DAI Flanagan is confident that the Dragons have enough prop power without having to make moves in the transfer market.
The Rodney Parade club have had a busy recruitment drive but none of the six new signings are looseheads or tightheads.
The Dragons have bolstered the front row options by signing former Wales Under-20s hooker Oli Burrows from Exeter but all the props were with the club last season.
Deals are being finalised for Wales international Leon Brown – an incentivised one given that he has been plagued by injuries – and Dmitri Arhip, the strong-scrummaging former Ospreys and Cardiff man who joined for the run-in.
They will join Lloyd Fairbrother, who missed the end of last season because of a back injury, Chris Coleman and Luke Yendle as tighthead options.
On the other side of the scrum, Aki Seiuli was released and that leaves the Dragons with Rhodri Jones, Rodrigo Martinez, Josh Reynolds and the up-and-coming duo of Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths and Jordan Morris as options.
“I believe firmly that with Lloyd, Leon, Chris, Dmitri and Luke Yendle there is a decent stock of tighthead props,” said head coach Flanagan.
INFLUENTIAL: Rhodri Jones was one of the Dragons' best performers last season (Image: Huw Evans Agency)
“I’ve got high hopes for Rodrigo at loosehead and Rhodri Jones came here broken from the Ospreys but has been on the up and up.
“We’ve got young looseheads working with [former prop] Sam Hobbs as forwards coach in Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths, who did a good shift at Pontypool, Jordan Morris, who is out with Wales Under-20s is one to keep an eye on, and we need Josh Reynolds to come through.”
The deal for Arhip is waiting to be given the green light by Welsh Rugby Union, who are enforcing a new s£4.5million salary cap.
The Moldovan played five times in the run-in to cover for Brown and Fairbrother after Yendle, recently 24, had featured more than expected.
“That was good for a someone stepping up but it becomes a challenge at tighthead and you need a bit of experience,” said Flanagan about Yendle, who made 13 appearances.
“We brought in Dmitri at the tail-end of the season and he got better and better with every game; it was pleasing to see him dominate the Scarlets’ scrum in the last 25 minutes of Judgement Day.
“If he has a good summer, and we get the deal across the line, then we have got a very experienced and quality tighthead who can shore up that area of the game.”
POWERFUL: Leon Brown is a class act for the Dragons when fit (Image: Huw Evans Agency)
Brown’s contract expired this summer but the 27-year-old from Newport, who hasn’t played since winning his 24th cap for Wales in the Six Nations loss to Scotland, is set to stay on.
The powerful prop has made just four Dragons appearances in the last two seasons, three of them as a starter.
“I am a big fan of Leon Brown and we have given him time,” said Flanagan. “Since I’ve been at the region he’s not been anywhere near fit or durable, that’s why us and Wales are aligned to make sure we get Leon correct going forward.
“We’ve also got Lloyd coming back after he slipped a disc when arguably playing his best rugby, so that’s almost three new additions to the front row.”
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