Filo Tiatia has vowed to continue to drive ‘standards’ at the club - as the Interim Head Coach prepares to lead the Men of Gwent into derby day action this weekend.
Tiatia will take charge of affairs for the first time when Dragons head to the capital to tackle Cardiff Rugby in the BKT United Rugby Championship on Saturday evening (kick-off 5.15pm).
The former New Zealand international, who joined the club in the summer, believes Dragons are building the culture and environment whilst instilling values which are crucial to their growth.
And while acknowledging professional sport is always ultimately about winning, he this week outlined the importance of ‘winning moments and growth’ as he looks to help the squad become as good as they can be.
“It’s not just about on the grass or in the team room,” said Tiatia. “The aspiration is to keep growing as a group, not just players but staff, and being clear on a purpose and how we move forward.
“I’m a humble man, I’m clear on where I’m from. I’m Samoan, born in New Zealand, but I’m here to help a group collectively to be better.
"I’ve left my wife and my children back in New Zealand, but really clear on why I’ve come here.
“The motivation is, how do we keep growing? How do we keep getting better in a real positive manner? Then it’s about incremental growth in our programme.”
One of the crucial foundation blocks for Tiatia is the setting of standards as a cornerstone for a healthy professional environment.
“Standards are standards,” said Tiatia. “You either have a good environment or a poor environment, there’s no in-between.
“There’s a lot of care here at the moment, with the things we’re doing and we’re building around a couple of values that the players have put together.
“I’ve committed myself to the programme, working on the programme and mentality. There’s a lot of things which have improved and a lot of things we need to keep working on.
“We’re simplifying a couple of things we do on the field and off the field and being consistent around behaviour.”
Behaviour includes ensuring players and coaches are ‘challenged’ to ensure that the environment doesn’t become complacent with the leadership group and player/coach Dan Lydiate crucial in driving towards success.
“The players are growing - but also the staff,” said Tiatia.
“It’s okay to make people accountable because that’s the only way we’re going to grow and be challenged.
“Dan Lydiate is doing a great job with his peers but also challenging coaches, he’s been outstanding, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with Dan.
“Our players are more capable than what they may think and can achieve things which they believe are unachievable,” added Tiatia.
“It’s about instilling belief to achieve the things they want to individually, but also as a group.”
The aspiration is to keep growing as a group, not just players but staff, and being clear on a purpose and how we move forward...
