Boss Dean Ryan has outlined his long-term hopes for Dragons as he targets the region continuing to grow in 2020.
The Director of Dragons Rugby has clocked up six months in charge at Rodney Parade, with notable results over Scarlets and Glasgow in the Guinness PRO14 and Castres and Worcester in the European Challenge Cup.
Dragons have also recorded a victory on the road in the league, with an emphatic win over Zebre.
However, Ryan is determined to not make comparisons with previous regimes or put any targets down for league wins and an overall finish.
Instead he has vowed to see the project over the long-term as Dragons head into the new year.
“I’m not looking or comparing us to the past,” he said. “The past cycle that this team has been in hasn’t worked. Why put us in the same cycle?
“I’m looking for people to get better, looking for people to work hard.
“Hopefully what fans see is just that; I’m not framed on how many wins we have got by a certain stage of the season.
“I want to keep challenging and holding this group of players to account - they have agreed to keep working hard and looking at how they learn. They are doing a good job.
“You have to experience things together; you have to get some stuff wrong and understand things by the nature of wins and losses.
“My pace is probably on two, three, four-year timelines. I think the media like to put it on week timelines,” he smiled.
“Staying on short-term cycles is what has put Dragons into this place.
“To come here it needed people to have the courage to put it on a longer timeline. To have the courage to fight against people that say it will not work on that timeline.
“Sport is a short timeline business and I think the evidence shows that doing that with something as challenged as this region is not going to work.
“I’ve never been caught up with how many games you’ve won by this stage of the season. This place needs to be a place where people want to come to work and enjoy it.”
Ryan is keen to instil that feeling of enjoyment in the squad at Rodney Parade and believes the shoots of progress can be seen.
“We are showing signs of how much we care, where people dig in and try to get something out of games,” he said.
“We’re starting to be a place where people enjoy coming to work.
“Those are things you wouldn’t normally measure. I haven’t done that in the past because I’ve probably taken it for granted, but when you come into a place like Dragons you put those things at the top of the list.
“From there it becomes easier to learn, easier to get better, easier to be on the fringe of something. Suddenly the wheels start to turn a bit easier.”
Ryan pinpoints the development of a number of young players – and not an over reliance on star names – as a big positive of his time at the region.
“Yes, we are thin on resources and struggle with the strength in depth, compared to other regions or teams,” he admitted. “But, at the same time, we have sold that as an opportunity.
“Who knew about Owen Jenkins or Will Talbot-Davies? We’ve been careful not to get into a self-pity cycle where we’re reliant on a small group.
“We don’t say ‘when are players back?’ - we see it as an opportunity for others.
“We’re also not framed by the next two or three weeks. What we are framed by is ‘can we make players better?’ Can we make the strength in depth better and keep improving as a group?
“To do that we have to go to people who don’t have as much PRO14 experience. We have to go to unknown names on the fringes and make them better.
“Given the rise of some of the names that wouldn’t be as popular and as well-known as others, that’s started to happen. That makes us stronger.”
As Dragons enter 2020 – with a big derby with Ospreys first up on home soil – the message from Ryan is one of opportunity and long-term development.
And he is hoping that the Rodney Parade faithful can also play a part.
“Crowds are relationship pieces,” he said. “When people understand how much you are giving on the field they will come and they will get behind you.
“It’s not always about winning, but a fundamental of that relationship is that they understand how hard you are working.
“Do I think we are a region that has a good chance of being competitive in games? Absolutely. That is all I ask,” he added.
“We are challenging the group to get used to being competitive, week in and week out. That means you need to get more right, week in and week out.
“That doesn’t mean we are going to win every game, but by being competitive you have chances to win games.
“Through those chances, you learn what you got right, learn what you got wrong. You develop as a group and that is what we have got to target.”
Watch Dragons in derby day action in the opening game of 2020 as we welcome Ospreys to Rodney Parade on Saturday (kick-off 3pm). Click HERE to buy your tickets and join us for more top Guinness PRO14 action.
I want to keep challenging and holding this group of players to account - they have agreed to keep working hard and looking at how they learn...
