greyhoundp

Take a look at my avtar Shadds, thats a normal Dudley crowd for home meetings, i am somewhere middle right

Yeah, 4 i think; Daniel 2, Ash, and Byron, we need to iron these out, they could cost us eventually, but a big well done to both teams.

No objections whatsoever against Garrity riding in the NL, he is attemting to make the step up to PL and needs the confidence boost and regular track time the NL rides will give him, after all its not as if the guy is a PL Heat leader, YET.

It is anything but pointless, it shows he cares for his Team, and he is right Buxton are a rider short of being competitive, however i think the answer from Jayne and Jack may be, Buxton cannot sign Steve Jones due to the 1 rider over 30 rule.

Firstly i would like to thank Midland Robin for taking the time to give his explanation above. Financial support for riders is difficult to implement, especially at NL level, because as MR pointed out, it is not wise to give this to a particular rider as other riders could maybe think why is he favoured over me?. Then the Club could also say we support him because he is OUR asset. Track Spare is where i would see the best form of help available to all the riders, and not an overly expensive cost at that, especially when set off against Tax, and we have good guy out there to set it up in Janno. As i said elsewhere it is all well and good if a rider borrows a bike from another rider ie Ashley Morris lent Daniel Greenwood his for a race, but what happens if the said borrowed Bike is damaged ?, then the unlucky rider has not only his bike to repair, but the Bike he borrowed to repair also, now if it were a track spare, then the repair and upkeep can be carried by The Promotion or whoever. The rider concerned can invest his spare cash into his own No1 machinery knowing full well there is a track spare available, and he doesnt have to split his hard earned cash between buying and maintaining two bikes, which he can possibly ill afford to do. The advantage of a Track spare is also that it is available to ALL the riders, is not seen as favouritism, and other tracks cant possibly view it as The Heathens throwing money around to buy whatever success they may or may not achieve, indeed it is giving valuable additional support to there riders on Track, in helping the Heathens riders to achieve the points return that there talents deserve, and giving success to the supporters without whom none of it would be achievable. Yes, HSSC do a fantastic job, and i am sure supporters and riders alike appreciate all of the hard work put in throughout the 12 months of the year.

I will repeat again it seems that its definately Time for The Heathens management,to consider investing in a Track spare, Dan, only has one bike, Darryl cant afford better equipment, jeez just look at the crowds again this season, reguarly 1000 I wish they could try to help the riders out rather than giving it to the Tax man. Whilst i have my opinions, We are eternally grateful for CVS and Gary, Nigel P, and Wolverhampton Speedway, without whom we wouldnt have any Speedway to watch.

great meeting some excellent racing, i wouldnt say The Fen Tigers were Ommered, they were beat, but not beaten, in the early stages the Heathens built up a useful lead, but led by Nathan Stoneman, people rave about 15 year old Cameron Heeps, but boy this kid aint far behind, not afraid to get stuck in, one for the future most definately. The Fen Tigers gradually pegged back the Heathens, kept the tie alive right up until the last few heats. Cant do a full report, Im cream crackered finished a 12 hour shift,shot over to Monmore, but well done to both Teams, and hope JJ aint to badly injured.

And if i recall, last week on updates at KL v The Heathens in the NL, it said riders struggled early on, something about to much grip..there maybe a point coming to the fore here, are the youngsters not used to having shale on a Track ??.

Just checking what i said earlier about NL prospects, Ben Reade and Tom Young, just to say Tom has beaten both Richie Worall and Adam Roynon at Scunthorpe this year, that in itself is NO mean feat, is he ready for the PL? well he wont be any worse than Franchetti.

Paper doesnt win matches though june, riders do, and think ahead to 12 months from now, we will be minus Adam, your "Kids" will have 12 months more experience, which is why maybe i thought we should have gone with another 3 pointer, but the majority of fans didnt want that, they prefered to have Daryll at reserve, my opinion for what it is worth is it always best long term to try and go with two "kids" at reserve, as you have done, this will bring continuity to the teams. We next season will have to have a new No1 and possibly at least another 1 "kid" remember you also have Olly Greenwood to come in, who i notice by the way, was born just up the road from us .

