Speaking to David Kinvig in the Edinburgh Evening News, Harkess said:
"I think the Premier League have got things just about right. This years' championship was a tremendous competition. If we could repeat this every year for everyone involved it would be first class. The current 45-point limit, which governs a team's overall strength, will almost certainly remain. This is the defined average of a match. If you have a good season you'll be over that figure. If you have a bad season you'll fall below the 45 mark. This is the way it's designed to be."
While there was supposed to be an agreement to keep the 45-point limit for three years, there are rumblings from some tracks about a reduction. If additional teams join the Premier League, the Isle of Wight will be looking for a reduction to share the riders around. This will certainly be opposed by those teams such as Monarchs who have started team-building on the assumption of 45-points.
While most Premier League supporters are generally happy with the structure of the League, many think that the Premier National Trophy is too drawn-out. Arguably the worst decision of last year was to cut the number of qualification groups from three to two. This increased the number of group qualifiers for Monarchs from six in 1999 to twelve in 2000. Far from being a short snappy pre-season tournament, the Premier National Trophy dragged on into the summer. Indeed the knock out rounds were not completed until October! Even worse the National Fours qualifiers were scrapped to accommodate the additional fixtures. Alex Harkess appears to share this view:
"The only thing we would like to see altered is the Premier Trophy tournamen. I think it should be done and dusted by the summer and not allowed, as happened this year, to drag on into October."
Monarchs may also seek changes in the rules for guest riders. There is a perception that teams visiting Armadale have often been strengthened by having injured riders replaced by guests better able to score points. Some tightening of the rules such as using the injured riders away average when seeking a guest on the road. It is not clear if this issue will be taken to a vote at this stage.
Once the conference has set the agenda for next season this will allow tracks to complete team-building and also allow fixtures to be drawn up.