“We are not standing still. We have strengthened the playing squad and we have strengthened the coaching squad, so there has been a lot going on here during pre-season.
Talking about Dragons’ director of rugby and the squad he has put together, Davies commented, “Lyn has a great strategy and I hope that everyone can see his logistics in bringing in old heads to help a lot of the youngsters who are coming though. They would not be able to survive on their own without learning from those who are experienced.
“I think that it’s a good mix, we have a plethora of young talent coming through with the likes of Tyler Morgan, Joe Davies, James Benjamin and Angus O’Brien, who have moved up from the Dragons academy and into the Dragons Senior Squad. So with the help of the likes of Ian Gough, Rynard Landman and Boris Stankovich these Welsh U20s can thrive and really push themselves. It’s a great mix of the old and new and I look forward to seeing it on the field. These are the next generation of Welsh players so just watch this space.”
“We have also made some changes off the field – the pitch. This was a freak year in terms of weather so that didn’t help that the works hadn’t been completed but now they have been. It’s really remarkable that, that pitch is used by three teams so there’s a lot of traffic there and the Ground Staff worked their socks off to get the games on.
“We have also made a few changes within our commercial team. Our new commercial director, Pete Grzonka, has great experience in doing that role so the commercial side should thrive over the next few seasons.”
Not only that but a new European competition was announced, European Rugby Challenge Cup, alongside home and away games against Newcastle Falcons, Stade Francias and FIRA-2. Davies commented, “Looking at the new competition the FIRA-2 qualifier is going to be interesting. We should be in with a good chance of going through to the next stages of the Challenge Cup as that’s something to definitely strike for. The teams we are due to play against are historically not strong travellers so I am quite hopeful for the win in all of the home games.”
“But remember we are not standing still, we understand that it will be a tough year but the foundations were laid last year so it’s building on that to ensure that we are successful. As always thanks for your support.”
To take advantage of our Early Bird Special either call the Ticket Office on 01633 674990 or pop over to Rodney Parade Ticket Office to register your application form now. The Ticket Office will be open until 5pm today!
