Aled Brew insists that the Dragons no longer want to be the ‘rags’ of Welsh Rugby as they gear up to face the Ospreys this Friday.
Brew, 28, who returned from Biarritz this Summer to rejoin the Dragons has seen a definite change in psyche in his time away from the club. Brew said: “It’s become a more elite environment professionalism has increased tenfold and the training base has moved. The opinion of ourselves has changed; we don’t want to be known as the rags anymore.”
This is something that coaches Lyn and Kingsley Jones have been keen to push in their time at the Region and Brew told me that they have been “vital in helping to change the players’ mind-set.”
Given the average age of the Dragons squad, Brew has become something of a veteran at just twenty-eight. He laughs it this off saying it is a “bit funny aye, there are a lot of young boys here so it is a bit funny that I am a veteran.”
However, he does understand the pressures that come with being one of the senior members of the squad. He told me that the reason the Dragons have been losing so many games is down to composure. Brew said: “We are giving silly penalties in key areas, giving them 3 points. Then when we are in striking range, we don’t have the composure to finish off really. We just need to fine tune those aspects to convert pressure into points.”
Of course composure comes with experience and that is something that the Dragons are lacking presently. Brew told me that, “We do have a lot of young players who are still learning, I’m a veteran now so we have to guide these young boys now.”
The Dragons have brought in several international veterans and the same principal also applies to Andy Powell and Captain, Lee Byrne.
Despite his new responsibilities Brew has not been satisfied with his performances in the Guinness Pro12. When asked to assess his form this season he told me, “it hasn’t been great to be honest with you, I haven’t been too happy with my performances.”
“I am just trying to get some hands on the ball and try to make good decisions really; I have been doing it now and again but not consistently. So the aim is to try and be more consistent in my rugby.” Aled Brew’s self-assessment could so easily be an assessment of the Dragons on the whole. The region has played some good rugby but has failed to pick up the wins they deserved on several occasions.
Brew told me that the Dragons have been ‘unlucky’ this season, saying that: “I think unlucky would be the word, at the beginning of the year we played some good rugby but some bad rugby as well.”
The luck is bound to change soon and particularly with young players such as Jack Dixon and Tyler Morgan set to return soon, two players Brew rates highly.
It has been a difficult start for the Dragons but they are keen to remove the ‘rags’ tag by getting a result against the Ospreys this Friday.
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