Big hits are key to success – Brown

9:00am Tuesday 25th September 2012 in Sport Photograph of the Author By Chris Kirwan

READY FOR BATTLE: Dragons No8 Tom Brown READY FOR BATTLE: Dragons No8 Tom Brown

DRAGONS v EDINBURGH (Friday, KO 7pm)

NUMBER eight Tom Brown believes Newport Gwent Dragons must show a real appetite for huge collisions when they play a crucial encounter against a side being lauded for their steel.

The Dragons went down to a 33-13 defeat to Munster in Limerick just hours after Edinburgh had earned a losing bonus point 125 miles away to the north east against Leinster in Dublin.

The Scottish side’s performance in a 22-16 loss earned praise from the European champions’ head coach Joe Schmidt.

“They’ve got more steel than they had last year,” he told The Scotsman. “They’re a very tough team to break down.”

That new-found ruggedness has coincided with the arrival of Neil Back, a World Cup winner with England in 2003, as forwards coach.

They sit sixth in the Pro12, four points back on the table-topping Scarlets, and have already beaten Cardiff Blues on their own patch this season.

But the Dragons cannot afford another defeat after failing to add to the five points they earned against whipping boys Zebre in their three fixtures since opening night.

With the inept performance against Cardiff Blues still fresh in the minds of the Rodney Parade faithful, Brown believes a direct, aggressive app-roach – something they produced in defeat at Thomond Park – is necessary.

“All the boys really enjoyed the confrontation against Munster, they tried to bully us but I feel that we stood up to them physically,” said the number eight.

“We need to move on after the Blues game, we have to make home a fortress, to be relentless.

“I think we showed good spirit at Munster when we came right back into the game in the final quarter and even when the game was gone we kept plugging away at the end.

“We showed heart and need to show more against Edinburgh.”

Brown produced a sterling performance on his first start of the season, leading the way with ball in hand. It was a display that gave a timely nudge to the coaching staff that he deserves more time on the field, and not just when Toby Faletau is on Wales duty.

Brown said: “I got a lot of ball and would like more on Friday – getting the ball in my hands and running at people is what I love.

“It felt really good out there and hopefully I took my chance. My fitness was there and my work rate was there, so hopefully that will mean more opportunities come my way.”

Comments(20)

Dai Trying says...
9:33am Tue 25 Sep 12

He we go again, more fortress Rodney Parade talk, actions please they are a whole lot louder and considerably more impressive.

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Goldy_Lookin_Clart says...
10:03am Tue 25 Sep 12

We need a combatative front row to provide a platform for the rest of the lads. This has been pointed out to the Management for the last three years.

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newport2012 says...
10:04am Tue 25 Sep 12

Absolutely agree Dai!! next the coaches will be out this week saying how this is a must win game and how we need to improve and front up......blah blah blah....... I'm fed up of all the talking and excuses!!! We have been reading the same articles week in week out!!! I would rather hear nothing all week and see some actions on Fri!!

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high x boy says...
10:34am Tue 25 Sep 12

here here

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don quixote says...
11:22am Tue 25 Sep 12

Couldn't agree more with all this and especially the front row comments. If us amateurs can see it why can't coaches, management etc.? Mind you, Robert S will be on soon to tell us all's well and the future is bright for 2016.

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Robert Shillabeer says...
12:02pm Tue 25 Sep 12

Nice to see someone is noting what I say, thanks guys. The front row does need some strength put into it yes, but where from? The wages are capped even though we have some spare money in that department. The coaching staff have some faith in who we have or they would be out looking for someone to fill the gaps, who knows maybe today or tomorrow we will have someone. Don not looking toward 2016 as three years is a long time to wait for new signings but to give you benefit you probably meant 2013.

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SWBorderer says...
12:38pm Tue 25 Sep 12

I'm all for looking to the future Robert, but with a scrum that has more reverse gears than an Italian tank there may not be a future.
I believe we have a couple of front row forwards that will develop into decent players but we need stability now and should have been putting more effort into getting it before the season began.
There is a fine line between success and failure, we have plenty of talent behind the scrum, but our problems are front row and defence, and those problems have to be laid squarely on the shoulders of the coaching team.
There is no deep seated loyalty from the fans as there was for the old clubs, that may well come with time, but for the present, bums on seats are important and without some success they ain't going to be there.

