NO jaws hit the floor when Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Martyn Phillips offered his verdict on Newport Gwent Dragons in the home changing room at Principality Stadium.

"What would a well-run, successful professional team look like? We are not where we want to be with the Dragons and part of my job is to help get it there," he said.

The WRU boss was addressing the media where Rob Howley will offer some late pearls to his players before they take on England in the Six Nations next month.

Coaches have to work out whether an individual operates best with the carrot or the stick and it's no different for Phillips… and in a sense he hedged his bets by offering both encouragement to the Dragons with an added warning.

He reiterated that the Union want professional rugby to succeed at Rodney Parade. He reiterated that things cannot go on like they are.

In fairness the Dragons board are well aware of that caveat and their hunt for fresh investment has been going on since April with chief executive Stuart Davies hopeful of interest being converted into something concrete.

The main reason for Phillips' address wasn't to talk Newport Gwent Dragons, it was a briefing about the governing body's 'Strategy for Welsh Rugby' document.

Nonetheless, the chief exec was happy to talk on a wide range of issues including allowing Warren Gatland and Rob Howley to tour with the Lions, Six Nations hopes, thoughts on bonus points, the Wales A team, Leigh Halfpenny, the summer tour, Gatland's Law.

He talked community rugby and how: "My hope would be a year from now we will have 320 clubs with 320 plans. We can't do all this from here, we need each club to take ownership and then we play a support role."

It's the same for the Dragons and they need their own blueprint, not a copy of one of the three to their west.

There needs to be a strategy. They need drive, ambition and, perhaps most crucially, direction.

It is time for them to look out for number one and to stop trying to please everybody.

Over the past decade or so they have been swiping right on people who have no interest in them because they have already settled down with the one they love.

The notion that club rugby fans already on the terraces watching Pontypool, Ebbw Vale, Newbridge, Cross Keys, Brynmawr, Nantyglo are going to come in their droves to watch professional rugby is a daft one.

It would surprise some and dismay others to learn that so many supporters (and plenty of officials) I encounter have no appetite to be part of anything else.

They might watch the odd professional game on the box but club rugby is the passion to which they devote their limited time and money.

Take that to its natural conclusion and many don't care a jot if it really was a Newport superclub, in fact some would welcome that if it gave more clarity to the level of rugby they watch (see below).

Fingers crossed there will soon be fresh investment at Rodney Parade and some new blood on the board. If that happens I'd make one big plea – stop trying to be everything for everyone.

There is little point spending great time and effort trying to convince Tommy from New Inn that he could be spending £20 on a ticket for Rodney Parade on a Friday night when he is quite happy spending his £7 at Pontypool Park on a Saturday afternoon.

It sure as hell isn't happening the other way around with clubs well aware that the pound only goes so far in these austere times.

There will always be those that are disenfranchised but that is their choice. There is potential for professional rugby to be vibrant at Rodney Parade, and the current lack of investment off the field mean there are big returns to be potentially made, but wishy-washy aspirations of being all-inclusive won't pay the bills.

We all like to be loved but those with the reins at the Dragons have to be self-centred when it comes to shaping what direction they are going in, because clubs in the area certainly are when it comes to survival.

Instead of trying to be everything for everybody, they have to be something for those who care.

South Wales Argus:

THE Principality Premiership is rather like Trigger's broom in 'Only Fools and Horses'. His sweeper had 17 new heads and 14 handles in 20 years, a level of tinkering that the WRU are trying their best to match.

I'm often accused of being a cynical, grumpy, glass-half-empty moaner… when it comes to my column as well as life away from work.

I nailed my colours to the mast early on by saying the Premiership split, which happened last Saturday, was ridiculous but made a promise to myself to keep quiet and just see how it went. What I've witnessed has made it impossible to fulfil that vow of silence because it's an almighty mess.

The spin has already been flooding out of the Principality Stadium: apparently the split has provided a sense of jeopardy and increased media interest, games have been intense because of the pressure of making the top eight and (perhaps the worst claim of the lot) those in the bottom eight are actually relishing the chance to build and make sure they make the cut next year.

In reality those in 'league two' will be playing fixtures that will be prefaced with 'meanwhile' and it's only cup rugby that will properly stir the blood for them, a situation that will only be solved when the ring-fencing ends.

The league was imbalanced from the off with half of teams having eight home fixtures to secure their top-half spot and half only having seven.

The format and rules were not made clear to supporters from the start and worryingly we still don't know who will be facing who when league action resumes nor who gets the benefit of four home fixtures from seven.

However, we do know that champions Ebbw Vale are already certain to be heading back to a ground where they've already played, as they travelled to five of the seven in their half.

The points have already been wiped out – second-placed Bedwas' excellent efforts vanishing – and punters are perplexed and frustrated.

No doubt there will be those in the capital who have me labelled as a Luddite who is just picking holes in things but this goes hand in hand with the main part of the column.

The club game needs to be given back to those who cherish it for what it is rather than treating them like lab rats.