Workington 2025

[Neila]

Mr Cook went missing either on track like at poole, after being brilliant the nite before at Plymouth,  was totally missing at Redcar,  and missed the key meetings towards the end of the season,  may or may not had a good excuse being a new dad or injured,  but appears to go missing most seasons these days, but on his day can be excellent.  Batch last season was way better than expected,  whether this coming season is the same, let's wait and see

[Woke23]

33 minutes ago, Neila said:

Mr Cook went missing either on track like at poole, after being brilliant the nite before at Plymouth,  was totally missing at Redcar,  and missed the key meetings towards the end of the season,  may or may not had a good excuse being a new dad or injured,  but appears to go missing most seasons these days, but on his day can be excellent.  Batch last season was way better than expected,  whether this coming season is the same, let's wait and see

That is my concern also when it comes to batch. He has a bad rep and hopefully he's turned that around.

As for cookie, I was excited to see him this season because he promised a good pre-season and to come back better than ever. What I've seen on his social media, he seems to be doing a lot more that will benefit him this preseason than he did last season where he was rumoured to have done nothing at all.

[SteveLyric2]

Tate Zischke withdraws from big meeting in Oz, due to not having recovered from his injuries earlier this year!

[Firestone1]

Sensible decision if he's not 100%, gives him more time to prepare for the season for us and Belle Vue. 

[szkocjasid]

I thought Andrew Bain explained the Cook situation well, commenting that they wanted a stronger reserve pairing, certainly after last year can't disagree with that policy.

Doesn't change the Cook vs Batchelor debate, come October we can judge if they got it right.

[Endeavour]

21 hours ago, Woke23 said:

I didn't say anything about spitting my dummy out, did I? I think Cook would've been the better number 1 but the point of my post was to spark a debate amongst us all on why they went with Batch over Cookie. 

 

I would have liked to see him back at Monarchs.

Edited December 23, 2024 by Endeavour
Amendment

[geoff100]

Cook let the comets down towards the season end but let himself down when he missed the srbf meeting,ex riders in wheelchairs came hundreds of miles to support the meeting he was 15 miles away and didnt turn up!

[Woke23]

11 hours ago, szkocjasid said:

I thought Andrew Bain explained the Cook situation well, commenting that they wanted a stronger reserve pairing, certainly after last year can't disagree with that policy.

Doesn't change the Cook vs Batchelor debate, come October we can judge if they got it right.

But they could've still had a stronger reserve pairing with Cookie. They could have had the exact same team with Cookie

[Woke23]

6 hours ago, Endeavour said:

I would have liked to see him back at Monarchs.

Cookie rides Edinburgh well though so I do understand that. However, I think they would take anyone over who they've currently got. 

[Neila]

51 minutes ago, Woke23 said:

But they could've still had a stronger reserve pairing with Cookie. They could have had the exact same team with Cookie

Get over it, if it was your team/money you could sign whoever you want 🥲 but the promotion have signed batch over cookie so get behind the team UTC

[szkocjasid]

23 hours ago, szkocjasid said:

I thought Andrew Bain explained the Cook situation well, commenting that they wanted a stronger reserve pairing, certainly after last year can't disagree with that policy.

Doesn't change the Cook vs Batchelor debate, come October we can judge if they got it right.

 

11 hours ago, Woke23 said:

But they could've still had a stronger reserve pairing with Cookie. They could have had the exact same team with Cookie

If they did that the fans would be having the exact same conversation about Batchelor. Saying "they could've still had a stronger reserve pairing with Batchelor. They could have had the exact same team with Batchelor"

Once they decided to drop a top man to have strong reserves, it was Cook or Batchelor. I'm sure fans will have their own preferences about who should have been kept. I can understand arguments either way, but I don't think there's a big enough difference between the riders to categorically state they've got it right or wrong.

[Midget]

On 12/22/2024 at 5:07 PM, Woke23 said:

I didn't say anything about spitting my dummy out, did I? I think Cook would've been the better number 1 but the point of my post was to spark a debate amongst us all on why they went with Batch over Cookie. 

