Boss Dean Ryan has warned that Dragons must continue to work hard if they are to develop and grow over time – and vowed that nobody at Rodney Parade will ever hide from the challenges ahead.
Dragons this week completed the signing of Wales and British & Irish Lions ace Jamie Roberts to add to fellow summer recruits Nick Tompkins, Jonah Holmes and Joe Maksymiw.
Ryan has welcomed the value that all four will add to the squad going forward, with Guinness PRO14 action set to restart later this month.
But the Director of Dragons Rugby insists progress will take time and he will not set any false expectation for short-term success.
“It’s important that we realise that we are not a vastly different group to what we were last year,” said Ryan.
“We’ve added two or three high contribution players during in this period. But we will still have challenges on depth, still have challenges on experience.
“Every year we will add two or three, keep moving, keep growing the group that we have got and challenge them to get better.
“Everybody talks about expectations and it is my job to manage that and keep the place stable and an environment where people can continue to learn.
“Setting false expectations is something the Dragons have been through. Short-term cycles of up we go and down we come again.
“My job is that we are consistent and a better place to continue to learn.
“I’m certainly not here to dampen it too much and the excitement about people like Jamie coming to join us. It is an exciting time for the Dragons.
“But we have got a lot of work to do. None of us have ever hid from that and we never will.”
We have got a lot of work to do... None of us have ever hid from that and we never will...
