DRAGONS ANALYSIS
CONTINUALLY LOSING AND THE UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDING THE FUTURE OF THE DRAGONS ISN’T HEALTHY THE franchise has been up for sale for six months and, despite apparent interest from potential investors, nothing concrete seems to have happened.
And, to be blunt about it, what are you actually going to get for your money with the only real assets being the squad.
But with Wales big-hitters Taulupe Faletau, Dan Lydiate and Luke Charteris all having departed in recent years as the decline has speeded up, there’s hardly a player at the Dragons who might command a sizeable transfer fee.
Hallam Amos may fetch some money but, along with another promising youngster in Tyler Morgan, he’s on a National Dual Contract with the WRU and neither would likely to be sold to English or French clubs.
Rodney Parade isn’t up for sale while the name Dragons is irrelevant so it’s difficult to fathom out what any buyer would get other than a large wage bill and there’s not many super-rich benefactors in Wales.
People can point to Sir Terry Matthews, the Canada-based owner of the luxury Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, but the man originally from Newbridge, Gwent is a shrewd businessman and knows the difficulty, also impossibility of making a profit out of regional or club rugby, with wages out of step with the true economic viability of the sport. ATTENDANCES HAVE CRASHED AT RODNEY PARADE THEY aren’t as low as the 1998-99 season, when Newport RFC were beaten five times by little Caerphilly, but they are a major source of concern with Gwent rugby followers being fed up to the back teeth with the losing ways of the Dragons and the loss of stars like Faletau, Lydiate and Charteris.
This season’s attendances at their Newport lair have been 4,454 against Italian outfit Zebre, the only match the Dragons have won in their last 18 in the league, a paltry 3814 for a Saturday tea-time kick-off against twice European champions and Pro12 big guns Munster and 4,809 for the clash with one of the Pro12s best and most entertaining teams, 2014-15 kings Glasgow.
The Dragons had an average home gate of 5,311 for league matches at Rodney Parade but, if you factor in Judgement Day at the Principality Stadium when they shared home status with Cardiff Blues, it rises to 7,931.
The malaise just can’t go on and something has to be done to drag the Dragons up by the bootlaces or their promising youngsters will be targeted by predators when their contracts run out. TIME FOR THE WRU TO STEP UP THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN THE DRAGONS? THE governing body hold a 50% stake in the Dragons since their opening season of 2003-04 but have been silent partners during these troubled times.
Increasing their stake in the Dragons may concern the other regions – a recent report Cardiff Blues were interested in a closer tie-up with the WRU wasn’t universally welcomed – because some would see it as an unfair advantage. But the WRU is the prime backer of north Wales region RGC 1404 and it has been a glowing success so why not with the Dragons?
It would be a perfect opportunity for the union, with it’s human resources and expertise, to show whether it’s up to running a pro region. WOULD A DRAFT SYSTEM AID THE DRAGONS? THE Gwent region certainly needs more on the field leaders and, for example, a real top-class outsidehalf would make a massive difference to their prospects.
The situation at the Ospreys with Wales’ in-form No.10 Sam Davies having to make way for Dan Biggar, the Scarlets having three quality scrum-halves in Gareth and Aled Davies, and Jonathan Evans, and the back-row riches at Cardiff Blues, sums up why drafting would benefit Welsh rugby.
Those mentioned players are all good enough to be first choices although it must be recorded, Evans justifiably decided to leave his home region the Dragons after it signed South African Sarel Pretorius, who’s a decent player but no better. One of the key reasons New Zealand dominate world rugby is because of a draft system that ensures all the country’s top prospects are with franchises where they will get regular opportunities in big games, and that fast-tracks their development.
Most of the best young talent in the Dragons squad is from Gwent and has serious potential but an assertive, on-field general calling the shots would help them enormously.