 

There is no doubt that cook would of been the better number 1, anyone who has any knowledge of speedway will tell you that. 

I think we could struggle in in heats 13 and 15 next year, especially away from home. 

Workington's loss is certainly berwicks gain.

[SaddlebowRoad]

12 hours ago, Neila said:

Get over it, if it was your team/money you could sign whoever you want 🥲 but the promotion have signed batch over cookie so get behind the team UTC

why try and shut down an interesting discussion?

its a fair point being made 

[Woke23]

1 hour ago, SaddlebowRoad said:

why try and shut down an interesting discussion?

its a fair point being made 

This forum us a brilliant forum getting ruined by one or two muppets unfortunately. Try and have a discussion and get immature responses.

Cookie is the better rider but you never know if he's going to turn up or not. However, same can be said about batch. Good rider, not as good as Cookie, but has previous rep of spitting his dummy. Infact I'm sure he done it on occasions last season. I think it was oxford where he was pulling wheelies across the finishing line when we were getting battered and he was in third.

[comet49]

Troy spoke well at the end of season do, he genuinely seemed to enjoy being at Workington. I’ve been a fan of Cook since he started and was disappointed when it was said he was leaving, Andrew Bain talking about Troy signing did mention him being ever present.

[wtf]

On 12/24/2024 at 10:30 AM, Midget said:

There is no doubt that cook would of been the better number 1, anyone who has any knowledge of speedway will tell you that. 

I think we could struggle in in heats 13 and 15 next year, especially away from home. 

Workington's loss is certainly berwicks gain.

If that's the case and it's so obvious, it makes you wonder why the promotion chose one over the other? 

[wtf]

On 12/24/2024 at 12:32 PM, Woke23 said:

This forum us a brilliant forum getting ruined by one or two muppets unfortunately. Try and have a discussion and get immature responses.

Cookie is the better rider but you never know if he's going to turn up or not. However, same can be said about batch. Good rider, not as good as Cookie, but has previous rep of spitting his dummy. Infact I'm sure he done it on occasions last season. I think it was oxford where he was pulling wheelies across the finishing line when we were getting battered and he was in third.

I think their respective CVs might paint a different picture

[wtf]

On 12/24/2024 at 12:32 PM, Woke23 said:

This forum us a brilliant forum getting ruined by one or two muppets unfortunately. Try and have a discussion and get immature responses.

Cookie is the better rider but you never know if he's going to turn up or not. However, same can be said about batch. Good rider, not as good as Cookie, but has previous rep of spitting his dummy. Infact I'm sure he done it on occasions last season. I think it was oxford where he was pulling wheelies across the finishing line when we were getting battered and he was in third.

Year before when he was at Birmingham in the pairs on a soaking wet race track

[Fromafar]

11 minutes ago, wtf said:

Year before when he was at Birmingham in the pairs on a soaking wet race track

It was Oxford.(riding for Birmingham though,which is what you might mean)

Edited December 26, 2024 by Fromafar

[szkocjasid]

On 12/24/2024 at 10:30 AM, Midget said:

There is no doubt that cook would of been the better number 1, anyone who has any knowledge of speedway will tell you that. 

I think we could struggle in in heats 13 and 15 next year, especially away from home. 

Workington's loss is certainly berwicks gain.

 

1 hour ago, wtf said:

If that's the case and it's so obvious, it makes you wonder why the promotion chose one over the other? 

Probably because they wanted to get stronger in heats 2,8,12,&14?

As much as I want Cook as part of a strong top 4, I would not have let go of Zischke or Vuolas, so could've ended up with a team like:

Troy Batchelor 8.46

Craig Cook 8.42

Tate Zischke 6.96

Annti Vuolas 6.40

Vinnie Foord 3.90

Jack Smith 3.64

Sam McGurk 2.00

Total 39.78

 

So would Cook / Smith / McGurk score more than Bowes / Etheridge / Hook?

 

I definitely wouldn't want a team with Foord starting in the top 5, I would not drop Zischke or Vuolas under any circumstances, so to create the strongest Workington team, it means either Cook or Batchelor had to go!