IT is a subject which refuses to go away - the release of British Lions to play for their clubs, provinces or regions.

Now the paying public are inadvertently in the firing line amid claims that the real hard core fan is being shortchanged.

While in England and France there are full on games with all their top flight players available from the word go, even if lacking somewhat in skill, the Celtic nations and Wales in particular are holding their leading players back.

Caught in the middle are the hard core, the basic supporters who pay through the turnstiles or join up as season ticket holders.

They are entitled to ask whether they are being given value for money when they are not seeing the best players in action for at least the opening month of the season.

Even the Scottish and Irish Lions have been trickling back through September whereas Wales' Lions, even if the majority are injured, have been held back.

We all know the arguments on the other side, that in an increasingly physical and demanding game rest periods are paramount and that the benefits will be seen during the Six Nations Championship and beyond.

And we all appreciate that success on the international field provides a feelgood factor among the population as a whole and can even help turn around the financial fortunes of a previously hard-up union, as is the case in Wales.

But there is a case for the players themselves deciding, that if they feel fit and ready they should be allowed to return, and the fan has also to be considered in all this.

It's all very well for WRU chief David Moffett to claim it is about Wales being first, second and third, but that philosophy hardly takes into account the regular every day supporter who spends his money and expects to see a proper return for it.

Moffett feels that the only answer is a properly structured European season which would satisfy all the interests, but there's little chance of that happening given the vibrancy of the English and French leagues.

England have already done a bit of mix and matching by extending the Powergen Cup competition to involve the four Welsh regions, though even then they probably need the Welsh teams on the back of the Grand Slam success to boost a competition which had been flagging.

But we all wait to see where the power is in this new competition - in Wales or in England, and also whether the English teams will be at full strength or whether they will rest some players.

Different clubs will have a different view, but if the competition is taken anything less that seriously it would be a blow for the sponsors.

Newport Gwent Dragons kick it off with a mouth watering game against English kings Leicester on Friday night. It's a heck of a prospect for the Dragons even with some of their stars returning. They've now lost three games in a row as they battle to keep their heads above the parapet.

By that I mean they have basically stood still since last season with little real recruitment whereas other teams have moved on. They now face a mighty battle to redress the balance because just look at their next five fixtures - Leicester, Northampton, Edinburgh, Castres and Sale. Now hand on heart how many of those games are the Dragons going to win?

So it could get worse before it gets better and the pressure could start to mount, not so much on the coach, management and players but on the board who could well have to do something about it instead of just standing still.

To return to Moffett, we all know he's done a pretty good job, but at Sunday's record short annual meeting (where's the good old days or rows, arguments and accusations flying around?) he was greeted right royally by one of only two delegates who spoke.

Morlais Thomas, that grand old man of the Welsh rugby scene, addressed him thus: "You came, you saw, you conquered!" Enough said.