Ben91

Time to chuck my thoughts in. Gone for a solid top 5 and two riders who will be strong reserves. 1. Ben Morley © It is a make or break year for Ben. He isn't ready for the Premier League yet. His NL average dropped below 6 at a stage in 2013 which shows this. The fact he finished above 7 shows a strong end to the season though and proves he is capable of performing to a high standard. He has all the attributes to be a very good rider and has great support off track. He's off to Australia this winter which has helped lots of young Brits really kick on. Give him the number one racejacket and let him make it his own. 2. Marc Owen The lad was destined for great things. Unfortunately he had some horrible injuries however he can come back and become a very good rider. He would be a slow burner across the season, perhaps even drop to reserve for a spell but by the end of 2014 he'll be heading back in the right direction. 3. Chris Mills Will come into the NL on a 6 point average, capable of at least 7. Comes from Chelmsford so not a horrendously long journey for him to home meetings, especially after a year of travelling all the way to Workington for home meetings. An experienced head also, a key signing. 4. Benji Compton Shown glimpses of what he's capable of in 2013. Had some poor performances too, if he is on better machinery then he can become a heat leader certainly. 5. Chris Schramm On a 7 point average Schramm is a must. A real battler, will maintain his average or push it up by 0.5 or so. Another experienced head in the pits. With Morley, Compton and Mills could become part of a powerhouse top 4. 6. Connor Coles Question marks over machinery, none over talent. On a decent bike and at reserve Coles will really kick on. Spent most of his first full season partnering Steve Boxall and racing opposition heat leaders in most races. Be a shame if he's lost to the sport, can become a real Kings favourite. 7. Jack Kingston Never say die rider, love watching him ride and progress as a rider. Partnered with Coles the Kings will have a reserve partnership to strike fear into other NL sides. There we go, a solid side 1-7, led by fans favourite Ben Morley, full of potential and experience. Boxall will go into the PL, he can't double down and rightly so. Simon Lambert on an average similar to Boxall's would be a mistake as he is half the rider that Boxall is. David Mason was a victim to the numbers in my line up, however he could be included in place of Mills or Schramm although he hasn't got the same potential to improve his average IMO. Adam Kirby again a victim of circumstance, he's a real battler and doesn't know when he's beaten. It didn't work throwing two rookies in this season however and it'd be a mistake to go with the same partnership again I feel.

One rider's availability is not enough to change race night for, it's a big upheaval for fans and not worth it. The last few seasons Newcastle have put very handy sides together and they will do next season again I'm sure. As for all the suggestions of Robert Lambert, I'm sure the lad won't give up his continental commitments to sign for a Sunday PL team. I would have liked to see him at Rye House and it did look like it could be a real possibility for a while but I can't even see that as we are a Saturday night track. As a young Brit with a big future I hope he does end up in the PL somewhere, stepping straight to the Elite a'la Bridger isn't a good move.

Ah I see, thanks for clearing that up. Hope that if he takes advantage of a 3 point starting average he will also commit to racing as a British rider.

Surely Kurtz will be on a 5? He wasn't allowed over this year due to a work permit due to his age? If he is riding as a Brit then he would of had no issues starting this year on a 3 point average.

A fan wants him in the Sheffield side. I could say I want Tai Woffinden back at Rye next year, wouldn't make it happen though.

Add Aspgren to that and it can be a good side. Solid top 5 in Mellgren, Aspgren, Nelson, Garrity and Boxall. All can improve, especially Garrity who has the potential to be a real number one. Boxall is a no brainer on his average. Bunyan and Bowen are solid reserves, much better than Kasper and Morley that we ended the season with. Neither will improve massively but they won't plummet either. Aspgren re-singing is key but if he does and we don't have any injuries we'll have a very good side.

Doubt it Ian, can't say for certain though. 5 riders capable of decent improvement, definitely not a bad side at all. Dominate at home and solid away. Let's see your seven then?

Rob Mear? No thanks. No time or respect for him and he's quite frankly stolen a part time career as a speedway rider. If it fits I'd expect to see and be happy with a side of Mellgren, Aspgren, Nelson, Bunyan, Boxall, Garrity and Bowen. Improvement in 5 of them with Garrity being good enough to become an out and out number one. Guaranteed two solid reserves all season too. Only name there that I'd say isn't a shoe in is Luke who may have a year at Kent. Perhaps we'll see the young Aussie Jake Allen at Rye.

Because it's a dead rubber, Connor last raced at the end of September in a couple of Premier League level meetings which will have been great for him experience wise. Thus missing this one fixture will give him another month in accruing funds/finding the right machinery to come out all guns blazing in 2014.

Maybe Connor has just packed up for the year and flogged his gear as many other riders do to get some funds together to upgrade for 2014. Could be a very simple, innocent explanation. He's gonna be a decent rider IMO, Kings should definitely look to bring him back next term. Also a chance to look at Phillips who is a decent prospect himself.

I am not a Pearson fan by any stretch of the imagination, I personally think he can be a little too biased sometimes and it does detract from my personal viewing experience, that goes for Darts coverage and talksport too. Conversely a lot of people do like him though. Too many people moan about him because that is the general consensus not because they actually have an opinion on the subject it seems. As much as I'm not a fan, the man has a real passion for the sport and that cannot be knocked. As for the play-offs, again I'm not a great fan however they draw crowds and make good viewing. Comparisons to football are silly, Speedway is not football it's as simple as that. My team won a league title through the play-offs and I celebrated it, the rules are there set out at the start of the season the same for each club.

