THE Dragons will not be taking a home game 'on the road' this season in the Guinness PRO14.

Head coach Bernard Jackman took his side north from their Rodney Parade home in February to entertain Edinburgh in Ebbw Vale. A crowd of 4,052 was announced for a 25-12 loss in freezing conditions.

It was the first league game that the Dragons had moved out of choice after a fixture clash saw them host Cardiff Blues in Caerphilly on the last weekend of 2016/17.

However, with the region having just 10 of their 21 league fixtures at home this season – and one of them being the Judgement Day clash with the Scarlets at Principality Stadium – they are not set to return to Eugene Cross Park for a first team game in 2018/19.

The first 17 rounds of the PRO14 were announced yesterday with Rodney Parade listed as the Dragons' home venues.

Shifting a league game has its challenges and loses revenue but chairman David Buttress has previously expressed his desire to continue the experiment.

In his programme notes for the final game in Newport of last season he wrote: "Next year we'll continue with the expansion of our regional strategy and again take one competitive match away from Rodney Parade, as well as the Judgement Day fixture.

"We learned a great deal from the match at Eugene Cross Park, about the scheduling, facilities and working with the local community.

"Despite the result there were some pleasing aspects to report as we welcomed new supporters to watch the team.

"Even though our ticket sales are up this season, more paid-for match tickets were sold for the match at Ebbw Vale than for any of our other PRO14 fixtures, with the exception of the Welsh derbies.

"Forty-five per cent of the advance match ticket sales for the Edinburgh game went to Ebbw Vale postcodes, plus the matchday walk-up is traditionally local and we are very happy with this data point."

Although Rodney Parade is listed as the venue for all games, the Dragons would be able to switch a fixture.

A Dragons spokesperson said: “Our commitment has always been that we will play no more than one fixture away from Rodney Parade, excluding Judgement Day and pre-season games.

"We are reviewing the plan for the coming season and we will update supporters when we have news and will naturally commit to giving people more than adequate notice.”

However, the Argus understands that PRO14 games will be in Newport.

The region will be fielding an Under-23 team in a new development competition with their Welsh and Irish rivals in the coming campaign; that is likely to be based at their Ystrad Mynach training base but they could well take games to Ebbw or other grounds in the region.

Meanwhile, there will be no derbies on Boxing Day, New Year's Eve or New Year's Day with the Dragons in Cardiff on Saturday, December 22 and hosting the Ospreys on Sunday, December 30.

The two conferences are the same with the Dragons grouped with Leinster, the Scarlets, Edinburgh, Ulster, Benetton and the Kings.

l Supporters can buy tickets for the three home games in September, with prices starting from £13, at dragonsrugby.wales/tickets

DRAGONS FIXTURES

Saturday, September 1: Benetton (home, KO 7.35pm)

Saturday, September 8: Kings (home, KO 3pm)

Saturday, September 15: Leinster (away, KO 5.15pm)

Saturday, September 22: Zebre (home, KO 5.15pm)

Saturday, September 29: Glasgow (away, KO 7.35pm)

Saturday, October 6: Cardiff Blues (home, KO 5.15pm)

Friday, October 26: Ulster (away, KO 7.55pm)

Saturday, November 3: Connacht (away, KO 5.15pm)

Sunday, November 25: Edinburgh (home, KO 5.30pm)

Saturday, December 1: Leinster (home, 5.15pm)

Saturday, December 22: Cardiff Blues (away, KO 5.15pm)

Sunday, December 30: Ospreys (home KO 3pm)

Saturday, January 5: Scarlets (away, KO 5.15pm)

Saturday, January 26: Munster (home, KO 3pm).

Friday, February 15: Edinburgh (away, KO 7.35pm)

Saturday, February 23: Benetton (away, KO 2pm)

Sunday, March 3: Ulster (home, KO 3pm)

Weekend of March 22: Ospreys (away)

Weekend of April 5: Southern Kings (away)

Weekend of April 12: Cheetahs (away)

Weekend of April 26: Scarlets ('home' - Principality Stadium)