PLYMOUTH Gladiators have only more signing to make to complete their septet for 2024 after confirming the arrival of Kyle Newman and Australian Jacob Hook.

Newman rode for the club for two years under their former guise as the Devils, when he captained them and helped them win the Premier League Fours, but after eight years away, he returns to the club after being released by Poole Pirates at the end of last season.

And Hook, the 21-year-old, from Brisbane in Australia, rode for Gladiators' rivals Edinburgh Monarchs and then Berwick Bandits in last season’s Championship, while also regularly top scoring for the Monarchs’ National Development side.

Newman said it was a no-brainer to get in touch with Gladiators boss Garry May and get himself fixed up for the 2024 campaign.

Newman, who is 32 today, said: “When I found out I wasn’t at Poole, it was disappointing as I thought I’d had a good year, but hey-ho. It is what it is,”

"My options were limited really, so I kept pestering Garry and luckily for me, something crept up.

“Saturday nights work for me, I was captain there before, so I know the place and I know the track’s going to be slightly different, but there will be familiar faces and I am looking forward to getting back with Plymouth.

“I haven’t had the greatest of times since I left, but I am recovering from a shoulder operation now and hopefully you will see a bit more of the old me. That’s where I want to be at.”

Newman joins Ben Barker, Alfie Bowtell, Dan and Joe Thompson and Aussie reserve Hook in the team for next season.

May commented: “Kyle lives at Wimborne and I am in Poole, so he’s almost my neighbour! But when he got dropped by Poole, he rung me up and I told Mark (Phillips), but we were dealing with other things at the time and I couldn’t give him an answer straight away because he wasn’t in our plans.

“He scored points everywhere last year and he rides Plymouth well because he’s been there before. We have used him as a guest and he rode well then, but I am sure he will score points again. He is a gutsy little rider and gets stuck in and I am sure he will improve.”

Hook commented: “I am super stoked to be back in the Championship next season, it is where I want to be. I want to get up further and I feel that Plymouth is going to help me to do that and progress this season.

“I like the track there, it is tight and technical and I have ridden it a few times, but I think it will help me develop, for sure.

“I know Garry (May) quite well and he seems like a great bloke. It seems like there is a really good atmosphere down there with the fans and the riders and I wanted to be a part of it. I haven’t ridden for Garry before, but I guested for Plymouth at Glasgow (scoring 4+1) last season.

“I think we should be looking to make the play-offs. Everyone wants to be the number one, but we have to make the play-offs first, so we just have to take each meeting as it comes and keep progressing and hopefully, when it comes to the play-offs, we’ll be at our peak and it all falls in our favour."

May added: “He impressed me last year. He got dropped by Edinburgh and then rode for Berwick and he guest rode for us at Glasgow quite well and just got on with the job. He’s gone back to Oz and done well, beating James Pearson in the final of an Under-21 championship.

“We decided to go a different way this year with some power at reserve. We have suffered badly in the last two years and we had to do something and I think it’s the only way to build a team.

“I am hoping that he will be down there at reserve in a weakened league scoring me points.”

The club are still seeking sponsors for the new season and welcome people and business to discuss a host of sponsorship opportunities that the club can offer. For further details, please contact Mark Phillips on [email protected] or Paul Swarbrick on [email protected].