THINGS are starting to happen for Newport Gwent Dragons - on and off the field.

Now before you faint, fall off your chairs, choke on whatever you’re eating at such a bold statement from yours truly, it’s not the weather that’s got to me. No, its the gradual dawning that there are real possibilities, that at long last tangible progress is being made.

I would not be so shallow as to base such optimism on one admittedly cracking victory over the Ospreys for that has happened before, but it sure helps after what has been widely described as the game of the season on Friday night.

Unbelievably, the Dragons roared into a 32-11 lead against a near full strength Ospreys team parading internationals from Wales, New Zealand, Ireland and Scotland even if they had to withstand a ferocious fightback which narrowed the gap to 32-28 in an absolute thriller.

And the Dragons did it with a second row made up of their fourth choice alongside a back row forward and without a specialist full back. And the one who did take the field left it after only 11 minutes with a knee injury after which the No 2 outside half had to play there.

So it was no mean performance and once again the atmosphere was terrific, the crowd got after Dan Biggar in the same way they did Mike Phillips last year while Tommy Bowe was another whose temperament proved a bit fragile.

When have the star studded Ospreys had to put up with chants like ‘What a load of rubbish’ or ‘What a waste of money?’ Probably never. And how it rattled them.

Watching Wales coach Warren Gatland loved the whole experience, he admired the Dragons’ performance, he singled out their back row and he thoroughly enjoyed all the banter.

And it can only get better because the management team is a visionary unit headed up by Darren Edwards. They know what they want and the style they are after, they give the players full rein, they encourage them to play, they don’t rollock them if what they try fails to come off, and they are actively pursuing an improved recruitment policy.

Ulster full back Jamie Smith could well prove a cracking signing and there are others to follow including at least one major recruit. It won’t be Dan Carter but it will be someone of a calibre which will make people sit up and take notice.

And players from elsewhere, from other Welsh regions, some of them young and highly promising, want to come to the Dragons.

They have been in touch rather than the other way around and one or two even want to break their contracts.

I am not at liberty to say who they are, that obviously isn’t possible here but the signs are extremely encouraging all the same.

And off the pitch there are real possibilities too which could provide the revenue to further expand the playing base with high quality signings.

For it will not have escaped any fan’s notice that the new stand and hospitality suite and boxes are going up at a rate of knots now in time for the start of next season.

Extra marketing staff are being taken on with the aim of ensuring a far wider use of the hospitality suite in particular than just on match days.

The aim is to hold meetings, seminars, wedding receptions and conferences there in the knowledge that no similar facility exists in the centre of Newport.

If business booms and the team produce more performances like the one against the Ospreys then many of these visitors may well turn perhaps a mild interest into full blown membership.

So the whole thing could produce a knock-on effect and, dare I say it, Rodney Parade could be the place to be.

In turn, many of the doubters who still exist out there whether in Newport or the Valleys could just begin to realise that the Dragons are worth following, that the match day experience can be something special and decide to join up.

And perhaps most encouraging of all, the Welsh Rugby Union are aware that Rodney Parade and the Dragons are finally beginning to stir and they are quietly, even actively, supportive.

So you can see why I’m at worst cautiously optimistic and at best full of enthusiasm about future prospects. And I haven’t said that since the days when Tony Brown was at the helm pulling all the strings.