Steve Shovlar

And British riders wouldn't get that riding against continental riders? Why give Aussies a berth that could go to a Brit? Time to put our riders first.

Needs to be the winner of the British Final. Gives the event real meaning.

4-5000.

The top boys will have no trouble getting an eu visa as they are leaders of their sport. Just more paperwork for them.

Kurtz seemed fine at the fans forum on Wednesday. Guess he will be riding. Hope he does better than the last time he rode there!

With the start of the league season just around the corner its time to start a thread about the Elite Shield, with the first leg just over a week away. Looking forward to this and will come up if I possibly can. Two teams expected to make the playoffs come the end of the season. Should be close over the two legs. Wolverhampton. Lindgren Skornicki Thorsell Howarth Masters Clegg Greaves Poole. Kasprzak Holder Anderson Newman Kurtz Klindt Shanes. Not sure if Shanes has ever ridden Monmore. Might very well struggle. Klindt knows it well enough. Thoughts?

Clearly too late for this season but next year a rule can be brought in to stop the flow. Poole will be hit harder than most clubs as we are known as a main user of this source of rider. Time to back the Brits.

Avtar Sandhu as team manager for the day.

A ban wouldn't affect riders already here. Only riders looking to come here from Australia. Lesser riders such as Doolan, Josh G, would not be affected as they are now part and parcel of the scene. The riders who should be banned are the young lads hoping to come over and carve out a career. Why should they be given the opportunity when we have young British lads who can easily be used instead? If the Aussies want to carve out a career, base themselves in Denmark, Sweden or Poland. Let those countries develope the Aussies while we develope our own youngsters. Alternatively, start building up the sport in Australia, make up some teams and get a league going. Yes distance in an issue but it can be achieved with planning. We all moan about the British scene being weak, well lets do something about it starting by training up and bringing on British youngsters. No need to give the Aussies a helping hand. British riders first.

Bookies only saying what we all know. Poole clearly the best looking team at the mo and the bookies backing that up with the odds. Can't see any value there at all.

He is different. He claims he is British. As a world champion who is British he is obligated to ride in the UK. But he snubs his nose at the UK and refuses to give anything back or help promote the sport in the UK. But it wasn't for the UK he would probably be some tattood oik working in Aldi. Yet he can't be arsed to ride in our league unless it suits him (other leagues finished). He can't be arsed to ride in the British Final. He can't even be arsed to ride for his country. He might get the biggest cheer at Cardiff but that's from once a year fans who only attend Cardiff. If they knew how he treats British fans and our league he would certainly hear the boos echoing around Cardiff.

Twice a year? Can only think of Cardiff. Don't forget he now refuses to represent his country. And some still defend him. Unbelievable.

What Woffinden has done to British speedway is beyond contempt. Utter disgrace.

I think the draught scheme was a good idea and the way forward, though needed more tweaking. I don't think its a god idea we end up with riders like Klindt at reserve when it should be a young Brit. And riders like Adam we almost hung out to dry having been lumbered with an excessive average. You can hang that one on Mick Horton who argued vehemently against any adjustment because Adam didn't have a PL average. Whats the betting they have taken the same stance as Matt Ford?

My anger is not with Aussie riders. It is with Poland and the way they class themselves as the be all and end all. The reason I have picked on Aussies is because they come over here, get trained up and if the Poles demand only two leagues next season, you can be sure the UK will get the heave ho as Poland and Sweden are chosen over the country that gave them the break. Much sooner not give the Aussies the chance in the first place and give the spot to a Brit. All well and good saying they are crowd pullers etc, but a young up and coming Brit can be just as well, and represent our nation rather than down under. Theres no reason that in 5 years this country has produced a plethera of great young talent to challenge on the world stage. And ride in our top flight. We have Adam Ellis, Newman, Garrity, Bates, Bewley, Smith, Parkinson-Blackburn and others all coming through. Its the best it has looked in ages. Get rid of journeymen Jonny Foriegner and bring in these lads. The league will be weaker in the short term but we will benefit in the medium to long term. Why train up Aussies when we have our own guys desperate for an opportunity?

Crump, Adams,Boyce, Holder,Holder,Kurtz plus many more

Perhaps thats the way to go. British club bring the Aussie over but the contract stipulates that if he wants to ride in Poland/Sweden they have to pay the British club a large yearly loan fee for his services. Personally it's Brits first for me.

Disagree. There will still be continental riders to challenge the young Brits.

Tv can come along and change dates for a Thursday evening meeting. Also practice is compulsory so hisclub could demand his presence when Swindon are at Leicester. Bad bad weak call by Swindon.

Really though its only the riders from Australia where we have this issue. The USA is dead in the water and all other foreigners have their own leagues to race in. Australia have never had a league system and for decades have used the British leagues for a career. Time for it to end. As for arguing Holder is no longer at Poole is a nonsense. We have two Aussies in our side and whats the betting once trained up they will disappear over the horizon along with Fricke? Time for Brits to come first, second and third. If we did this within five years we will have some great talent representing our country. Let the Poles bring the aussies through.

I have loved watching riders like Holder, Ward, Adams,Crump, etc, learn their trade and strut their stuff in the EL. They all bought something to the sport. But the situation is now changing. With Poland sticking two fingers up to the rest of the leagues out there, it's time to pull the drawbridge up and cut off Aussies from entering the British leagues on their way through to Poland. British riders for British clubs from now on IMO. Let the ones that are already here remain, if they prove to be good enough. But no more young Aussies should find themselves in a team berth to the detriment of a British rider. Last night at the Poole fans forum Brady Kurtz stated he was determined by next year to have a Polish league berth. Plus Sweden is my guess. So he is using Britain as a stepping stone to get to the top, where he will more than likely quit Britain or be forced to by the Poles. Why should Britain nurture Aussies to the detriment of British riders? I can't blame the rider but where is the benefit to British clubs? Once a rider has learnt his trade he is out of here. How many Aussie riders have the Polish clubs brought over and trained up? A big fat ZERO. So why should we now bother? It just makes no sense. You could see Matt Ford was far from happy in the comments Brady Kurtz was making. Well worth watching the periscope footage if you haven't yet. Neil Vatcher stated last night there were some young British lads currently coming through with real ability. Lets use them! We don't need to bring Aussies over. If Aussies want to come over they will have to use Polish clubs instead. And we know that isn't going to happen. Time to stop worrying about the Aussies and look after our own. In 2 or 3 years time we could have a whole load of good Brits filling our sides. Time for it to happen.

Prices have remained the same five years on the bounce. Poole is cheaper than some second division clubs.

Another point brought up tonight is Kyle Newman having around 80 meetings lined up in the uk this season. He might get half a dozen in Poland, and as a minor rider won't be paid similar rates to the top guys, plus its actually difficult to get the actual money originally offered.

Bad news for the Good Friday meetings. Likely there will be no KK at either meeting due to the Polish Golden Helmet. If KK qualifies which is likely, it clashes with the Somerset meetings. As an official Polish meeting we will have a facility but on such a day the choice will be limited.

A point Matt Ford made tonight. How many Australian have Poland signed and brought over and nurtured from the start of their careers? Answer is none. The expect Britain to bring them over, train them up then cherry pick the best and now expect these riders to ditch the UK. Matt was having none of it. He said when he refused to sign, Turuns top guy phoned him up trying a different tac. Matt won't sign full stop. He said Poland have compulsory practice days and riders would miss a meeting in the UK just because a rider was needed for practice on a whim from his Polish club.