AFTER finalising a two-year deal to re-sign Leigh Adams, Robins co-promoter Gary Patchett admitted that life at Blunsdon would not be the same without the likeable Australian.

The Advertiser revealed yesterday that Adams has agreed a new contract to finish his career at the Abbey Stadium.

And although next season's points limit is still to be decided, Patchett said that re-signing the world No 2 was a priority.

"Leigh is part and parcel of Swindon," he said.

"He's part of the furniture at Blunsdon and was a huge part of our success last year, even though we didn't get anything to show for it.

"Leigh has never let the club down. He doesn't owe us anything, and we don't owe him anything, and we work very well together.

"We don't know where we are going with the points limit yet but we have put in place various riders depending on the outcome.

"One thing was for sure though - we absolutely had to do a deal for Leigh.

"He is the sort of rider that you've just got to feature in your plans.

"He wants to ride for us and we wanted him to ride as well, so there was never any doubt.

"We've done a two-year deal that will see him through until he probably retires from the speedway.

"If, after two years, Leigh thinks he has got one more year left in him then we will look to extend it."

Adams is approaching the fifth season of his second spell at Blunsdon, and has captained the team since his Robins return.

And Patchett believes that as far as captains go, they don't get any better than the Australian.

He said: "Leigh is a fantastic role model, both to the riders and to the supporters.

"He takes an immense amount of time working with the other riders and seeing how their set-ups work.

"Look at when he had that bad accident at Reading last year.

"A week later he was back in the pits, and although he couldn't ride he was helping our riders and doing jobs around the pits.

"That tells you a lot about his commitment and team spirit, and we are delighted to have signed him back on.

"Now everything is sorted out Leigh can go back to Australia, switch off over the winter, and concentrate on coming back fully fit and having another superb season for the Robins."