“I go to bed with hope!” was Dean Ryan’s parting comment after the Dragons’ derby defeat to the Ospreys on Sunday.
The director of rugby was responding to a question about the possibility of having some injured Wales internationals back to bolster his pack for Friday’s clash with Cardiff at Rodney Parade.
Ryan’s lucky, he’s only had three years of going to bed with hope for the Dragons while most of us have had an awful lot longer.
This season has been a nightmare featuring just two wins from 20 games, a pathetic return given the quality in the squad.
But rather than going to bed with hope about results, it’s currently hope that the talk of getting rid of the professional rugby team in the east will go away AGAIN.
We are in familiar territory, but this time it’s not suggestions to pack things up for Rhondda Cynon Taf or the north.
The Professional Rugby Board meets today after another turbulent week in Wales.
It stems from the report that put forward a number of proposals, the juiciest of which is that four regions become three.
The standalone pair of Cardiff and the Scarlets would be safe, leaving the Dragons and Ospreys in the firing line.
The following day Ryan stressed that it is business as usual at Rodney Parade, although business as usual is exasperating due to the lack of a long-term strategy for the pro game.
Chairman David Buttress, the Dragons’ representative on the PRB, is not particularly fazed by the option to cut a team and we could all do with the idea being announced as dead ASAP while tackling the issues that are crippling the game in the country.
Ryan was right when he said that the WRU’s silence is creating a perfect breeding ground for speculation.
That led to David Moffett – a man who can rival David Cameron in the ‘you’ve got a nerve…’ stakes – putting forward his suggestion to BBC Radio Wales.
The former chief executive of the WRU, the founding father of regional rugby, said that he would go down to a trio of Llanelli, Swansea and Cardiff, or possibly Newport rather than the Whites if they were privately-owned.
Welsh rugby is again in the position of wasting time and energy on such things rather than acting on the governance issues that are crippling the game.
That is down to those at the top of the WRU.
Rather than proposing getting rid of a club, how about providing the quartet with a professional environment in which they can thrive?
Give the quartet a fighting chance rather than cutting funding and saddling them with loan repayments, separate the professional and community game, formulate a long-term plan for the next five years or more.
There are big issues that need tackling or a cull from four to three would soon be followed by a proposal to go down to two.
The rugby reasons don’t stack up for shutting down the Dragons, even though the URC table doesn’t make pleasant viewing.
Aside from the community work and welcome announcement to invest in a women’s development academy, plenty of promising players continue to come through in Gwent.
Elliot Dee, Leon Brown, Aaron Wainwright and Taine Basham have been followed by Ben Carter and Aneurin Owen.
Hopefully down the line a few more will make the step from the squad that won the U18s Regional Age-Grade Championship in February.
The Dragons have opted to put more investment into their academy and provide more coaching for young prospects.
There is talent in these parts but the prospects need to be stepping into senior set-ups with a proper sense of direction, which goes back to the long-term strategy.
Getting rid of a professional side based in Newport will only leave the area disenfranchised and looking over the border to get their rugby fix in the short term. In the longer term, goodness knows.
The east needs a professional side and the rugby reasons for the WRU getting involved in the ownership of the Dragons in 2017 remain valid, even if on-field results suggest otherwise.
Get a blueprint and get a deal done to get the Dragons back into private ownership from the governing body.
Professional rugby doesn’t need another divide and conquer episode, it needs to get on with delivering a plan rather than having these annual episodes.
Rodney Parade is a wonderful place to watch professional sport. A proper aligned strategy from on top is the first step towards delivering some hope for the rugby fans that go through the turnstiles.
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