NEWPORT Gwent Dragons start their season tonight with a lot of work to do if they are to remain the best supported professional sports team in the city.

Their fellow tenants at Rodney Parade, Newport County AFC, have stolen all the headlines in the last year with a stunning period of success on and off the field.

As with all professional sport, it is success on the field that really matters and Dragons fans have been starved of that for a number of seasons.

Tonight will hopefully be the starting point for a turnaround in the region's fortunes.

The Dragons have a new coaching team led by Lyn Jones with former Wales star Gareth Davies about to step in as chief executive.

As we have said before, the ingredients are there for improvement but it has to start on the pitch.

What we really want to see is success for both the Dragons and County because that will be good for the city as a whole.

(Actually, what we would like to see is all of our local sports clubs doing well).

The better our two professional teams do on the pitch, the bigger the crowds. The bigger the crowds, the more commercial opportunities there are for the clubs to exploit.

We wish the Dragons well tonight against Ulster and for the season ahead.

Let's hope it is a season that delivers on its promise.