Head Coach Filo Tiatia has reflected on a season of ‘growth’ and ‘fine margins’ – and insists his Dragons still have lots to improve and develop as they head into the final weekend of the campaign.
The Men of Gwent are on the road for Round 18 and the season finale in the BKT United Rugby Championship against Scarlets in Llanelli on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 5.15pm).
Dragons can look at a season of progress as they target a victory to leapfrog Scarlets in the standings to add to a strong EPCR Challenge Cup campaign.
But for Tiatia the work does not stop as he puts his full focus on Saturday afternoon before planning and preparations for next season take centre stage.
“We’ve learnt lots this season and we’ve had fine margins,” he said.
“We had three games in a season that potentially should have won but we drew. A couple of games where it should have gone our way, but it didn't.
“There's a lot of lessons around the growth of the group. There's been good areas around where we've improved from previous seasons.
“There has also been growth around how players lead their team and there's a massive growth around our leadership.
“I’m happy where we’ve got to, but I think the reality is where we are on the ladder and we have still lots to keep improving on.
“Right now, we keep it to the here and now. We’ve got an important game against the Scarlets and we're looking forward to it.
“After the game, we’ll still be working. We will get our review work done and look at how we keep improving and make sure the players are clear on what we are targeting during the five weeks they are off.
“We need then to come in day one of next season ready to go. The work doesn’t stop.”
Several players will play their final game for the club at Parc y Scarlets and Tiatia acknowledges that will add to the atmosphere on the day.
“It is an emotional time. Part of coaching is that you form relationships, and you form trust,” he added.
“That's important ingredients for cohesion and how you move forward as a group and how you perform.
“Part of coaching is when you need to let players go and it's probably one of the hardest parts of the job, but it needs to be done.
“It's how you do it the right way, how you communicate effectively throughout the course of the season as players need certainty.
“It’s something you try and do with integrity and make sure that there are opportunities for the person that may not be staying - how can I help them?
“That's part of the process for me as a coach, but also for the group. How we move forward now is important as well.”
There's a lot of lessons around the growth of the group. There's been good areas around where we've improved from previous seasons...
