Ben91

The top four will do the majority of the scoring, Hume and JPB have improvement in them too. Hay may take some time to get going, there's pressure on Cuppit to step up to the mark if the Brummies want to retain their title I think.

Stoneman's average makes him a gamble. The Kings need him to maintain his starting figure and Hopwood to return to his usual 7-8 point average to stand any chance of success.

Woods is a solid signing for Mildenhall. He may never make it to the top of the sport but he'll get stuck in and can average around 4 if he eradicates the silly falls from his game. Like the look of this side.

Poor, poor signings. Mason's only going one way and isn't an entertaining rider. I suspect there's nothing that Mason can offer in the pits experience wise that Morley couldn't offer to be perfectly honest. On top of that the team has Kelvin Tatum in the pits to give wisdom. Laurence has been around nearly 10 years and is still a three point reserve. Piles the pressure on Hunter and Bowtell who could have been trump cards but now it looks like they are going to have to perform.

Said most Rye House fans for the best part of the last 12-13 years. Looks like Steve is happy to ride for enjoyment now if he is just going to do NL for Plymouth. Funnily enough we may see the best Boxall we have for a long time with not too much pressure on his shoulders. Shame he never kicked on he could have been a decent EL rider without a doubt if not better.

Every penny's a prisoner and all that, especially when running a Speedway club I'd imagine. It's a shame that being able to get a programme or not would put you off attending at all.

You can't fit Lanham in now. However if you'd signed Lanham instead of Morley for example you'd have a better rider on a lower average, Lanham averaged 4.34 in the Premier League last season compared to Morley's 3.85 while Lanham's NL average would be 8.68 compared to Morley's 9.22. This would also leave more points to play with lower down the order meaning David Mason's name wouldn't even be in the frame. As a standalone NL club you have to look to win, not solely develop riders. With Wajtknecht, Bowtell and Hunter, plus whoever the two reserves may be there will be plenty of younger riders at Lakeside next year, one older rider leading from the front would only be a help to the younger team members.

I hope not, he's not ready to do just the top two divisions yet. As a Rye fan I'd like to see him have a NL berth so he can get some vital heat wins under his belt to keep confidence up, there are going to be times when points are going to be hard to come by in the Premiership and Championship for him.

It's almost as if they don't want to print too many and make a loss on printing costs.

He's probably on a three because the last time he rode in the league for Sittingbourne he didn't do very well. Thought he was going to be a very good rider when he first came through at Rye in 2004/5 and had a PL outing or two. Chances were hard to come by though as during those seasons the likes of Tommy Allen, Steve Boxall, Joel Parsons, Luke Bowen and Barry Burchatt were also on the scene. Should put a point on a three point average, if not more.

Lakeside need a third averaged rider than can up his average and not leave Morley and Wajtknecht to do the bulk of the team's scoring. Mason is not that man. Morley is experienced enough to be classed as the 'old hand' at Lakeside, despite him only being 22. He's raced in the PL regularly and has had a go in the EL since the introduction of the draft reserves a few years back too.

You'd start Bickley at reserve with the Woodhull that the promotion think is the worse of the two in the 1-5. If Bickley is as good as the hype then he'll be in the 1-5 once the first set of averages come out anyway.

The Brummies top four is the best declared so far by a long way. Bacon, Hume and JPB will all stake a claim for the number one race jacket, while if Ritchings can manage to do the same then the bottom end deficiencies shouldn't hurt their cause too much. Smith would have been a better signing than Ritchings of course, with a lower starting figure and more room for improvement, but Ritchings realistically will probably be a second string for most of the year. Key man will be Cupitt, if he kicks on then Birmingham will take some stopping again.

Hurry last rode in the EL, no way should he be allowed in to the bottom division on a five point average.

Said before I don't get the Cupitt hype but he did well for the IOW at the tail end of last season. Better rider than some of the others the Brummies could have signed. He has momentum so does the team, could work out well for both parties.

Bjerre (while he was available) and any seven point rider would have been a better option from day one than Holder and a two/three pointer though. Not only would they score more combined than Holder and the two/three pointer it would also give Lynn two strong reserves at all times.

The current SGB logos are pretty similar to the PDC darts logos, that said it is better than logo number one which is basically Word Art. The fact that it is proving the most popular so far is scary because it is pretty much something a child could have created on Microsoft Word 98.

Kings Lynn could have had Bjerre and Schlein instead of Holder and their two pointer (probably Bailey). Would have been a much stronger team. Remains to be seen how well Holder does but the reason he hasn't been retained by Poole is because his average is unachievable, that's no different for him at Kings Lynn and Poole will be the ones to benefit when he goes back there for 2018.

Looks like the Brummies are going for a more strength in depth approach but that's a decent top three. If Smith returns that's a very good top four but could lead to problems at the bottom end if the Brummies can't secure at least one of the better three pointers that are coming through. They'll be there or thereabouts again I'm sure.

I was listing riders that are active still.

Absolutely no way Tai should be given a testimonial. They get chucked out here there and everywhere as it is, should be for riders who have raced for one club, not just been an asset of, for ten consecutive seasons. The rest of the Tai bashing is just people using this as an excuse to shoehorn in reasons why they don't like him. He's one of the best in the world, it'd be nice if he rode in the British final and for Team GB again but that's another matter entirely and certain facets (not all) of that argument from his point of view do make sense.

Plenty of riders have progressed in the sport after being at Rye House during the early stages of their careers, Edward Kennett, Danny King, Jason Garrity, Tai Woffinden etc. are the standouts off the top of my head. Boxall and Bowen are back in the NL but both have been PL riders for the majority of their careers, Boxall flirted with the EL and really had the potential to be decent top level rider in Britain but for one reason or another it never materialised. Strong top two for the Hammers, two good prospects further down the order too, although I can see two three pointers if they want to have a decent third heatleader.

We had him at Rye this season and he did struggle granted, but he's on an attractive average should he drop in to the NL. I'm hoping to see Morley fixed up as he's a Rye rider but Lanham's average has more scope for improvement in it at NL level. That's the name of the game when it comes to building a team.

Of course it was 2015, getting my years mixed up! Now the points limit is known I'd expect the Hammers to be pretty quick on the team building front. I'd expect the Hammers to be trying to secure Leigh Lanham on an 8.68 average, although if Morley is signed up that could leave them pretty top heavy, increasing the pressure on Hunter and Bowtell.

Sounds to me like he was struggling to make the sport pay just riding in the NL. I assume now he has signed for Berwick he'll be looking for a NL spot too to keep riding regularly. What happens if he is dropped by Berwick during the season will remain to be seen however.