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The Robins Column: The key to success for Swindon Robins
With the Swindon Robins 2016 Speedway Elite League title campaign now well and truly under way, Total Sport’s Ryan Walker analyses what the key to success is for the Swindon club this season.
Last winning the Speedway Elite League title back in 2012, Rossiter’s Robins will be eager to replicate the form of four years ago as they challenge to become champions once again. But what will be the key to success for the Swindon Robins this year?
With the Robins being the only team in the Elite League to have one nationality running throughout the spine of the squad, positive team spirit and camaraderie appears to be a focal point of manager Alun Rossiter’s title charge, and the positive impacts this can have on a squad are limitless. For one, the bonuses of having a single language being used in the pits as riders communicate with one another makes a massive difference.
With most Elite League teams in years gone by, the miscommunication between riders and staff due to language barriers has sometimes hampered team success on the track and unity in the pits resulting in little bonding and situations whereby the pits are full of isolated individuals, not team-mates.
However thankfully that isn’t the case for the Swindon Robins this year with a team consisting of five Australians, including World number five Jason Doyle, and two British riders in reserve, resulting in no language problems but instead a great team atmosphere and a sense of community and family racing throughout the club.
Robin’s fans can also expect to see hard and feisty competitive riding between each of the Australian riders in particular, as with the Speedway World Cup once again up for grabs in July and only four places available in the starting Australian squad, every rider will be eager to impress and earn their spot in the prestigious competition.
The importance of having a Jason Doyle spearheading the team in the number one jacket mustn’t be underestimated either. Since the retirement of Swindon Speedway legend Leigh Adams in 2010, the Swindon Robins have struggled to bring in an out-and-out number one who will score 10+ points in every single meeting, something which many have said is one of the main causes for Swindon's struggle to become Elite League champions once again.
With so much world-class racing experience whether it be riding in Britain or on the Grand Prix stage, the role of being made club Captain is one that I’m sure Jason Doyle will excel in. At the age of 30, Doyle has a wealth of knowledge at his disposal that he will be eager to share with his fellow Swindon teammates and who likewise will be eager to listen and take on board any information shared with them.
The final key factor to a successful year for the Swindon Robins is the strength in squad depth this season. With less and less Grand Prix riders now choosing to race in the British Elite League mainly due to the structure of the Elite League or the state of riding tracks compared to those throughout the rest of Europe, a familiar sign is teams choosing to fill out their squads with consistent and reliable point scorers instead of big name riders, and so is the case for the Swindon Robins.
With Jason Doyle, Josh Grajczonek and Nick Morris all filling heat leader positions within the team outfit, they will be the main source of points for the Robins at meetings, and in Justin Sedgmen and Rohan Tungate they have two young riders with bags of talent who will be eager to impress.
Whether a successful season and Elite League title glory await the Swindon Robins in 2016 is anyone’s guess, however one thing for sure is that it will be a fast, powerful and hard-racing year to the finish line.
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