Davies on breathing new fire into Dragons
It was a turbulent time at the Dragons last season, both on and off the field, amid disappointing league results and a series of pretty seismic events. Now they are moving forward into a new era, with Kingsley Jones having taken over from Lyn Jones on the
Q: YOU HAD A PRETTY EVENTFUL TIME AT THE DRAGONS LAST SEASON WITH THE TAULUPE FALETAU TRANSFER SAGA, LYN JONES’ DEPARTURE AND THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SEARCH FOR NEW OWNERS. HAS YOUR SUMMER BEEN A BIT CALMER?
A: It was my first full year in the job and, when I hear you listing those three things, any one of those in a season would have been enough to keep a CEO busy.
In combination, they made for a challenging 12 months. That rolls on into this year because we are still dealing with the loss of Faletau in terms of the squad profile.
There’s a new regime in place following Lyn’s departure and we haven’t yet secured an investor.
So it’s funny when people say to me what am I doing now the rugby’s off.
The fact of the matter is the working week is as busy as ever.
There’s still lots to do and many of the challenges still remain.
Q: IT’S SOME FOUR MONTHS NOW SINCE YOU ANNOUNCED THOSE PLANS TO SEEK NEW INVESTORS. HOW ARE THINGS PROGRESSING ON THAT FRONT?
A: Firstly, we got to work on preparing the information memorandum, a document which we will give to any interested party.
That contains all the information they need about our recent history - whether that be financial or performance - and the investment proposal that’s on the table.
That took a little while to finalise because of the complicated structure as it stands.
We probably have in the region of half a dozen expressions of interest that have progressed through to further discussions, queries.
None of them are at a point where we are on the verge of signing or announcing new owners, but I remain positive and absolutely convinced that it’s the right way to go.
The interest has come from high net worth Dragons supporters who have said they would be happy to help out, through to representatives of investors.
We have had interest from people who are looking at the opportunity and think they can make money.
There has also been high net worth individuals who have a genuine in- terest in looking at it from the point of view that they could be our answer.
I am delighted we have had interest and even more so that that’s progressed through to discussion, but we are certainly not at the point of signing anything.
That leaves us with business as usual, which is taking up a lot of my time.
Q: LOOKING AT THOSE HALF DOZEN INTERESTED PARTIES, COULD YOU SEE ANY OF THOSE BEING OWNERS OF THE DRAGONS ONE DAY?
A: Yes, I could. Their interest is that serious. Some other expressions I would class more as an assist rather than transformational, allowing us to invest a little bit more in the side.
If we were to have a few of those who were interested in coming on board, then we could go down that route.
If you are talking about a collective rather than a “my bat and ball” individual, some would argue that would be a preference in terms of how the place would work. But the fact of the matter is we would entertain either or.
Q: DO YOU HAVE A DEADLINE IN MIND BY WHEN YOU WOULD NEED A FIRM OFFER, BEFORE YOU HAVE TO ACTIVATE PLAN B, WHATEVER THAT MIGHT ENTAIL?
A: We are either successful within a reasonable time-frame - let’s say the end of this season and by next season there is new ownership - or we are not.
In the absence of that, we have still got business as usual to look after.
We still need to go down the route of separating the Dragons from Newport RFC and Rodney Parade Ltd, whether we have new owners or not, in terms of the independence of the Dragons brand.
We are still charged with achieving that, whatever happens. We are then up and ready for someone to come in and purchase the business.
Q: IS ONE OF THE PROBLEMS THAT YOU DON’T ACTUALLY HAVE MUCH TO SELL IN TERMS OF ASSETS, AS YOU DON’T OWN THE GROUND YOU PLAY ON?
A: It depends on the mindset of the individuals. If you are talking to someone who is looking for a return on investment, they probably do have a view on whether there is a tangible asset - land, buildings, whatever – up for grabs.
If you are talking about someone who simply loves their rugby and wants to get involved with one of Wales’ four professional sides, they might well say they don’t want to run the venue, they don’t want any land or buildings, they just want to make the Dragons successful.
In general terms, I would much sooner shape the future with the investors on board than go down a route and find that doesn’t quite match what they want.
We are talking significant change here and change management is a challenging and demanding thing. There is a lot of work involved in it. So I would rather do that once than twice.
Q: THE NATURE OF LYN JONES’ DEPARTURE, FOLLOWING HIS ABSENCE FOR A FEW WEEKS, CAME AS AN AWKWARD ENDING TO THE SEASON. DO YOU LOOK BACK ON THAT AND THINK IT COULD HAVE BEEN HANDLED ANY DIFFERENTLY?
A: It was a decision that needed to be made. The timing of it perhaps wasn’t consistent with how things had been done previously, here or elsewhere.
But in actual fact we have felt the benefits of that through the pre-season because Kingsley’s earlier appointment afforded him the opportunity to start considering things earlier.
The challenge to him from me and
the board is to consider our rugby philosophy, what was it that we were doing last year. The school report would simply say ‘not good enough’.
Kingsley having that time to speak to people about roles and responsibilities, to make further appointments to the coaching staff, was a benefit of that early decision.
Given that the season was coming to an end, I wouldn’t have dealt with it differently and I’m comfortable with what it’s allowed us to do since. Q: WAS IT AN EASY DECISION TO HAND KINGSLEY THE REINS, BECAUSE YOU COULD HAVE BROUGHT SOMEBODY IN FROM OUTSIDE? A: Yes, we could have and it was an opportunity to do that. I set out a number of criteria we needed to look for in a coach and Kingsley ticked a whole number of boxes. So it was a quick and easy decision. It did give us continuity rather than wholesale change.
His response to the challenge has been to re-think everything. He’s carried out a huge consultation exercise with the players and there’s a different mood in the place.
There’s a new broom element in that. On this occasion, it’s not a new face, it’s simply a new approach I suppose.
He has immediately morphed into being the out and out number one, with fresh ideas, and all his previous experience has kicked straight in. None of that counts for much until we have kicked a ball, but so far, so good. Q: THERE HAS BEEN SOME HIGH- PROFILE RECRUITMENT BY THE OTHER THREE WELSH REGIONS, BUT YOU HAVEN’T MADE A BIG NAME MARQUEE SIGNING. WAS THAT NOT ON THE AGENDA? A: It was and it is. But we have to be realistic what we are up against in that respect and there is a financial element to it. There is a glass ceiling as well. When you finish having only won four league games, recruitment isn’t always easy.
If we can change that record with the current group, then that will help recruitment. It’s not as easy for us as for some of the other sides, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t got the ambition. Q: ONE FINAL QUESTION. FORMER WRU CHIEF EXECUTIVE DAVID MOFFETT HAS SAID THE REGIONAL STRUCTURE HE PUT IN PLACE IS NO LONGER RIGHT FOR WELSH RUGBY. ANY THOUGHTS? A: A lot of people will probably share my view on David Moffett and that is that he’s one of rugby’s great selfpublicists.
As far as I am concerned, he had his time with us, he had his chance, he walked away and I couldn’t be less interested in what he has got to say about the state of the game in 2016.
I would far sooner point to the good people, with capability and credibility, who are shaping the game now, like Gareth Davies, Martyn Phillips, Gerald Davies, Martin Anayi, Mark Davies.
These are good people who are in the fight now and trying to build a future, rather than undermine it by having these blasts from the past.