Sheffield ready for new speedway season

The Star, Sheffield

Sheffield Tigers ready for new speedway season as fans get first look at latest line up

Transcript

00:00It's the start of a new Speedway season and Sheffield are amongst the favourites again

00:17this season. They've got a team that includes two former world champions, they've got a

00:21new captain and there's a lot of excitement at the club ahead of the new season.

00:26Obviously we've retained the backbone of the team from last year. A really strong

00:31e-leader trio, adding Pico into the mix as captain and then some really strong reserves,

00:38so we'll know more when we've turned a wheel but it looks good.

00:43Obviously the top four we're all quite well acquainted with from last season.

00:48Can you tell us a little bit about the three newcomers?

00:52Yeah, well certainly Daniel, we've had him at Sheffield before so he's not unfamiliar

00:59with the place and somebody I think deserved another crack at the premiership. He's a good

01:06level championship rider but by his own admission he struggled for track time last year doing just

01:11one league and was feeling like another league would help him get more track time and help go

01:19forward again. So he's really excited, looking forward to jumping on that and getting on and

01:26improving himself. The other two obviously I've had a lot to do with through the GB management

01:32side of things. Lads I've had an eye on for a long time and certainly potential-wise they've

01:39got plenty going for them. I think Anders made real strides forward last year with Kingsley

01:44and some really dominant displays. Obviously that shows in the fact that he's now not eligible for

01:50the Rising Star programme and as such got a 25% reduction on his average so that made things

01:55really appealing. It helps us accommodate a really strong heat leader trio and Picco so

02:02that worked but wasn't the only reason that we wanted him. I think somebody who's making strides

02:07in the sport and I think we can help with that development and with Leon looking at

02:13his championship average he's the best Rising Star in the league. So far I don't

02:20think he's managed to recapture his championship form in this league and I'm hoping that

02:26between myself and the likes of the holders and Ty Waffenden and Picco we can help him

02:31kick on and be the best Rising Star in the league. Obviously we've got Ty Waffenden back again

02:38for another season. How is he? He's good. Look, Ty's been doing it for long enough

02:47now to know his own body. I think the winter off has done him the world of good. He's been at home

02:54in Australia and had a lot of rest and sort of settled himself and given his body

03:02enough time to heal properly and I think that was the real important thing that he needed to do.

03:07I know last year he was chomping at the bit to try and get back it just wasn't achievable so

03:12he's done the right thing giving himself plenty of time to recover properly and heal properly

03:16and I think now he's sort of chomping at the bit and really got that dog look in his eye because

03:23he's out to prove some people wrong who think that might be one injury too many and

03:28I for one know that he's going to certainly turn heads again this year. Obviously first new

03:35Sheffield captain for a long time with Josh Pickering in the absence of Kyle Haworth.

03:39Was it a difficult decision to make? No, not at all. He's a good influence in the pits,

03:47he's vocal, somebody I get on really well with and that's important as a captain and

03:52as a team manager you work closely together and to try and get the best out of the lads and

03:57as much as his focus will be on what Josh Pickering is doing and that is where I'd expect

04:01his focus to be I know that he can simultaneously get involved and help the rest of the lads and

04:07just his nature is perfect for the role so a really easy decision.

04:14It seems like a tough league this season, there's a lot of riders coming from

04:20Poland and so forth, do you think it's going to be a tough league? Yeah I do, I think the standard

04:25of the league has improved since last year and I think the makeup of all the teams is slightly

04:32different which I think adds to the interest and I'm excited by it. It's good because it doesn't

04:41look like anybody's going to be cast away, there's going to be no easy fixtures. We need to make sure

04:47that our home form is dominant, I really want to concentrate on that and make sure we're a real

04:52force to be reckoned with here and then what we do away from home will be a bonus but first things

04:58first we need to make sure that we're turning people over in good numbers here and then I think

05:06the away form will be good as well.

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