greyhoundp

Well young Adam Ellis certainly has made people take notice, for such an ineperienced rider to score so well on a Track he has only probably seen on Tv is remarkable whichever way you view it. I am sure there were a few promoters searching around for his contact details today . Does his background in France give him an advantage over our youngsters ?, I dont know, but he has set out his stall now, and well done to him, hopefully IOW can keep him for 2013, his signing alone will give them a great start for next year, meanwhile good luck to them in the semi final play offs.

Its Dudleys fault Montie is sooooooo blinkered. but he knows it doesnt take much to wind up Heathens fans. Oh and just as a matter of interest Stoke would have been my last choice, My preference would have been the IOW, as though i believe they could beat us at there Track, i doubt they could have kept OUR score down at Monmore Wood. Many would have liked us to have taken on the favourites <Mildenhall> first, and got them out of the way. Stoke could be something of a Banana skin, Ashley Birks, can beat anyone Home or Away, Ben Reade has probably increased his average more than any other rider in the NL, Tony Atkin only needs to have his bikes right, and make a few gates, James Cockle to find his best form, and all of those riders are well capable of hitting double figure points, young Liam Carr at reserve can pick up 4 or 5 points especially at home, we beat them at Gloomer road by 6 points, but Ashley Birks pulled out after 1 or 2 rides with iIlness, last season we got ommered by them Home and Away, if their Track is prepared for the Home riders <which it should be> then this could be a tough task ahead.

I think thats the young man, thanks mate, i just wondered why we had not seen him in one of your Teams so far.

Seems like its Heathens V Stoke, which leaves IOW v Mildenhall, good luck to ALL riders and Teams.

Vog, i read in last weeks Halesowen News a Rider the name of Jones, has signed for Stoke for next season, background of either Motocross or Grasstrack, naturally of interest to us, as he is from the Dudley area, would this be for the MDL Team ?.

Would that be why The Heathens signed Joe, as oposed to another popular PL rider, ie possible PL play off & Cup comps, whereas Joe won,t have that problem riding for Sheffield.

Surely there is NO need for Jayne to attend every meeting?, i think she looks in on here most days, generally answers questions that fans have, Buxton or NL related. I think it would be a sad loss to lose Buxton from the NL, or indeed lose Buxton full stop, its such a pity there is No one out there who is interested in supporting/sponsoring the venue, I am sure it would be an ideal venue for a BSPA training facility, where each EL/PL Team could send one youngster for intensive training, not supply the riders with equipment, but send them for Training every weekend, with Static Caravans on site so that they could sleep over on weekends from Mid April to October, and the income from that would help to keep Buxton, maybe not thriving, but existing, and help British Speedway generally, at the same time, In addition other young riders could book in knowing they will get valuable Track time over the weekend, and pay there own costs. Cloud cuckoo land ? No it need not cost a fortune for the BSPA.

I was impressed with young Connor, when i saw him ride at Dudley afew weeks ago, he seems to have stepped up from that, judging by his points scored, well done young un.

To be honest, i dont see why a solution to Stadium availability cannot be found, Ladbrokes the owners of Monmore Wood would not only receive more regular rental income, but also the added benefit of additional Bar and Fast food takings, the only possible drawback to this, is would Wolves possibly lose some of their support, if some supporters had to choose between say an unattractive Home meeting against maybe Belle Vue, or the following night watch say The Heathens V Workington/Somerset or a PL big gun ?. Also in my Opinion a switch to a Sunday raceday would be far more attractive, than a midweek evening meeting, and would attract more away supporters, but i can assure everyone out there, most Heathens fans want to see PL racing, probably more so than want to see EL racing. Good value ? at £10 quid it is tremendous Value, a season ticket costs £100 or £110 now i think it went up last season, so £15 in these hard times is a big jump, some fans would probably pick & choose which meetings they watched.

