Centre Adam Warren is looking to make up for lost time after missing the majority of the 2020/2021 campaign due to injury.
Warren joined the Dragons in 2015 and has been an integral part of the squad having made 117 appearances for the Men of Gwent since his debut six years ago.
But the 30-year-old was reduced to just the four appearances last season with his last fixture coming against Benetton in November.
Warren admits it has been a tough year but is excited to be back fit and ready for pre-season and kicking on in the United Rugby Championship.
“I’m very excited, last year was probably the first year in my career that I have suffered a big injury and faced a long lay off and mentally it was quite tough,” said the Carmarthen born back.
“But towards the end of the season I put a lot of hard work in and got myself fit towards the end and now I’m ready for a big pre-season and into a good new year.
“We had a tough first week of pre-season, we thought they might take it easy on us because the heat was ridiculous but didn’t turn out that way,” he laughed.
“But it was a good week, the conditioning and analysts staff are monitoring it all well and the running load has been pretty high but we are looked after well. It has been tough but I’m looking forward to the next few weeks now.”
The new season will see a brand-new league name and format including four new South African teams joining the United Rugby Championship.
While the Dragons recruitment has been busy over recent months, with multiple new additions to the squad including props Aki Seiuli and Mesake Doge ahead of the exciting 2020/2021 campaign.
Warren insists he and his team-mates are excited for the new challenge and is looking forward to getting to know the new faces at the region while putting good performances together.
“I have played in this league for around ten years now so adding new teams is always a new challenge,” said the Welsh international.
“You can see with the Lions going on at the moment and see some of the stuff going on with the South African teams it’s definitely going to add something to the competition and it will be interesting to see how it goes.”
Warren continued: “Every year there is always a change in personnel, everyone has been excited that we have added to the squad and strengthened.
“There has been a few more signings this season and everyone is looking forward to getting together and mingling well and then trying to put some good performances together.”
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