Head Coach Dai Flanagan has praised the impact of Steff Hughes during his shirt time with the club – and believes the centre’s knowledge he can pass on his invaluable.
Hughes has joined Dragons RFC as short-term injury cover and made his debut with a try off the bench in the BKT United Rugby Championship defeat to Benetton Rugby last weekend.
Flanagan knows all about Hughes and his abilities having previously worked with him at Scarlets – and he has been delighted with his involvement so far with the Men of Gwent.
“Steff has taken every opportunity he has been given and he is training the house down daily and you saw his performance when he came on last weekend,” said Flanagan.
“He has an X factor of bringing everyone together. He is a bit of a glue player, not just on the field but environmentally.
“He connects a lot of people, and he has massive knowledge of the game, so that is invaluable to people like Aneurin Owen and Will Reed.
“You can’t pay for that knowledge – there is not enough money in the world, and he brings that daily.
“Steff is after for an opportunity to perform, and I thought he was really good for his 35 minutes against Benetton,” he added.
“His qualities are his skill set, his understanding and his defensive knowledge.
“I want players to take ownership of their careers. I'm here to help them as much as possible, the same as the other coaches, but there's also an understanding that you've got to put in the work.
“Nobody can drive them to work harder, but Steff has that in abundance.”
Steff has an X factor of bringing everyone together... He is a bit of a glue player, not just on the field but environmentally...
