Ben91

Branford has made his biggest strides in the last season and is still young. Certainly nowhere near peaking yet IMO. I've seen Busch ride, considering he's nearly 30 I'd suggest if he's not riding consistently well by now he's going to struggle to do so going forward. From a team building point of view I'd want the rider that will add the most points to his average in 2017, for me that's Branford. He's a different prospect now to when he was at Redcar before from what I've seen. Watching him then and comparing it to his showings last year for Rye House it would be hard to believe he is the same rider. Hope the Bears have a good season, the team looks competitive, if the bottom end clicks it could be there or thereabouts for sure, the fans definitely deserve to see the side do well.

I can't see how anyone would pick Busch over Branford who was averaging over six in the PL last year, two points more than Busch achieved, but each to their own.

People have been moaning for the last however many years that there aren't enough riders around, now there is a surplus. That says to me that we didn't need doubling up for the coming season or at least there should have been a cap. When the likes of Morley, Stefan Nielsen etc. may not have a club in either of the top two divisions at the start of the year and the likes of Busch, Grondal, Gappmaier and Wallner are on similar averages and have team spots that is unacceptable. I'm not against overseas riders, they enrich the product but when there is a homegrown rider just as good, if not better that could fill the team spot then they should be given that chance. Two rounds of fixtures in both divisions mean that riders are getting plenty of rides having just one club in 2017. So far there are seven riders declared in sides at both levels, five at Coventry granted, those are: Danny King, Jason Garrity, Lasse Bjerre, Lewis Kerr, Josh Bates, Jack Holder and Kyle Howarth. There are riders around that are completely unattached and could have taken a a spot from one of these riders at one of their clubs. If we had a scenario where riders were not riding for a team in each division it would give the play-offs more legitimacy for one and also open up the potential for a cup competition encompassing both divisions which equals more fixtures.

Hall's the key man in the team. He's had an awful couple of years but generally before that has been a solid second string in the second tier. If he can recapture that form he'll relegate Busch to reserve for the duration and the Bears will have a solid top five and decent enough reserves when compared to the other teams. It certainly looks competitive. If they'd swapped the bottom three for their asset Rob Branford, Ben Morley (who doesn't look to have a place currently) and a two pointer then it would be a lot better side IMO.

If the top four all ride as they can it is the best top four in the division without question (even without seeing what some other sides are going to declare).

Branford has improved massively in the last two seasons in my opinion. He averaged over six in his meetings for the Rockets last season, his average is only 4.60 because of his carried over scores from 2015 at Edinburgh not being knocked off by his guest appearances before he signed on as a full time Rocket this year. I fully agree with the second part of your post about there not being any three pointers around that will do much better than a two pointer, however retaining Branford has been received well pretty much universally by Rye fans, and rightly so in my opinion. In the second tier he is on a bargain average, while in the top league he is on an average he should hopefully be able to retain, which should be seen as a success given the high points limit that has been put into place.

Are you joking? Branford is the best rider there by a long stretch. Averaged over six in the PL last year for Rye House.

He rode seven meetings and averaged 5.6 in the PL in 2015. So his rolling average shows that over the last three seasons at that level he has been a five point rider. As SCB has said he will generally average the same in either league because he relies on his gating ability. I don't believe he will improve by much over half a point in this division, a major factor will be where he rides his home meetings.

Looks a decent side, King will do very well again. Schlein should maintain his average at least but could make a mockery of it. Covatti should be maintaining his average too. Newman should be expected to improve in 2017, if he can't do that in a weaker league riding lower down the order than he was at Plymouth then he's reached his level. Heeps was pretty much Rye House's third heatleader last season, a year away will have benefitted him I'd imagine, he'll put his starting figure up as fifth averaged rider. I'd have had him back at Rye if we were in the second tier still. Two two-pointers could be seen as a gamble but most sides will be lining up with one at least and Hume and Mountain are as good as, if not better than the others declared so far. The Witches will be there or there abouts barring injuries IMO.

Not a good team. Two poor reserves to accommodate Lambert and Worrall who will both be missing a fair few meetings again I'd imagine.

The averages being used are the ones attained in PL racing though, Klindt has a five point PL average for a reason, a similar figure to Kerr, Bates, Sarjeant etc. Most people averages around six in the EL, because the race format was awful. So to say he is that much better than them is simply not true, particularly when the Premiership is going to be slightly stronger PL teams as opposed to weaker EL sides. Klindt won't be averaging 1.5 more than them in 2017 in the Premiership.

