MATT Ford is convinced that 2015 Pirates recruit Davey Watt will flourish with the number one rider burden removed from his shoulders.

Having spent the last three seasons on loan at Lakeside, Watt was on Wednesday unveiled for Poole’s upcoming campaign.

The Aussie is set to fulfil a heat leader role at Wimborne Road as Pirates target a third top-flight title in a row.

And promoter Ford believes that a non-number one role will benefit the experienced charger.

He told the Daily Echo: “Davey is a very good rider and not being at number one will be a great benefit to him.

“I believe that under the current rules where the heat leaders meet each other so much more than they used to, he’s very good value on his average.

“I put across at the AGM that the riders at number two and four had races that were clearly easier than those of the heat leaders, and I think it’s had an effect on the averages of those riders.

“Davey rode the whole year at number one for Lakeside last year and in three of his four races – had he been racing against us – he would have to have ridden against Darcy Ward.

“Josh Grajczonek at number two would have had a minimum of one ride against the opposing reserves, whereas numbers one, three and five don’t meet the reserves in any race.

“You saw that even the averages of the best of the number ones dropped last year due to the fact they were riding much harder races.”