Ben91

Tai was never known as a gater at Rye to be fair. Kasper is a hard rider which is positive. From his last spell at Rye my only criticism other than his poor gating would be that he doesn't like to try the outside and just plugs away trying to push the bloke infront out of the way. That may have changed last season of course.

Can't see that. Always a danger with riders like Charles Wright that one thing goes wrong mentally and they'll plummet. Seems a rider very dependant on confidence to perform.

Sheffield have made a very good start to team building. Why ruin it by signing Risager. When he first dropped down I expected he'd be a good PL heatleader but he's fallen well short. If you go with Bates and Ellis at reserve then your tail is too long IMO as well. Don't get the hype over Josh Bates personally and I think Ellis would perform better with a strong partner to cover him if he has a poor meeting. Hope Sheffield have a good season in 2015, the signings made so far are pointing towards that happening.

Bowen Morley Mason Chessell Harris Watts Sheppard Possible line up, fits under the current points limit, would need rejigging if that changes obviously and not taking the situation regarding Bowen's eligibility into account.

Benny Johansson. Case closed.

Which I do agree with. You can't compare Jakobsen and Palovaara on just one meeting though. Using a low averaged assessed rider from overseas is more likely to displace a young Brit from a team spot than using an assessed rider on a seven point figure. Look at Palovaara and Konopka, they'll both probably be in Premier League reserve spots next year, why them and not say Sarjeant and Clegg for instance who are probably every bit as good on track. My views on assessed riders haven't changed because we have signed one, I'd personally like to see assessed riders revert to their assessed figure if they don't meet it across the season.

Not at all. I don't think Jakobsen will meet his average, I said as much in the post you quoted. I never said Lunna was rubbish either but by all means catastrophize.

Will reserve judgement on Jakobsen til I see him but can't say I'm overwhelmed by the side. Be surprised if he meets his assessed figure. Too many ifs around the side again. If Bowen can get going again. If Boxall has settled back in and has decent machinery. If Nelson will improve after a season away. If Garrity will ride to his true potential. If Jakobsen will be competitive. If Kasper has learnt to gate.

When Glasgow signed Palovaara this season I looked at his results from his Swedish racing and said on this forum there's no way he'd be anywhere near his assessed average and was just another second rate import. I was shot down by most Glasgow fans. Palovaara averages south of 3 points a meeting. I was right. Didn't need a YouTube video. The sad thing is that he will be back in 2015 probably and taking a young Brit's spot on his 3 point average. The same as Konopka at Redcar. If Lunna averages over 3 he has done well, which begs the question: why not use a 3 point Brit?

He's always seemed to be a veteran, well for as long as I can remember at least! Can't see him having any issues carrying on for a couple more seasons either as long as he steers clear of injury!

WUFFY WUF... Linus Sundstrom.

Tony Atkin is 48 I believe and has recently said he wants to carry on for another two years.

I agree with you on this definitely. The riders who raced in the FTD seemed to benefit from having more meetings, so why not let riders such as Ellis race NL too? As long as there is an age or experience cap on these lads racing in the NL then I can see no problem with that. A lower points limit would stop all these top end riders ending up at a few clubs and hopefully they'd be evenly spread out and doing their NL racing for experience more than for earning.

I don't think they do to be honest Chopper, if the points limit goes down allowing more young riders to come through the standalone sides will still be able to try and build winning sides within this points limit. The way I see it is that the more old hands allowed in the league the bigger the gulf will become between the top sides and the bottom sides and the league will then be less competitive as a result. Fantastic news that the two clubs have been saved.

Klindt is at his level. If we sign him and he gets dialled into the Rye track well he might put his figure up to about seven. Might. It's still not a signing I'd be averse to as he'd be forming part of a back up trio to Kennett with Garrity and Nelson. Reserves will be key, Greenwood is a must and he needs a strong partner from the off. Hopefully we'll see Boxall at reserve and then a rider around the 6 point mark to complete the side. Then we should always have a strong reserve and Greenwood's improvement will be a bonus.

Because Cook is still seen as improving but King and Barker are seen as having reached their level I would imagine. The bloke is a class rider and good for the PL. If he gets contracts abroad I'd still have no issues with him being in a PL and EL team.

Kennett, Garrity, Nelson and Greenwood totals 24.41 which leaves 18.09 for the remaining 3 riders if the points limit remains 42.5. Add in Boxall's 5.36 and we're at 29.77 with 12.73 left. If we retain Boxall then it must simply be at reserve. The rumored addition of Klindt on 6.68 would leave 6.05 for the last rider.

I see no problem in tracking Sheppard who is a Rye asset. I've not seen him ride for a while so can't comment on his ability but regular league meetings would only help him. With the news that Scunthorpe are not running NL in 2015 I wouldn't be surprised to see Arron Mogridge in the Raiders side too.

There's plenty of riders around. Luke Harris will hopefully be the first name on the team sheet. Can see a return for Ben Morley too as Kent will need to lose one of their top three and Morley is a Rye asset. Would like to see Danny Ayres too but he'll probably be back at Kent as well considering he is their asset as far as I know. Possibly a space for Luke Bowen as well as his average fits. Morley, Bowen and 5 up and coming riders would be perfect IMO, want to see the Raiders develop riders not just go out to try win the NL.

EL average divided by 0.6 is the quickest way to work out conversions, times by 0.6 to work out PL to EL.

Speaking of rumours: Kennett, Garrity, Klindt, Boxall, Bowen, Greenwood and an other, either Nelson or a new Aussie.

If Wolbert had finished the season on the 5.86 he was carrying until October's greensheets he'd be a no brainer for the Monarchs. On his 6.19, even though it is only 0.33 higher, he would be a little bit of a gamble. Edinburgh are the sort of team that take gambles though, look at Worrall and Sedgmen this year, nobody would have seen them both finishing north of seven point averages. Pretty certain the Monarchs will be challenging to retain their title next year, the promotion know how to build strong sides.

Got a paid maximum in his first meeting for us, a challenge v Somerset at home. Threatened to come good but never did, was a shame. He's in my 7 because he was bad for us, no two ways about it. Just like some of the others there's no doubting they were good riders in their time just didn't click at Rye.

Think a majority of these rode at number 2 with a few exceptions but my worst 7 modern era Rockets would be: Ross Brady R/R, Ray Morton, Lee Smethills, Ritchie Hawkins, Robbie Kessler, Simon Lambert and Kurt Shields.

Robson is one of the first names on that team sheet surely. I never saw Hubbard or Cox so couldn't comment on them but I'd have Robson in over King, Sundstrom, Kennett and Roynon certainly if we're going on what they did while in a Rye race jacket.