Man for man I would say, Heeps 10 V Haines 9, For me Cam very, very, very slightly edges this. Jacobs 8 V Greenwood 6, This is definately JJ having the edge. Nielsen 9 V Perry 9, Two of the most exciting youngsters in the country, Nielsen for his gating. Halsey 5 V Bekker 7, Byron clearly has the edge in this match up. Blackbird 8 V Morris 9, again almost to close to call but, Morris very,very slightly. Terry-Daley 3 V Ritchings 6, Have to give this to Ritchings, clearly. Isherwood 5 V White-Williams 4, Isherwood has the edge. So to summarise; Nielsen, Jacobs and Blackbird are all riding in a rich vein of form at this moment in time, Perry, Morris and Bekker and more or less cancel each other out, but i give a slight edge to Mildenhall, the imponderables are Heeps <been injured> and Haines <not ridden yet>, Halsey and Greenwood, are about on par, Isherwood and RT, again are pretty evenly matched Ritchings is the better rider, Isherwood is better than WW, but much could depend on how RT does at home, or on how WW goes at Monmore Wood. So maybe NO clear favourite, but definately The Fen Tigers have the edge over us, Trophy wise, and all to play for still. Should be some feisty meetings, with much loud banter, and hopefully good natured comments from BOTH sets of supporters, incidentally i am reffering to the KO Cup final, play off Semis, still have to be decided.

Great to hear that Dale.

This pay situation is nothing new, however where the difference seems to be is there are fewer Heat leaders around, for the lesser Teams shall we say, and yes Dudley are perhaps in a position to offer more money for a rider to drop down, One only has to look at the Under 19,s at Sheffield to see the rider shortage, There was Nielsen, Jacobs, Morris, Perry, Morley, Sarjeant, The remainder were either 1st or 2nd season riders, mostly reserves, so just what is the make up of the present NL Teams ? with regards age, yes we have the current 1 rider per Team over 30, but then there are the riders who have been around for a number of years but are still only 2nd string come reserves, but enough of age restrictions, maybe its time to look at how many "Heat Leaders" make up a Team, combined with a points limit reduction, perhaps a 38 point limit could be looked at I do believe we will see, some Teams drop out of the NL, IMO there must be doubts over KL, Scunny, RH, and though i am surprised to see Stoke mentioned in this Topic, Teams have to be viable, Buxton have always struggled because of there location, IOW i think will remain, which leaves Mildenhall & Dudley, or all of the so called stand alones. Will there be any NEW kids on the block?, it wouldnt surprise me in the least to see Plymouth drop down, especially if Bowden remains in charge, so there may be a 6 Team League, just about viable with, perhaps the NT to fill up the fixture list.

Nigel Pearson said recently on Radio WM, that nothing has been ruled out for 2013, and discussions will take place, at the end of the season, but we must remember whilst the 16 meetings per season is in place, only the NL can accomodate us. With regards a new home of our own, there seems to be two offers of land from landowners, now wether or not they are suitable to gain PP remains to be seen, however it seems to me to be to late to firstly conclude any sort of agreement with these landowners, in time to go through the various hoops Councils require to obtain planning permission in time for the 2013 season.

Seriously Shadders, we do have some weaknesses, and i have an horrible feeling, I just hope it is wrong, You know Stefan and JJ will both be feeling very confident, that they can beat our Heat Leaders, especially after the Under 19 result. We have chances obviously, some of our supporters think we only have to turn up to win, myself i am far from of that opinion.

With Adam being injured, Mildenhalls,Stefan 1st and JJ 3rd, in the Under 19,s, The Heathens Ashley 2nd & Tom 4th, I think this confirms just what a difficult task The Heathens will have to beat Favourites Mildenhall in the KO Cup and possibly the Play Offs. Young Mister Nielsen when he gates, and he does so very reguarly is more than a match for anyone in this league, and could be the No1 rider in the NL come 2013, JJ is riding better than i have ever seen him ride, Cameron is due back from injury anytime now, IMO those three just shade The Heathens present Top three, mainly due to there gating ability. For the Heathens a big responsibility lies on the shoulders of the next 3; Byron Becker a vastly experienced NL campaigner, Dan Greenwood who seems to be coming to terms with his elevation to the main body of the Team, and Daryll Ritchings, who for me has had a season of consolidation, rather than the break through that i expected from him, this has been proven by him spending most of the season down at reserve. The No7,s here The Heathens may just have the edge with JWW another eperienced NL campaigner, who has reached his level, but is able to win a race or two, but is just as likely to get beat by one of the younger opponents, such as Connor Coles, even on his home Track. So i have NO reason to change my original opinion of Mildenhall being favourites, and Mr M,s belief of The Heathens being huge favourites, is i think wide of the mark.

Ha so what do we call their OWN ?. Monmore owned by Labrokes, Swindon owned by Stadia Uk, Poole same as Swindon, Birmingham & Belle Vue owned by Risk Capital Partners, Workington owned by Rugby Club, the list is endless, so i am sure knowing Speedway this is only a technicality. Unless there is a ruling which says "Sole use off" the main problem we have with Monmore Green is we are limited to 16 meetings per season, as per the agreement either with Ladbrokes or CVS.

