DARREN Waters successfully made the transition from scrum-half to flanker, now he wants to make the step up to professional rugby player after signing for the Newport Gwent Dragons.

The back row forward will head to Rodney Parade from Pontypridd next season, initially playing for Newport with a view to forcing his way into the regional set-up.

Waters, 25, an openside who can also fill in at blindside, didn’t get the Sardis Road send-off that he wanted when their bid to add the Premiership title to their Swalec Cup triumph was scuppered by Llanelli in the play-off final.

It was a sad end to a terrific campaign for the 6ft 1in bricklayer, who has been one of the standout performers in the Premiership this season.

He won the player of the month award in January – a prize that rarely gets given to older heads who are not aligned to a region – and has caught the eye with hard ball-carrying and destructive work at the breakdown.

And three years after he swapped the number nine jersey for one with seven on the back he will be trying to emulate Lloyd Burns and Andrew Coombs by swapping the Premiership for Magners League rugby.

“I am looking forward to stepping up a level, training full-time and continuing to develop as a player,” said Beddau-born Waters.

“I leave Ponty with mixed emotions because we worked really hard all season only to fall at the last hurdle but on a personal not it has been a great year and I obviously caught the eye of the Dragons.

“It has always been a dream of mine to be a professional rugby player so hopefully it will be onwards and upwards from here.

“It wasn’t long ago that I headed to Ponty and was running around like a headless chicken trying to learn the position but the Chief (coach Dale McIntosh) has helped transform me.

“Now I’ve got a great opportunity at the Dragons and hopefully I can settle in well and learn from players like Gavin Thomas.

“It’s a tremendous move and out of all the regions they are the one I took a shine to because they do use their clubs around them and you have seen them give players a chance.”