Ksiesak alone may not change the situation, but what about a double change for JH & GF what points would that give you ?, for instance RK for JH would it leave you with another 3+ rider or still only a 3 pointer. Looking at Ksiezaks average and his australian form,it seems to me he and JH are about the same ability, i dont see the need to make change for changes sake, but maybe sacrificing JH to get a higher average reserve may be the way to go, or indeed perhaps RK would be that reserve.

Your reserves problem, or should i say reserve problem ie Franchetti 2 riders in the NL who have really come on this year are Ben Read and Tom Young, Tom is practically unrecognisable from last year, are they ready for the PL?, well they certainly wouldnt allow a rider to fall, and then catch and beat them that really should be the end when that happens.

Well done to Scunny for giving The Heathens a tremendous fight, and i think you could rightly maybe claim a moral victory, well done to our guys for hanging on in there, and being in a position in the end to be in a position to claim the points when luck went our way. Yes, we were missing Tom P, but Scunny were missing Steve Worall, and couldnt track Tom Young <unbeaten> for Ht 15, so for Dudley to say they werent lucky is being somewhat blinkered IMO. I myself prefer to say the scoring of Daniel Greenwood is papering over some cracks at the moment. Thats my opinion and i am sticking with it, if others opinion differs then thats there perogative.

Bob, your opinion so fair enough, up until KL at home we have had riders not on it, as the modern terminology is. They were and they wont mind me saying so, Byron Bekker, Daryll Ritchings, and JWW who won his first race at Monmore Wood last Tuesday, so on Sunday and next Tuesday we will see if these three riders are back on song. Myself i think we just have the edge over Stoke, there success story has been Ben Reade, otherwise they may have struggled, but an injury to Jamie Pickard hasnt helped. Mildenhall or us, i am not sure, i will have a better idea after next week, but to be sure there doesnt seem to be much between the 3 Teams.

Nothing is won Leaguewise in May , so there is one here not counting any Chickens. One thing i omitted to mention earlier was well done to Ashley Morris for lending his bike to Dan Greenwood, when Dans bike packed up on the line in his last race.. Which brings me onto a topic i have often thought about, years ago Teams used to have a Track spare Bike, it appears Daniel only has one bike <Finances> I know he did three jobs just to be able just to buy a Bike to get back in to the Sport. The Heathens have to be one of the most profitable Teams in British Speedway, and these youngsters put all of there spare money into maintaing Bikes, WHY dont The Heathens invest in a Track spare ? no need for a GP standard Bike, but one that is adequate for the job intended. I am No accountant but i would guess this could be claimed back from HMIR, everyone would gain, the rider, the team, the supporters. Seeing the Heathens crowds which seem slightly up, it should be something messrs Pearson, CVS and Patchet should consider, and are well able to afford. Come on management dont be so stingy... Hmmm, and Byron is 2 years younger than JWW, and Royno is 23.They are our elder statesmen, the rest are Teenagers, dear oh dear we have a team of golden oldies, I am sure the average age of the Heathens compares favourably with most other NL Teams.

I have just looked at the next round Semi Finals The Heathens and IOW semi finals are being held on the 12th June & 3rd July, the other Semi Mildenhall v Stoke when ?, one leg is being held on the 26th August the other has not yet been agreed, I think it is a ridiculous situation especially when the last round was ridden on May 2nd, that is more than 3 months between rounds of the competition, that will mean if there is a rain off, we will be in to September, when its looking likely that at least 3 of these Teams, possibly all of them, will be into Semis, Finals, Play Offs, and 3 of them are also in the NT Trophy. Pee up and Brewery come to mind, to my way of thinking, the Semis should be done and dusted by the end of July thereby allowing the Final to be held during late August, early September. I believe here and now that there will be fixture congestion, and when you take in to account there are only 8 teams this is a ridiculous situation in prospect, poor poor fixture planning.

Hmmm, guess Tom will be speaking to himself out in the Ukraine, cant see many english speaking guys in that field with him, it will be a toughie for him, but all good experience, and there is no doubting he has the ability.

Cradley heath.the stadium was a dump, but the track was superb for racing, the Fans well for some they may be an aquired taste, ask Middlo . The Shay, great atmosphere. and i would say Blackbird Road.

