SWINDON ROBINS END OF SEASON REPORT

The speedway season is over for the Swindon Robins. A disappointing year has seen the Wiltshire club fail to retain their league title with the side narrowly missing out on the British Premiership playoff spots. TotalSport Swindon’s Ryan Walker reflects on the season’s action and gives his Robins end of year report.

A year of expectation, belief, and hope has turned into a season of mixed fortunes for the Swindon Robins, after their latest Knockout Cup defeat confirmed the club would be finishing this year with little to show for the team’s efforts.

Rewind one year though, and it was a case of role reversal for the Robins as team manager Alun Rossiter saw his talented squad riding the crest of the eventual title-winning wave across the finish line with the Wiltshire club securing their second League title. 

This year, however, has been difficult for both the team and its faithful fans.

The British Premiership playoffs have begun and there is a strong sense of ‘feeling lost’ with no Swindon Robins positioned within the top four, only the second time in five years. But as the winter period of rest closes in, how do we grade these seasons achievements, or lack of them, for the Blunsdon outfit? 

No matter what sport, a team will always be judged on its success to win titles and compete at the highest level. Unfortunately, despite winning the Charity Shield at the start of the season, Swindon will end this competitive year of racing with no title and having lost their champions status.

At the start of the season, Swindon were regarded as one of the championships favourites. Current World Champion Jason Doyle had departed the Abbey Stadium, but with Nick Morris as Captain, and fellow Australian Troy Batchelor being brought into the side, there was a strong sense of optimism within the camp for the upcoming campaign.

The Robins got off to a flyer by winning their first three opening meetings, and come the halfway stage of the season, they were top of the table and looking well on-track for yet another top-four finish. So where did it all go wrong?

When at its best speedway can be the best sport in the World. And when analysing the Swindon Robins over the years it's evident that the side has been one of the very best teams in Britain.

 But this year, there has been an accumulation of controllable and uncontrollable factors that have led to the champions demise. 

Track conditions, poor away form, and a lack of consistent team scoring have all contributed, and these points must be accepted by the many, not just the few.

Swindon have always been able to turn the Abbey Stadium into a fortress that away sides dare not dream of leaving with league points, however, track conditions this year have certainly hampered the Robins chances of success. A lack of quality shale, combined with riders not having the track prepared to their liking has all but taken away any home advantage. 

Visiting sides to the Abbey have had just as much chance of securing as Swindon have, and the Robins have simply had to rely on talent to win their home meetings. 

But the quality of track can’t take all the blame, and Swindon’s riders must take the majority of it for their failures.

Take nothing away from their efforts of trying and putting their lives on the line each and every heat, but there have been too many occasions this season when there hasn’t been a collective team performance.

Troy Batchelor has been the Robins most consistent rider this season and has frequently ridden to double figures, however in contrast, the rest of the side has failed to consistently reach the quality levels of last year.

David Bellego has regularly taken too long to get up to speed with a meeting, whilst the likes of Tobiasz Musielak and Adam Ellis have endured positive patches of form before becoming unstuck in some of the bigger away fixtures.

Despite all of this, however, Nick Morris has had to cope with the pressure of being Captain whilst also trying to focus on his own riding. And this has been a problem. 

Last year saw Morris have his best ever season and he was Swindon’s best rider, except for Jason Doyle. But this year the 24-year-old has struggled for form in the top league of British speedway.
 
After starting the season at number one, poor performances led to the Australian being dropped down the pecking order finishing his season riding in the number five heat leader position. 

And whilst Morris has established himself as a fan favourite at the Abbey Stadium during his seven years of racing at the club, the skipper will be disappointed with his riding this season.

Every club in British speedway will endure times of glory and success, but at the same time success isn’t a guarantee and the Swindon Robins will learn a lot more from their failures than they will their triumphs.

Yes, this year has been disappointing. But fans must learn to support through the good and the bad times. Swindon will learn from their mistakes, and next season will be filled with the hunger of becoming the best side in Britain once again. 

Despite the frustration, disappointment, and overall despondence, one thing for sure is that the Swindon Robins will return for the 2019 season once again on the hunt for a third league title.