MORE THOUGHTS FROM ANDREW

NEWS Tuesday 7th December 2010, 7:39pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Now that Andrew Tully has sorted out his return to the Scotwaste Monarchs' side, here he expands on his thoughts on the team and his progress.

?I'm happy it's all sorted now. I know there have been a lot of rumours about where I might be going.

?I quite like the rumours. I've never really thought about having anything different for next year but it's quite fun when my dad texts me and let me know that there's all these rumours that I will be at Newcastle or Scunthorpe, and a load of other things cropping up along the line.

?It's quite entertaining but I'm happy to be back riding for Edinburgh. I've been involved with the good years we've had recently but Matthew's been there for all three league wins, so that should be a good start to the team.

?It will be interesting to see what the rest of the team's going to be.?

Last year his average was down slightly but many saw him as an improved rider over the season.

?I think different parts of my riding got better. I improved on my gating, and I was more confident going out against better riders.

?One of the reasons my average wasn't better was the number of times I fell and got excluded. If these had all been third places my average would have been quite a lot higher.

?I spent some of the time last year getting my setup right when the track was different. I struggled some of the time but got it right just in time to get injured.

?I know there have been some track changes but I won't know how it will affect things until March!?

It is notable that Andrew's away average has imrpoved but he has not been as dominant at home as he once was.

?During the season the track got gripper than it had ever been before and that's when I struggled with the setup. Towards the end there was a three-week period when Ryan, Matthew and myself did well, Ryan got three maximums and the other two of us just dropped a point in the last match.

?There was a little less dirt on the track and there was both an outside line and an inside one. I dropped a point in the race I went over the line on my backside! At least that was entertaining for folk. ?

Of course supporters will want to hear of the progress of that injured arm.

?I've just been building the arm up. The bone's healing, it's just getting more strength in it. There was a bit more nerve damage than I've had in previous injuries which has slowed recovery down a bit, but there again it's not the middle of the season so I'm not trying to make it heal quickly, I'm just letting it do its thing.

?I've got an exercise bike in the house which I use and come the New Year I'll probably do a bit more with my arm. I'm not going to ride in any of the winter events ? I got a couple of messages about the New Year Classic and also Telford, but I won't be doing anything.

?I haven't got any bikes anyway, I stripped them down and sold a few things, and sent the frames to be checked for straightness. I won't get them back till February. I bought some things through Rene Bach from Denmark before he went home, but I'll have more parts to buy in January. I don't rush into buying things these days because they keep changing the rules!

?I was happy enough with my bikes last year but one thing which confused me the most was Sheffield. I was there guesting for Stoke at the start of the season, and also rode in the British semi, and felt I rode it all right. But when we went there in the second half of the season and I was doing OK most places, I couldn't get the engine to work there.

?I seemed to be scoring around 7 or 8 most places, that seemed a popular amount, but Sheffield still sticks in my head and bugs me a bit because I really like riding there. ?

One thing which didn't worry Andrew was riding at the difficult no. 5 position.

?I didn't have a problem being at no. 5, I really liked riding there, but it just depends how the rest of the team works out. My aim of course would be to get to the top of the averages and ride at no. 1!

?I'd like to get my name about for doubling up though I don't have any real thoughts of getting anything yet. I'm not setting myself up for it yet but if I don't put my name about for it I definitely won't get anything!

?I got some outings at Peterborough last year just by phoning around, so I'll do the same again. But I won't be disheartened if nothing comes up right away. If I ride well in the Premier League then something might come up during the season.?