Dragons RFC’s Interim Head Coach Filo Tiatia says players looking for an opportunity in the first team will need to “uplift the programmes” of Super Rygbi Cymru clubs whilst getting the “honour” to play for the likes of Ebbw Vale, Newport and Pontypool.
Since the former All Black took charge at Dragons, several senior players such as Cai Evans, Will Reed and Jordan Williams have been sent to clubs in the SRC as they return from injury along with talented youngsters like Harri Ackerman, Morgan Lloyd, Nick Thomas and George Young.
With Lloyd and Thomas’ performances for Pontypool and Newport respectively, along with Dragons A games, earnt them recent opportunities in the senior side and Ackerman could soon be in line to join them following a hat-trick performance against Llandovery last weekend.
The centre is making a comeback following a broken tibia and fibula suffered whilst captaining Wales under 20s against France in last year’s Six Nations.
“Ackerman’s going really well,” said Tiatia. “We've been watching him closely, obviously returning from a nasty leg injury and he worked really hard around pre-season on a couple of targets that he needed to meet.”
“He's been playing club rugby over a month or so. He had a really good performance on the weekend, some nice touches, good moments, building momentum, but also stopping momentum on the other side of the ball.”
Not only is it crucial that players are given an opportunity to play, but also that they give back to their communities, something which is “important” to Tiatia.
“If they're not involved, it's a great opportunity for them to showcase what they have,” said Tiatia.
“You've seen in the past some of the selections we have rewarded some of the young guys, with an opportunity, because they’ve earnt it.
“They go back to the community, they help the community, uplift the programme with them being the best versions of themselves and that's where it all started for all of these boys. It didn't start right at the top.
“If we're not connected to the community, for me it's a big loss. So that's important to me.
“They’ve got to go there and take the opportunity to play. If I had the opportunity to play for Pontypool, what a great honour it would be, to give back because it's not the other way around.”
The SRC clubs have benefitted, with all three Gwent clubs inside the top six of the Super Rygbi Cymru table including Ebbw Vale who currently lead the standings after 12 games.
Dragons Academy and Wales U20s wing Harry Rees-Weldon has shone for the Steelmen, meanwhile there have been similarly impressive performances by the likes of fellow flyers Oli Andrew at Newport and Walker Price at Pontypool.
“I owe everything to where I started and I started at grassroots and ground level and community,” said Tiatia.
“So it's really important for our players that aren’t playing that they actually go back to a competition that they're able to stress their skills, but also showcase what they've been working on.
“They can't do that if there's no games. The SRC is a great opportunity for those players, a good opportunity to play, but also lift the programme.
“So when they go back to Ebbw Vale, if we have players that go there or go to, Newport and to Pontypool, the expectation is they go to the club, they engage with the community and then they uplift the programme and make it better and they share thoughts and ideas.
“That's how I learnt. I learnt from players that were better than me and accelerated my learning, thinking; ‘Man, I’m rubbing shoulders with X, Y, and Z’ and it makes the programme better.
“So my aspirations for Dragons, while I'm here, is that the players have an opportunity to play and they keep getting better because that’s the only way is you’ve got to play rugby consistently.”
When they go back to Ebbw Vale, or Newport and Pontypool, the expectation is they go to the club, engage with the community and then they uplift the programme and make it better...
