Our Lucky Mascot Returns

NEWS Friday 23rd November 2018, 8:30pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Monarchs confirmed their first capture for the 2019 season at the Monarchs Fans Trust AGM on Friday - the return of double league winning Australian Justin Sedgmen to the ranks.

Sedgmen was part of the side in the superb 2014-2015 campaigns which brought two league titles to Armadale and saw the popular Sedgy raise his average from a starting 4.99 to 7.84 when he left, and his partnership with Craig Cook was rated one of the Club's best ever.

Sedgy of course also won the Scottish Open Championship at the start of the 2017 season but he missed last season after having a difficult time during 2017.

He said "I want to go back to Edinburgh and do a good job. Edinburgh needs to get that fun atmosphere back. Looking from the outside it hasn't seemed the same in the last three years as it was in 2014 and 15.

"Hopefully I can bring something to the table that helps bring that atmosphere back, and we can win some trophies. That was the thing in those two seasons, it was just so fun, there was no pressure, we were just going out and having fun riding our bikes. We had great support from the fans at Edinburgh and it was the greatest two years of my racing career, I'd definitely say that.

"Even when I was riding with Cookie, numbers one and two, I enjoyed riding with Cookie when perhaps others in the team didn't want to."

Anyone present will remember the aftermath of the second successive title win when Sedgmen danced on the table in the bar. He recalled "That was pretty fun, someone had to steal the show somehow! Obviously there's been some very good memories at Edinburgh, they are the memories that you remember and that's why I want to race for Edinburgh, the times we had when we won and were so successful was the time of our lives.

"I believe that we can recapture it again. You can't be on top forever and Edinburgh have had three less successful years, I hope we can turn it round for 2019. Not that the guys in the last three years have done a bad job but it's all swings and roundabouts."

He will now start planning for the British season next summer. "I haven't thought about machinery yet I just wanted to get a club, and I'd like to do something in the Premiership too. In the year that I've had off I've been working and saved as much money as I can, I'll be heading over around 20th February because one of my sponsors is taking me to the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley, I'm pretty excited about that.

"Then we've got a few weeks till the start of the season so I have plenty of time to prepare and make sure everything is set up properly. I'm going to be staying with Sam Masters again, as I did when I was at Edinburgh, and I think that was a factor in why we were so successful then. We enjoyed ourselves!

"Sam and I are racing together at Mildura tomorrow, for the first time since the 2015 Final! So that's pretty cool, we are racing for Australia against the Rest of the World. I feel like I'm not too far away from where I was, and I want to reach that and go beyond it."