'A great pedigree' - Sheffield Tigers sign Australian star for British Speedway Premiership play-offs
Simon Stead is convinced his Sheffield Tigers line-up is the strongest it has been for much of the season as the tape goes up on the quest for British speedway silverware.
Sheffield’s campaign has been hampered by the broken arm and other injuries sustained by their No 1 rider Jack Holder while racing in Poland back in June.
Stead has been struggling to fill the key slot in the line-up ever since, but through riders stepping up their performance he has managed to get them to a third-place finish in the ROWE Motor Oil British Premiership that sets up a two-legged play-off semi-final with league runners-up Leicester Lions, starting on Thursday night at Owlerton Stadium.
His confidence ahead of that tie has been boosted by taking advantage of the guest rider rule that has allowed him to secure the services of Australian Max Fricke as his No 1 for the tie.
Fricke normally rides for King’s Lynn, but after they finished outside the play-offs in fifth, that created the opening for Stead to sign a rider whose season was finished.
“Max has a great pedigree, he’s a world grand prix rider like Jack and somebody who is used to British racing and has consistently been an outstanding performer,” Stead told The Yorkshire Post.
“He’s a former Leicester rider as well, so we’re really happy to secure someone of his level.”
Stead has faced a challenge each week trying to replace Holder, a favourite on the terraces at Owlerton who has a long road back to recovery after his horror crash in Wroclaw on June 20.
But the adversity has created a greater sense of purpose among the rest of Sheffield’s rider line-up.
Stead explained: “It’s made for a tough season. Losing your No 1 a third of the way into the season is incredibly difficult to cover, but the lads have regrouped and found a way of getting through to this point and right now we’ve managed to finish third without our No 1.
“The reality is now we get to start from scratch and try and win. I know the other teams are in the same position, but none of those have been navigating their way through the season the way that we’ve had to.
“The fact we have a bit of stability at No 1 gives us a great chance.”
And he paid tribute to a line-up including Josh Pickering and Jye Etheridge.
“A lot of the guys have been over-performing, there’s been times when we’ve been found wanting but that’s not been through a lack of effort, they’ve always given me everything,” he said.
“There’s been a lot of pressure without Jack, they’ve had extra rides which is more than the second-string riders are used to, so it’s been difficult. But everybody has stood up and been accounted for and given me maximum effort. And if they can continue to do that there’s a great chance we can get through to the final.”
Sheffield have been strong at Owlerton Stadium this season, winning nine of 10 meetings.
Conversely, on the road, they have won just once. Does that put more pressure on getting a result on Thursday to take to Leicester for the second leg on Monday?
“At home there’s always a pressure of trying to get a lead,” replied Stead. “The way that Leicester have performed at Sheffield makes it such a juicy fixture because they have had their days when they’ve performed ever so well.
“But we have more about us now. It could come down to the wire so we will be going in all guns blazing to get as many points as possible while retaining the need to stay focused on the away leg.”