Ipswich Witches 2027

[Steve Irving]

2 minutes ago, Gavan said:

You can have a laugh and banter with the Belle Vue fans on here but this guy is just moronic and tedious 

Unfortunately though they do nothing to call him out and even encourage him with their likes and laughing emojis. 
 

I remember back in the day a similar type on here called “Alljack”, an Ipswich fan. The good people of Ipswich were embarrassed by his behaviour and chased him off the forum. 
 

Clearly different breeds of people.

[TTT]

Riss is much better than his average and he proved that at Oxford when beating some top riders on a consistent basis.

Scored 20 odd one night against Ipswich if I remember correctly and that was with Doyle and Emil in the side which goes to show Erik's ability.

Just got to hope he stays fit, Nilsson would have a familiar face in the pits to help him settle in so it's looking good on the Team spirit front as well which is something that was lacking last year.

[TTT]

King confirmed on the socials now.

Deserved his place in the 1-7 imo, High GSA for sure but last year Danny stepped up when the Club needed riders to step up and embrace the pressure of the tough challenge ahead.

[Steve Irving]

3 minutes ago, TTT said:

Riss is much better than his average and he proved that at Oxford when beating some top riders on a consistent basis.

Scored 20 odd one night against Ipswich if I remember correctly and that was with Doyle and Emil in the side which goes to show Erik's ability.

Just got to hope he stays fit, Nilsson would have a familiar face in the pits to help him settle in so it's looking good on the Team spirit front as well which is something that was lacking last year.

Riss ended up at number 1 for Oxford in 2025 albeit in a team lacking any top end strength. He’s a fine rider. BUT, his health issues are a concern. He has them, comes back, relapses, rinse and repeat. 
 

Fair play to Ipswich for giving the fella another opportunity if his signing is confirmed. One thing he will get with Richard Coleman, is plenty of support and understanding. But they would be silly not to have some kind of back up protection in place if things don’t go well again. 
 

That’s just pure common sense. 

[TTT]

The last averages I have for Nilsson and Riss in the Top flight are Nilsson 7.13 and Riss 6.69 = 13.82

Rumoured to sign both of them for a combined 9.55.

That's some serious saver on the pair, Just got to hope Riss stays fit but at the end of the day I'd rather take a chance on Erik then a Youngster from Europe with no UK experience as I've seen too many of them flop drastically like Gusts and Hellstrom-Bangs to name some recent examples.

[Aries]

https://ipswichwitches.co/captain-king-named-tru7-group-witches-rider-of-the-year-for-2027/
 

Fully deserved. Musielak wouldn’t have been far behind I’m sure as he had an excellent campaign too but no doubt the right winner. 
 

Also so nice to read Chris Louis was there and received an award too. Great to see he’s still actively in and around it. 

[Aries]

https://ipswichwitches.co/king-captains-tru7-group-witches-into-2027/

[ouch]

On 11/3/2026 at 8:50 AM, szkocjasid said:

Riss would be available on a 5.05 ave. As long as he rides one league match in the Prem he'd revert to his rolling ave from 2025 (6.93) so if he did suffer from illness again, which we hope he wouldn't, Ipswich would have more scope for a replacement.

 

3 hours ago, Aries said:

It’s worth quoting this from szkocjasid again because this will be a safety blanket if things go wrong again for Riss. His recent average is used so that’s his much lower converted Championship average.

Once the season gets underway and he reverts back to his Premiership GSA, we’d have much more options in terms of guests or permanent replacement.

Hopefully that won’t be needed and he’s back to full fitness. There was an article in Poland recently about his return to full health and his return to racing where he went and won the world long track championship.

Apologies guys, completely got the wrong end of the stick and I’m looking forward to seeing Eric having a long and enjoyable season as a witch. 

Top trolling with the bad language and insults btw, true to form as always. 

[TJ45CSW]

Great to see Cairns has decided not to be a RS due to the cap on money per point

[Aries]

One of the sports real good guys. Don’t think I’ve ever heard a bad word spoken about him be it other riders or supporters. 

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

24 minutes ago, Aries said:

One of the sports real good guys. Don’t think I’ve ever heard a bad word spoken about him be it other riders or supporters. 

Get the flags out! 😃

[cowboy cookie returns?]

