SWINDON ROBINS: 'We just weren't play-off material' - Adams (From Swindon Advertiser)

SWINDON ROBINS: 'We just weren't play-off material' - Adams

8:30am Thursday 2nd September 2010 in

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SWINDON skipper Leigh Adams has admitted he never truly believed the Robins would make the Elite League play-offs in his final year at the club.

The Aussie’s last season in British racing has not produced the fairytale ending many hoped it would, with Swindon crashing out of the race for the top four in August, in spite of the captain’s consistently high-class performances.

Ahead of tonight’s clash with Wolverhampton at the Abbey Stadium, the 39-year-old revealed that even at the start of the campaign, missing out on the play-offs was a scenario he was prepared for.

“I didn’t think we were looking like play-off material,” admitted the Blunsdon legend, whose farewell meeting is in October.

“We had a slim chance, but I honestly thought we were a little bit weak because we had to restructure after last year.

“After a great year we had to shuffle our team around and it was always going to be hard. It’s been a little bit disappointing but that’s the way speedway goes.”

Many have pointed to the regular absence of Thomas H. Jonasson as the reason for Swindon’s patchy season, a sentiment Adams agrees with.

The Swede only completed 16 meetings for the Robins in 2010 due to a combination of two month-long bans, missed flights and illness.

And the captain said: “Thomas did a great job when he was there, and when he got to know the tracks we were looking pretty solid for a while.

“But he took on more than he could cope with (racing around Europe) and it got on top of him.

“The (first) ban didn’t help us, that’s when we lost our home meetings, and when he went up into the team that hindered us because he was a real trump card at reserve.”

Adams’ hefty average made for a tough winter of team-building for the Swindon management, but with him gone next year, many have argued a team with more all-round firepower can be created.

And when asked if the Robins would have a better chance of success next season in his absence, Adams said: “Yes, definitely.

“When it started to go pear-shaped this year the management sat back, didn’t panic and said they would make it a constructive year and bring others on.

“They have got Thomas Jonasson and Grzegorz Zengota and this new boy Maciej Janowski is quality, and then there’s all the Aussie kids who are coming through.”