Most people averaged around six in the EL last year because of the heat format, Klindt spent time at reserve, second string and heatleader. That just backs up the point that he can get out in some heats and beat top riders and in others he can look outclassed by NL standard opposition. As I said, Leicester being a gaters paradise helped him in the EL, the three point difference between his home and away averages is testament to that. As for being a couple of points better than other riders on similar averages, I don't buy that for a second. He's certainly not two points better than the likes of Kerr, Bates and Sarjeant who have already been declared at Coventry for example.

I've said it here countless times, it should be an experience limit not an age limit. It's perfectly easy to work out and implement, each team can only have one rider who has been riding for 5+ years for example as opposed to one over 25 year-old per team.

I don't understand why people think Klindt is going to make a mockery of his average. His average went up in the EL because his home track was a gater's paradise and he's a gating tart. He averaged over eight at home and about five away, take him away from a track like Leicester and he's going to average between 5-6, that's why his average riding for Scunthorpe isn't higher.

The numbers game. Kent have already signed Bowen, they're more likely to release Ayres than Shanes because Ayres needs a shoulder operation according to some posts on here and Shanes is younger as well. I doubt Morris and Clegg will return for Cradley and having Chessell as number one would be a big gamble, signing him on his current average even would be a gamble IMO, so Ayres would be a good fit. I can see the Brummies lining up with Bacon, Hume, JPB, Smith and then filling the rest of the gaps. Unless Bacon is going elsewhere then they could bring Ritchings back and have Hopwood too, that'd be a solid top five although without an out and out number one at the start of the year.

In this league Morris is a heatleader, people need to stop looking at is as a weakened EL, it is a strengthened PL, in the PL Nick Morris is a heatleader without question. http://speedwaygb.co/news.php?extend.31552 "It means riders who only raced in the Elite League last season will see their average increased by a factor of 1.4 to bring them in line with Premier League averages." Morris has an EL average from last year so it should be converted, it is the most recent representation of his ability. If we go down the lines of letting him in on his 2015 PL average then there would be an argument for Adam Ellis being allowed to use his last PL figure.

Not a fan of Bates personally but he is on a good average for next year. He's stepped up into the 1-5 and held his figure roughly, this year is make or break for him in the second tier, he's had his bedding in season as a second string, now he needs to put a point on his average at least. I think he'll do it Sheffield look to be building a very decent team so far, they should be there or thereabouts come the end of the season barring any team building nightmares with the remaining three.

No overseas rubbish thanks, Castagna, Holub, Stachyra? What's the point? They're pants and just taking a space we could use to develop one of our own riders. Shanes at Poole has to be the yardstick. We need to be signing a rider as good or better than him as our number seven. For me that is a rider of a similar standard but one that can get out of the traps. If we can get a two pointer who can beat his opposite number in heat two and maybe pop out of the gate in another heat and nick a point then we'll have done a good job in recruiting our last rider. Any more is a bonus.

One swallow doesn't make a summer. A good prospect by all means but there are better fits for Rye House.

Shanes is an entertainer at NL level, but he doesn't like the Rye track and can't gate for toffee. Would like to see what he can do in the Championship first, still not sure if he'll develop into a Bomber or a Tom Brown.

I hope Priest and Halsey are not even in the thoughts of the promotion, both have had chances at second tier Speedway and not cut the mustard. I doubt either would do a job in the Championship next year, let alone the Premiership. Zach Wajknecht or Ellis Perks would be the best bets for using up the points available, I'd lean towards Wajknecht as he could be made an asset now Lakeside have stepped out of the top division. It all really depends on if one of those two could do better than a Hume, JPB or Bacon across a season. Of the riders that would start on a two point average my choice would be Hume. I guess it depends on how his relationship is with the promotion after his last minute departure from the Raiders side and the Rye House asset base in 2016.

His average in meetings for the Rockets was over six. Have to take in to account that includes guest appearances and that his final greensheets figure is a rolling average including meetings from 2015 when he was at Edinburgh.

Pleased with the signing of Branford, plenty of potential and there's plenty of experience in the pits for him to soak up. He's on a reasonable starting average, was averaging over six last year in the PL, and I'd expect him to at least maintain his starting figure given the slight step up in standard of opposition. If he gets a Championship spot too I can see him coming on leaps and bounds in 2017. Obviously this means no Ben Morley, hopefully he'll get fixed up in the Championship, on his average he should be a wanted man. It'll be interesting to see his progression and if he can stake a claim for a reserve berth with the Rockets in 2018.

It doesn't fit, if we have to have one then it'd be Branford all day long. Priest is a career NL rider, he's been around for a long time and had plenty of cracks at the PL without making an impression, would be a poor signing in the top division. He's a good rider but there are a lot of better prospects out there that are the same age/younger.

He's been around for about 13 years now and people still can't spell his name. Boxall, no H.