Comet John gets fighting fit
Last updated 22:31, Wednesday, 06 February 2008
WORKINGTON Comets rider John Branney is not likely to be dodging any bullets this coming season at Derwent Park.
But he’s taking fitness advice from a man who has - his soldier cousin David Watson who is due to return to Iraq this weekend.
Lance Corporal Watson, currently on leave from the First Battalion the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, has agreed to help Branney boost his fitness ahead of the 2008 season which starts in March.
Branney, signed to ride at reserve for the Comets, said: “I want to make sure I’m as fit as possible for riding speedway. People will be surprised how fit you have to be.
“My brother Craig is also doing a bit to get fitter and I think he thought I might need it more than he did.
“David has been home on leave and I know he’s a fitness fanatic, and naturally fit through being in the Army so he’s been showing how best to prepare myself. I hope people will see the difference.”
Workington-based Watson is between duties in Iraq, where he’s based near Basra. He was there two years ago and has recently completed another three month stint.
Watson said: “I’ve got another three months to do out there and then we go to Germany where the regiment is stationed before returning to Catterick.”
“I don’t really think about any special dangers out there because it is my job and we all get on with it.
“When I was asked by John to improve his fitness I was happy enough to give him some advice. I’ve got some routes mapped out for him to run round the streets of Workington and given him advice on other aspects of his fitness.
“He needs to do some gym work too which will improve his upper body strength. “I’m not a speedway fan myself but I follow Craig and John’s careers because they are family. My own sport is rugby league and I have been playing for Salterbeck Storm while I’ve been home,” he says.
Workington’s top teenage talent Joe Haines is convinced he made the right choice in speedway - ahead of his other sporting interests.
Haines, who isn’t due to leave school until June, could have shone in either cross country running or swimming.
He said: “I had a trial for Great Britain at cross-country and I represented Greater Manchester at swimming, but that was as far as I went.
“Neither compare to the adrenalin rush I get on a bike so I know I made the right decision to concentrate on the speedway. I think I was probably too small but that doesn’t matter at speedway. Being small is a help.”
