DATE OF BIRTH: 14 December 1991, Poole, Dorset.

BRITISH CAREER: (2007-08) Weymouth; (2009) Bournemouth, Newport; (2010) Newport II, Birmingham; (2011) Newcastle, Poole, Dudley; (2012) Peterborough

MAJOR HONOUR: Queensland State Under-21 Champion: 2011.

CLUB HONOURS: League Championship winner: 2008 [Weymouth], 2009 [Bournemouth], 2011 [Poole]; Knock-Out Cup winner: 2009 [Bournemouth]; Premier Shield winner: 2011 [Newcastle].

RIDER LINKS: Son of Keith Newman (born: 3 May 1962, Poole, Dorset).

2012 STARTING AVERAGE: 3.00 (EL).

Having initially been Newport’s No. 8 rider, Newman officially came into the Wasps’ declared 1-7 in May 2009 as a replacement for the injured Nick Simmons. However, by the end of the month, he himself had been replaced in the line-up by Tony Atkin.

The Poole-born rider was subsequently recalled by the Wasps as a ‘doubling-up’ rider – along with Kyle Hughes – in place of Atkin in early June. Subsequently though, at the start of the following month, his ‘doubling-up’ partner was changed to Shelby Rutherford, as the club brought in a raft of changes to try and improve their on-track results.

A little over a week later, though, a further alteration saw Newport opt for a straight 1-7 line-up, with Marek Mroz coming in to replace both Newman and Rutherford. The Dorset lad continued his somewhat yo-yo association with the Wasps in August, however, when he was re-declared back into the line up after Mroz had sustained a broken leg.

Regrettably – having helped Bournemouth to lift the Knock-Out Cup – the youngster ended the season with a serious injury himself, when he shattered his left thigh in six places during the Welsh Junior Championship at Queensway Meadows on 18 October.

He received the multiple injuries in heat ten when, on the third bend of lap three, he attempted to pass Andrew Aldridge. The two riders unfortunately collided and Newman was violently hit by both machines, before ending up in the air safety barrier.

Aldridge was back on his feet quickly, whilst Newman was eventually taken to the Royal Gwent Hospital in extreme discomfort, wrecking his plans for a close season of racing in Australia. The injury also forced him to miss Bournemouth’s Play-Off success over Plymouth, although he was still credited with a second successive League Championship-winning medal.

Newman still made to trip Down Under to help his recovery from a broken femur but, shortly after leaving, he surprisingly lost his team spot with the Buccaneers to Dan Halsey. However, within days of his shock exit from the Dorset club, Newport announced that he would represent their National League side in 2010. Furthering his career, it was revealed on 25 May that Birmingham had also acquired him as a replacement for Australian Jake Anderson.

As a mark of both his progress and potential, the Brummies went on to sign him as a club asset just prior to the second leg of the Premier Trophy final versus Newcastle at Perry Barr on 28 July. Newport countered that he remained their asset, however, and also revealed in October that they had turned down an offer from top-flight Swindon for the youngster.

Newman was to make a total of twenty-eight official appearances in Birmingham’s colours, which garnered 117 points and a 4.79 average. Meanwhile, for the Hornets, he scored 277 points from twenty-nine meetings for an average of 8.93.

Following the conclusion of the season, he again toured Australia during the winter break and – despite both Newport and Birmingham previously laying claim to his services – it was announced on 4 December that he had agreed terms to join Newcastle for the 2011 campaign.

A day later, a great display saw him take victory in the Queensland State Under-21 Championship, beating fellow Brit Josh Auty, Josh Grajczonek and Clinton Dennis in the ‘A’ Final. And, on 26 January, he was added to the Poole squad in a ‘doubling-up’ capacity for the UK season ahead.

Taking him to three clubs for the 2011 campaign, Dudley announced Newman’s signing on 4 May as a replacement for the injured and extremely unlucky Adam Roynon, who had proved a huge hit with the Heathens’ supporters in the early-season meetings.

The rider brought with him a fine pedigree at National League level, having previously won the title with both Weymouth [2008] and Bournemouth [2009], as well as the Knock-Out Cup with the latter side [again in 2009].

Indeed, club partner Gary Patchett spoke very highly of the lad from Dorset, who had proved a match-winner with PL Newcastle just three days earlier, when he scored 11+1 points in the Diamonds’ narrow home victory over Sheffield.

The first half of the season saw Newman maintain an average of almost 9.5 points a match for the Heathens, while at PL level his figure stood at close on 4.5 points per meeting. As if to fully underline his potential, he then hit a wonderful 17+1 points from the No. 6 berth for the Diamonds in a league encounter at Workington on 2 July.

Newman again showcased his credentials when Newcastle sent Somerset spinning from the Knock-Out Cup. In the first leg of the tie at the Oak Tree Arena on 22 July, he netted a brilliant haul of 15+2 points from seven rides out of the No. 6 slot.

Then, two days later, he replicated that performance with another 15+2 haul in the return leg at Brough Park. However, he then faced a spell on the sidelines through a twisted knee after crashing out of Poole’s televised league match at Coventry on 25 July.

Meanwhile, with Roynon returning from injury in the Dudley line-up, Newman also gave up his place in their side in accordance with an agreement struck upon his initially linking with the Heathens’ set-up. He wasn’t out of action for long and was an impressive winner of his first-ever heat fifteen outing for Newcastle in their win over Ipswich on 14 August. Indeed, Newman delighted the home supporters by defeating Lasse Bjerre and Kevin Doolan in the last race.

The following day, Poole announced the signing of Polish rider Mateusz Szczepaniak after taking the decision to dispense with the ‘doubling-up’ duo of Newman and Christian Hefenbrock, although the latter did retain a place in the Pirates’ squad after being shuffled to the No. 8 berth.

On 31 August, Dudley announced that Newman had agreed to return to the club for the remaining weeks of the season. The talented British youngster had been a massive hit with the Heathens’ fans during his previous spell with the club earlier in the season, when he appeared in ten matches as cover for Adam Roynon.

In returning, he stepped into the No. 1 race-jacket vacated by unlucky skipper Jon Armstrong, who suffered a broken bone in his back during a match against Buxton at Wolverhampton’s Monmore Green on 30 August.

Newman duly returned to the Heathens side with a stunning performance at the Isle of Wight on 1 September – but was then struck by the former Cradley club's injury jinx. He had notched 11 points from his opening three rides, before he was involved in a horrifying spill.

Disaster struck in heat thirteen, when he was chasing the Islanders’ Nick Simmons and clipped his back wheel with both riders hitting the fence at high speed. The home rider was badly dazed and Newman was taken to hospital complaining of back pain.

Thankfully, the news was better the following day and the Heathens’ hero was back at his Dorset home after being released from hospital on the Isle of Wight in the early hours of the morning. He had X-rays on various bones, but they came back clear and he was able to make his way home.

However, having returned to action, the rider was to be ruled out of the remainder of the season after suffering leg injuries in his first race during Newcastle’s home league defeat by Newport on 9 October. Newman required lengthy medical attention after suffering a puncture wound, which ruptured a major artery and led to blood-loss but thankfully that was halted and there were no breaks.

Despite ending the season in the wars the Dorset born rider is now fully-recovered and will be sharing a Peterborough doubling-up posotion with Richard Lawson in 2012.