Classic case of a none British rider, keeping a British rider out for NO justifiable reason, and not for 1 season either.

This signing is obviously going to raise a few eyebrows here and there, but lets look at it in the cold light of day, The Heathens have lost their Captain and talisman in Adam Roynon, do we just use a Guest, R.R or sign an unattached 3 pointer, or as we have done, a rider who is still Young Qualifies and if i am not mistaken < a Wolves asset>?, so as CVS is joint promoter at The Heathens, Joe is not totally unlinked to us, so good luck Joe. The season is coming to a climax, with Play Offs and KO Cup final to come, if we went with an unattached 3 pointer, this could have been seen as unfair on the other 6 Heathens, who have earned, and deserve an oportunity to win some silverware, to go with R.R is too risky in case another injury is picked up, the remaining 5 riders would not adequately cover 2 injured riders, and the guest options are limited due to the fact the Guests for Royno, are more than likely to be involved in these self same high profile meetings. I have a feeling Mildenhall & Stoke would have made the same choice, if Cam Heeps or Ashley Birks were out with likely season ending injuries. Lets be totally honest here, most of us would have prefered to see Adam uninjured, and riding in these meetings, he earned and deserved this oportunity, and it looks more than likely he will once again miss out, through his cruel injury Jinx, but i would hope that at least in the KO Cup Final, we may be able to host the 2nd leg at Home, and have enough of a lead to name Adam in the Team, and that he could take a ride or 2, even if it were a token gesture, this in my opinion would be a fitting gesture to end his time at the Heathens, and one that he deserves and has earned.

yep 47-43 Danny Stoneman 9.

Forgive me, if we are irelevance, but in the spirit of your reply, Cam & Lewis Reserves .Oh you must have mistaken this for being a PL Topic.

They have never tried to find us anywhere, nor even attempted to, indeed many feel they have put obstacles in the way, and only ever given lip service to us at best. In my Opinion, there are only 1 or 2 possible vacant locations in Dudley Borough suitable for hosting Speedway, and at least one of those doesnt want the land used for Speedway, but prefers future Industrial use, again in my humble Opinion we would be better looking outside of Dudley for a possible location, because any time spent searching or talking in/to Dudley is wasted time, which when i last spoke with Nigel Pearson he said they were awaiting a meeting with Dudley Council, yes Dudley may eventually speak, but that is all they will do, and even that "is in there own time" and with little hope or prospect of anything new, except for the usual "Dudley Council support the return of The Heathens, at a location suitable for Speedway" which has been the case ever since the demise of Dudley Wood.

From what i saw of your recent visit to Monmore Wood, you have more than enough to beat The Heathens, JJ is riding better than i have ever seen him ride, Nielsen can beat anyone in the NL, Halsey is more than adequate as a 2nd string come 3rd Heat Leader, Blackbird is on form at the right time, and is as good 3rd heat leader as any Team has in the NL, it was only a lowish score from your Guest No1 as opposed to what Cam would likely have got which let you down, so your top 5 seem to be equal if not slightly better than The Heathens Top 5, especially with Royno likely to not be fit to ride, or not 100%, so yes maybe you will need a decent reserve, but all will not be lost with RTD, and AN Other at reserve, but obviously not as strong as having Stoneman or Bates, just as we are likely to not be as strong with the likelihood of not having Royno as rider and Captain, but first there is the small matter of P/O Semi Finals to negotiate.

It only says Scunthorpe Saints <NL> are into the play off spots, it does not confirm it 100%. http://www.speedwayg...hp?extend.17658 In another item it confirms Scunthorpe Scorpions <PL> have a guaranteed play off place, still i think all to ride for, any two of three to get the final play off spots, basically if Scunny win at Rye they are guaranteed a place, if the islanders get a win at KL then they may get a place, if stoke take a win it might be them, to many permutations, and i cant be bothered to work them all out. , and it does not help matters if the play off date is unknown. Lots of Heathens fans want us to take on Mildenhall 1st, myself because we have a 3 week lay off, i would go for an easier option, though its debatable if their is one.

hahaha, i know where you are coming from Montie, but a trip to the IOW, is much nicer than to scunny on sea

I said earlier in the season, that this would happen, 7 home meetings, over 5 months, and it cant get done! only speedway can do this.