Arch Stanton

Think Cook would do that job well. Doyle and King as the top 2 would take some pressure off Cook and a Cook/Riss partnership in the engine room at 3 and 4 would be a good one Doyle Heeps Cook Riss King Starke Kemp Still like the look of that team and it fits

Flappy’s team is 2 and a half points under the limit, he must be wrong surely..

Stick him at 2 and pair him with Doyle. Might help pull him along.

Agree and I can understand some not willing to take the risk as you never know what Cam is going to turn up. He returned after the winter a few times in a horrible state, totally unprofessional. Thankfully, whether the penny dropped or someone told him in no uncertain terms to sort himself out, the last couple of years he’s come back in great shape so hopefully that will remain the case.

His final average in his only season with Ipswich in the top flight was 6.30 in 2019. If you look on the BSPA website at the strength of the teams involved, they were far stronger than they are now as well so that negates the fact that some of that season was spent at reserve. He won’t be “doing well” to keep a 5.1 average so I’ll respectfully disagree. I still firmly believe that IF he is back, he’ll put a point minimum on his starting average with the caveat that his head isn’t in the clouds..

Nearly every clip uploaded by the club as their highlight race of the night over the last few years involved him grabbing a handful of throttle and going around someone. But as I said in an earlier post, at the start of the year before the injury, we weren’t seeing that. I know Taps has rightly said he was only a couple of points away from holding his starting average before injury, but he never looked right to me, very flat. That could have been machinery related, a slow start due to inactivity for a year because of the gap caused by Covid ( would affect some riders more than others) or could have been a lack of hunger and desire. If it was the latter then that would be the biggest concern as the other reason could be easily overcome. Let’s be honest, Cam’s professionalism and dedication has come in to question in the past and with good reason. He cleaned up at youth level in Australia, came over here at 15 and immediately topped the NL averages with Mildenhall and looked destined for huge things in the sport. Safe to say he’s never got anywhere near fulfilling his huge potential and talent he clearly had/has.

Each to their own obviously, but I’d much rather watch the likes of Heeps battling for second or thirds than robotic trappers like Klindt who although will win more races and therefore give the team a better chance of success, but will bore you to tears in the process.

Plenty of time for that. He’s still only 26 years old believe it or not

Strange as I would have thought Cam would have been right up your street to be honest. Whenever the BSPA release their “race of the night” on social media, the ones of us nearly always involve Cam. Fair enough if you don’t think he’ll improve his average, but I’d have thought you’d have wanted him for the entertainment value around Foxhall. Let’s be honest, he’s pretty much the only one we’ve had in recent years that offers that. Covatti was the last one before him.

Agree, which is why it makes sense to include him. Don’t think he’d be as much of a bargain for anyone else than he would for us, due to his liking of Foxhall. Last chance saloon though..

He dropped a point and a half off his starting average in an ever weakening league, he was dreadful hence why he was axed. If one of the “lads” was axed you know he’s been pants. I’m very much like you though. A lot of fans love to see continuity and have the same old faces back year after year, I get bored quite easily and prefer to see plenty of new fresh faces come March. Heeps I have a bit of a soft spot for though, I love his style (except this year) around Foxhall. He’s one of the few riders who grabs a handful of throttle, scrapes the boards and always looks for the pass. I enjoy watching him.

Would be happy with either if the others were Buttons team and not Flappy’s! I’m not against Heeps being included like others seem to be, his average now looks a good one. Edit: Let’s not start putting both Cook AND Crump back in the line up, poor old Taps will start having another meltdown

Buttons team looks bang on, I make it 38.84 for his top 6 of Doyle, King, Cook, Riss, Heeps and Starke. That team is a play off banker and is blatantly doable if we’ve secured both Doyle and Riss. The others seem easy deals to make! If we end up with Flappy’s team and end up a few points below the limit then questions should rightly be asked of Louis.

It can’t be right then surely?? Starke in the main body and Rowe and Kemp at reserve looks awfully weak and far too long a tail. Starke at reserve fair enough, I could live with that. Old Flappy boy seems extremely confident though..

Much better and agree, would be contenders. Others have confidence that the team posted earlier is the one though..

Kind of looks like a top 2, a second string and 4 reserves

Is that what’s happening here though? Think you’re being a bit harsh. The team you’ve put up may well be correct, but as Louis says “still to dot the i’s and cross the t’s” so maybe contracts and legal stuff hasn’t all been completed. Not going to announce anything until that is done.

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4.80.

Wonder if Crump has knocked it on the head again then, or gone elsewhere

Doyle and King is a great spearhead, although little to no improvement in their current average. So that’s where the likes of Riss and Heeps come in. First reaction is to say no because they’ve both had poor years (Heeps worse than poor, he’s been absolutely dreadful), but the perverse way speedway works make them ideal signings. Riss on 5.26 looks very good value, he dropped around a point and a half on his starting average and looks a good bet on his current figure. He’s better than 5.26. Heeps is a bit more tricky to work out, what on earth happened to him this year? He was mostly pants in the championship too. The question is, is it a permanent slide in to oblivion, or just a really bad year that he’ll put right next season and put a point and a half back on to his average and get back to being a solid mid 6 pointer? One thing you could nearly always guarantee with Heeps, was that his Foxhall form was good, and he was probably the most entertaining rider we had on home soil. But even that deserted him this year before he was axed. He’s never been particularly good away. Risky. Starke? Never fault him for effort, but I don’t see much if any improvement there average wise especially if he’s going to be in the main body. Not sure on Rowe either. Started like a train but tailed off pretty quickly and rather alarmingly. Injuries didn’t help of course so perhaps we have to factor that in. Whoever makes up the other 5, we’re gonna have a bit of a tail with Doyle and King up top. King deserves his place, had a very consistent season in both leagues, but his average now of just shy of 8 looks pretty off putting really. Maybe Doyle has gone elsewhere

Championship racing it is then. Good to have Oxford back.

So no traditional AGM this year, all rules have already been agreed, and it’s a 39 points limit for 6 riders plus A rising star. 6 team Premiership remains although “extra competitions” have been added to increase fixtures.

Do you know when this AGM is Neil? It’s either a closely guarded secret this year or they haven’t arranged a date yet!

That’s an obvious downside, but their owners are very ambitious and I wouldn’t be surprised if they decide to give it a crack.