both BWD and Tom Bacon were ruled out early on when they were already tracking RR for Wrighty!

Looking forward to this one as the 'dessert' after the main course of the 5th Annual Rebels Golf Day tomorrow. Always a good day for the participants and also a good day for the club raising funds to help the club progress and develop. Over 70 players are taking part in the golf day with riders, ex riders, team managers and referees among those taking to the course at Brean tomorrow morning. Lets hope the sun shines and the rain stays well away from the OTA for a change on a Friday night!

I was told it was closed for security reasons as it allowed them to re-locate the staff from those gates to the others to help with searches etc. I was also told it would only be open in an emergency as an exit but I found the route back under the stadium and back out by gate 3 thanks to a helpful steward. Staircase 18 right and right!!

Apologies if i missed the point but are you saying Somerset host a British Final GP round but are not in the 'League'?? May as well get the cows back in the field if that is it! The main stated reason Somerset went up this winter was due to the geographical location of opposition but if Poole and Swindon are included then a stable and well respected setup that Somerset is would get left on a limb. I know the results haven't gone their way this year at home but the meetings i have been to (didn't go to the Poole or Swindon fixtures either when apparently it was packed) the crowds in 2017 seem to have been up on the Premier League days. I get the gist of what you are saying but personally think one big league would be better with weaker Championship teams joining a enhanced NL getting somewhere back to the old BL and NL or the 80's.

And likely to be RR for Porsing now to as suspected broken leg for him in Sweden tonight!

Wrighty also withdrew later in same meeting after a crash.Hopefully nothing too serious for him either as that will have to be R/R for us.

I give up! No idea what the last comment was all about. Let's agree to disagree....

I do watch 'live racing' thanks but have a pretty busy life so unable to travel to watch elsewhere. Anyway when I am lucky enough to have the OTA on the doorstep I don't need to. Just wondering how watching it on You Tube is different to watching it live, surely it is the same race i am watching and the camera doesn't lie??

Just watched a few of those, feeling sleepy now! How boring a track is Rye House? More passes in one lap at the OTA than in entire races up there it seems.

Surely not me presenting the ROTN poison chalice again though??

Yes the team aren't the all conquering version of the PL last season but the racing is still pretty damn good from what i have seen. The club are living within their means and in all honesty were not that far away from winning more points than they currently have on the board with two close defeats at home to Swindon and Kings Lynn. They also didn't get stuffed by a powerful Wolves by as much as Leicester did at home last night. The true fans of Somerset appreciate the good racing win or lose and if you look at our history i think we are going over a similar cycle that we have before once again. When we opened we were CL and struggled but the racing was superb. We improved, won a few things and moved up to PL. We struggled but the racing was superb. We improved and won more Trophies than most in the League and we got used to that regular winning feeling which was a nice bonus. We moved to the Premiership and have struggled but..... We will improve i am sure! Rome wasn't built in a day. One thing that would be nice though is that we get a visiting team with their own seven riders to ride against as opposed to riders missing only to be replaced by OTA specialists each week. I don't blame the teams but the whole system is getting farcial really. No Wells again this week for Rye House but Rooboy is back who was very good for Wolverhampton. Ok with their changes the Somerset double upper situation may change now as others may have priority but the home team have fielded their own riders (barring Paddy once when a guest was denied and RR used) each week I think.