Yes Fourenteen, that is the phenomenem that Is a Heathens Fan, its what Various Councillors have failed to grasp over the years, its what is known sometimes as blind loyalty, we may not some of us be the brightest sparks on the planet, me included, but trying to explain what being a Heathens fan means is difficult, but maybe i can describe it as losing one of the family when we lost our Stadium, and when eric returns for his "Night with eric" on July 20th i can assure you all it will be a fantastic night, and i for one am looking forward to this great evening, with my all time Hero, of years gone by, who brought me so many great moments on a speedway track, from the time he first appeared in this country as an unknown reserve, and went on to become one of the Sports all time greats, and Cradleys greatest ever rider in terms of World championships won.

Soul crew, you are ALIVE, listen mate come along next week against The Fen Tigers, you will see a different meeting to last night, last season they beat us at Monmore Wood, the Mildenhall Track aint unlike Monmore, and they have a first leg lead albeit slight, so that will be as different a meeting as chalk and cheese, who will win that one ? well of course i am bound to say The Heathens, but in no way will it be a forgone conclusion, and i am sure The Fen Tigers will be out to put one over on us again, and theres NO saying that they wont.

Oh dear, i felt sorry for The Young stars, they caught the Heathens on a Hot Night <i didnt mean the Sun> all the Heathens riders seemed up for this, and it was the best all round Team performance in a long while, the only hiccup was when Dan Greenwood fell in his last race, no weak links in that Chain, all the riders won a race, they all looked competitive, Daryll looked like the Daryll we know, Byron got some confidence back, JWW showed speed, and won well, Daniel continued the almost astonishing re-birth of his speedway career, and Ash and Royno both scored a max, Tom <who> Perry was hardly missed on this occasion. For the Stars they gated well but were usually passed by the 3rd bend, this track is so different to there own, They never gave up trying and they need just put this down to experience; Kerr, Knight and BJ tried there best, Tom Stokes looks a nice prospect, and Adam Lowe has a nice style but his bike seemed down on power, and yes i dare say it, James cockle WAS badly missed, Young stars will come up against few teams in this kind of form during the rest of the season. As for Sportsmanship the minutes silence was impecabley observed; never heard a single Boo when the Teams were introduced, and whenever a Star won a race they were applauded generously, so much for the DREADED Heathen element, i just hope Soul Crew survived the trip to Monmore. This was the starter, next week sees the Main course, against another East Anglian Team in the shape of the Fen Tigers from Mildenhall, in the 2nd leg of the Shield, that should be one heck of a meeting, dont miss it Folks.

Is it guestimating time ? ok i will go for 55 - 35 to The Heathens.

Yeah, watch the joker on the centre green, proper funny guy, especially likes to take the wotsit, but he can take it as well, you are most welcome at Monmore anytime, but watch out for the Red Indians likely to be wearing there war paint. may i suggest you stand on the stadium roof, you should be safe their, on second thoughts NO, you might get thrown off. Who can Take Toms rides, is it only riders with a lower average than Tom ? or is it 1 above and any below ?.

Monmore is vastly different to the Norfolk Arena, so i expect home advantage to see us through, we should be able to cover for Tom when we are at home, but if we need to use RR when we are away, then thats a different ball game. I am particuarly looking forward to see if BB and DR have come to grips with there machinery tonight, though they have both won some races this year, on the whole they have not got the points i expected them to score so far this year, and Daryll in particular has not been at his fastest, Ash is coming back to the Ash we know he can be so a lot will rest on him tonight, Royno i expect to give his usual captains performance, on and off track, hopefully he can get JWW going alongside him in the difficult No2 role, Danny Boy at No7 has been the big plus for us so far this season, but without putting any pressure on him, any score of 3+ will be enough. For the Young stars, hopefully Jake Knight will rediscover last seasons form, and i am particuarly looking forward to seeing Adam Lowe riding. Good luck to everyone and stay safe.

There you go guys Jerran Hart, just released by Scunthorpe, now he can win races,and get occasional double figures, Mr Bowden needs to move fast, and get him in quickly, does his average fit 4.40?, and when are the new averages out ? soon i think, and that may be the time to make a move.