Newport were fine when they had crap sides, when they went s*** or bust hoping that would bring the crowds back was were the problems started IMO. From our last fixture of this season to the first next season we could have a gap of almost 7 months without competitive speedway at Rye, that is terrible. Don't believe any of this one big league rubbish, not seen it speculated by anyone other than fans yet. Can see the PL points limit dropping though, 38.5 has been rumoured. Start with Mellgren, Aspgren, Nelson, Boxall and Garrity and sign the other two depending on whats left. Bunyan and one other would be my picks and lets build up to the limit!

Leicester have had Kerr and Lewis Blackbird slip through the net this season, woops! Kerr is a real talent, his NL form has been a little worse than people may be expecting from him but rather a British prospect is prospering higher up the leagues!

One big league would be the nail in the coffin. The Premier League isn't broke so don't try fix it because the Elite League is struggling. Elite League needs to be raced on a set week night and there has to be a squad system. These two measures are the key to getting top riders back into the UK. North/South or East/West splits for the PL would be incredibly damaging, no variety for sides and no excitement for the fans who look forward to following their team to opposite sides/ends of the country. The sport should not have to depend on Sky Sports or any television coverage to fund it. As for regionalising it can be used to effect for bringing younger riders through. If all Premier and Elite sides were obliged to field a side of riders at say just below National League standard they could form small conferences of say 4 sides and race proper meetings home and away. It adds three meetings to each track's fixture list but it is six meetings for an upcoming British rider in total.

The fanfare is atrocious, dated. Needs to go. Scunthorpe put up more of a fight than a toothless Redcar side. The Scunthorpe reserves were impressive. Glad to see us in the final of the KO Cup, can't see us winning it with a NL guest at reserve instead of Garrity however regardless of who we face. If he wasn't going to be back surely a signing could have been made before the deadline to see us through to the end of the season. One man who would have fitted would be Stefan Nielsen. Hope Aspgren and Jorgensen aren't too badly hurt, Aspgren was brilliant last night unforced error aside. Two good wins, lets keep it up.

Going to be a real test of man and machinery for the Rockets and Jorgensen (Not any form of firearm, just a man on a bike). Rocket's heads may be turned by the second meeting when it comes to racing Scunthorpe and they Scorpions could take something from that one. Four points is the deficit for the Redcar meeting, we'll either obliterate the Bears or labour to a slim victory/defeat on aggregate.

A very strange decision to replace Nielsen who has had a good season for the Rebels (and he only signed because Brady Kurtz couldn't come over in the first place). I could understand better if the move was made to make the numbers fit but Rose could have replaced Lambert and Stefan kept his place. Charles Wright is on form at the moment but he is very much a confidence rider and in the long run Nielsen will be a better rider. Would have made more sense to go with Nielsen and Rose but if it pays off for the Rebels they won't be bothered I guess!

Will expect Pontus to drop to around the 6 point mark before the season is out. Signing Lambert will be on every PL side's minds if he does decide to do a PL season. If Grajczonek rides PL next season I'd love to see him at Rye but I doubt he'll uproot from Somerset considering they are likely to lose Doyle and Morris to full time EL racing. With Lambert: Allen Mellgren Aspgren Garrity Nelson Boxall Lambert Without Lambert: Mellgren Aspgren Garrity Nelson Boxall Bunyan Lykke Either side would do well, preferably the Lambert in option of course as he'll make a mockery of his 3 point average. Boxall on decent machinery and oozing confidence from his NL season can be a big PL rider again no doubt about it.

Ah that makes sense then, so Garrity will be in at reserve. Whilst it may be a strain on him coming back from injury as I've said before he's not the sort of rider who will be doing a half hearted job so I still think he'll score well.

Pontus stays at reserve which is for the best while JG gets back into the swing of things. Once JG is back and firing if we can get all 7 riders on track each meeting we've got one heck of a team.

Because people have opinions in 2013, they don't have to accept what their promoter serves up and just be grateful to have speedway. Plus if you put together a potential seven that you'd like to see and it's over the likely points limit, someone is always liable to jump down your throat in holier than thou fashion. The problems in speedway don't lie with fans having opinions on a forum.

Can he do it? I've written an article debating whether the title is going to end up with Tai or Emil complete with a poll, the link is below and it'd be great if as many fans as possible could have their say! At the time of writing Woffy is edging proceedings. http://tuckerspeedway.wordpress.com/2013/08/04/tais-time/

If we get anything out of tonight we have done very well. It'll hinge on how Pontus and Kasper take to Derwent Park.

Whenever I've seen Jack Kingston this season I've been impressed. Waco is right that he needs to settle for points sometimes rather than keep pushing on for more and coming unstuck, however he clearly has heart and you know he's going to be in there giving his all. He's shown lots of positive signs and he's gonna be a half decent rider I'm sure.

I'm away for the weekend and I'd love to go to this one so selfishly I'd not mind a rain off. Garrity is due to be back and the type of rider he is he'll be going at it full throttle regardless so can expect a decent return from him. If Nelson is missing Lakeside tonight to be fit for us tomorrow then good as he's our rider on loan to Lakeside, we must take priority. You can never be certain but the way Redcar are performing at the moment coupled with the performance we put in during the first leg I can see us reaching the final. At least one positive from a stop start injury packed season this far.