9 hours ago, SuffolkWitch said:

I’ve heard his name too. If the rumours are to be believed it’s 

Doyle

Riss

King

Nilsson

Bewley 

Cairns

Foord

 

a decent side on paper with a few gambles in there. King would do well to retain his current high average so you’re reliant on Nilsson being the steal he looks like on a low average. Riss for me is a huge gamble. A real good rider on his day but, his health issues that haven’t went away since the last time he rode for the Witches concern me. I personally would have gone for Rushen or a newcomer or returner to the league on an assessed average. Can only assume the management have had some kind of assurances regarding his health.

a lot of pressure on Cairns to make a big jump this season as with the nature of the rising star scheme now meaning he could end up carrying a lot of weight in the reserve birth. The RS standard is very low and a lot of these guys are getting thrown to the wolves and only ever really going to be likely of beating one another and getting 3 rides a meeting (even more reason why maintaining a fit side will be key) With Foord you know you’re getting a trier at least.

If it ends up being the side I’ll be disappointed. Given the Wroclaw tie up I’d have been expecting better than Riss & Nilsson.

[mikebv]

53 minutes ago, TTT said:

The last averages I have for Nilsson and Riss in the Top flight are Nilsson 7.13 and Riss 6.69 = 13.82

Rumoured to sign both of them for a combined 9.55.

That's some serious saver on the pair, Just got to hope Riss stays fit but at the end of the day I'd rather take a chance on Erik then a Youngster from Europe with no UK experience as I've seen too many of them flop drastically like Gusts and Hellstrom-Bangs to name some recent examples.

It's nonsense isn't it?...

We have averages for the riders, but we won't always use them.. 

When you don't use what is already there you then get subjectivity, which then, understandably, leads to questions of integrity...

Riders have an average, gained by what they did, and could have gained that average in a league with a higher standard then today, or maybe weaker, we won't be able to tell, hence subjective reappraisal is done...

Regardless of any time lapsed the average you last delivered should be the one you ride again on, as basically the UK end up rewarding riders for giving it a miss...

The sport needs to be far, far more transparent..

 

 

 

[YeOldPitGate]

2 minutes ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

If it ends up being the side I’ll be disappointed. Given the Wroclaw tie up I’d have been expecting better than Riss & Nilsson.

Cookie your remembering the Ippo 98 team and the halycon days of the Cowboy, Siggy and Donkey by current day standards thats a decent team but it does make you realise when people say that's a good team how far the sport has fell, Ippo 98 and Cradley 84 were proper great teams.

[Aries]

11 minutes ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

If it ends up being the side I’ll be disappointed. Given the Wroclaw tie up I’d have been expecting better than Riss & Nilsson.

Disagree. If that’s the team, it’s a cracker IMO.

[cowboy cookie returns?]

9 hours ago, SuffolkWitch said:

I’ve heard his name too. If the rumours are to be believed it’s 

Doyle

Riss

King

Nilsson

Bewley 

Cairns

Foord

 

a decent side on paper with a few gambles in there. King would do well to retain his current high average so you’re reliant on Nilsson being the steal he looks like on a low average. Riss for me is a huge gamble. A real good rider on his day but, his health issues that haven’t went away since the last time he rode for the Witches concern me. I personally would have gone for Rushen or a newcomer or returner to the league on an assessed average. Can only assume the management have had some kind of assurances regarding his health.

a lot of pressure on Cairns to make a big jump this season as with the nature of the rising star scheme now meaning he could end up carrying a lot of weight in the reserve birth. The RS standard is very low and a lot of these guys are getting thrown to the wolves and only ever really going to be likely of beating one another and getting 3 rides a meeting (even more reason why maintaining a fit side will be key) With Foord you know you’re getting a trier at least.

If it ends up being the side I’ll be disappointed. Given the Wroclaw tie up I’d have been expecting better than Riss & Nilsson.

[Bagpuss]

1 hour ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

If it ends up being the side I’ll be disappointed. Given the Wroclaw tie up I’d have been expecting better than Riss & Nilsson.

You can't make riders come over though. Attracting new ones when they have to fly in and out of the UK for two different racenights will mean we are always on the back foot unfortunately.

[PhilTheAce]

3 hours ago, TJ45CSW said:

Great to see Cairns has decided not to be a RS due to the cap on money per point

Cairns average of 3.5 is to high to be a rising star. Thats why he aint a rising star