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Robert Shillabeer says...
2:00pm Tue 25 Sep 12

Have you seen the figures published in the Western Mail today about attendances at Dragons matches? In 2003/4 the first year of Regional rugby the average gate was 4042 in 2011/12 it was 6097 that's a 34% increase and the second highest average after 2009/10. The average European gate has dropped from 6534 in 2003/4 to 5011 in 2011/12 with only 2009/10 being lower at 4148. The attendance for Newport in 2002/3 was 6120 with Cardiff being the only Club to better that with 7000. These figures are not mine they are provided by Andy Howell in his article on Regional attendances in general so any questions about thier accuracy should be addressed to him. The shortfall in attendances is some 2000 on the other three regions and that is possibly from the bad feelings that seem to remain with some of the Valley clubs which the Dragons are trying to put right. Overall attendances if Wales are somewhat disappointing with the Scarlets having more than the Blues followed by the Ospreys with a disappointing 7491and look at the success on the pitch they have enjoyed, so it is not all rosy with the others but we need to attract more valley support and repair the damage done in the early days and that goes back to the Name being Newport led I'm afraid and that is a very old argument.

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Robert Shillabeer says...
2:59pm Tue 25 Sep 12

Have you seen the figures published in the Western Mail today about attendances at Dragons matches? In 2003/4 the first year of Regional rugby the average gate was 4042 in 2011/12 it was 6097 that's a 34% increase and the second highest average after 2009/10. The average European gate has dropped from 6534 in 2003/4 to 5011 in 2011/12 with only 2009/10 being lower at 4148. The attendance for Newport in 2002/3 was 6120 with Cardiff being the only Club to better that with 7000. These figures are not mine they are provided by Andy Howell in his article on Regional attendances in general so any questions about thier accuracy should be addressed to him. The shortfall in attendances is some 2000 on the other three regions and that is possibly from the bad feelings that seem to remain with some of the Valley clubs which the Dragons are trying to put right. Overall attendances if Wales are somewhat disappointing with the Scarlets having more than the Blues followed by the Ospreys with a disappointing 7491and look at the success on the pitch they have enjoyed, so it is not all rosy with the others but we need to attract more valley support and repair the damage done in the early days and that goes back to the Name being Newport led I'm afraid and that is a very old argument.

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Robert Shillabeer says...
4:24pm Tue 25 Sep 12

Sorry guys pressed the wrong button on my calculator the increase was not 34% but 50.8% the rest of the figures are as quoted in the WM.

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pooles says...
5:00pm Tue 25 Sep 12

Cant add anyting - All Above spot on

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Euwan Usami says...
6:48pm Tue 25 Sep 12

Incredible to think that Tom considers the Munster games a success in any sense of the word. Hard hitting ball carrying is a great idea Tom but lets start with a defensive clue eh? Lol

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kalwales@hotmail.com says...
7:01pm Tue 25 Sep 12

Big Hits ?? surely you gotta make your tackles first??

I know that the Region "doctors ThE Attendance" because there was definatly more that 7,000 at the Blues game !!

I sympathise with ALL you Current Fans because i know how committed to your region you are however one day you will see that your all being taken for a ride by the Region !!

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davidjohnedwards says...
11:38am Wed 26 Sep 12

Robert Shillabeer wrote:
Have you seen the figures published in the Western Mail today about attendances at Dragons matches? In 2003/4 the first year of Regional rugby the average gate was 4042 in 2011/12 it was 6097 that's a 34% increase and the second highest average after 2009/10. The average European gate has dropped from 6534 in 2003/4 to 5011 in 2011/12 with only 2009/10 being lower at 4148. The attendance for Newport in 2002/3 was 6120 with Cardiff being the only Club to better that with 7000. These figures are not mine they are provided by Andy Howell in his article on Regional attendances in general so any questions about thier accuracy should be addressed to him. The shortfall in attendances is some 2000 on the other three regions and that is possibly from the bad feelings that seem to remain with some of the Valley clubs which the Dragons are trying to put right. Overall attendances if Wales are somewhat disappointing with the Scarlets having more than the Blues followed by the Ospreys with a disappointing 7491and look at the success on the pitch they have enjoyed, so it is not all rosy with the others but we need to attract more valley support and repair the damage done in the early days and that goes back to the Name being Newport led I'm afraid and that is a very old argument.
That is rubbish in my view. You assume that attendances are down because of the Valleys not turning up. Newsflash: There is no large Valley's support base waiting to descend on Rodney Parade and that has been evidenced for the last eight years or so. That can also be seen in the very small crowds that other valleys teams attract day in day out. Look at X-Keys. They have clearly gained from this regional plastic farce but still can't attract anything but a small hardcore of fans. Using your figures I could also come to the logical conclusions that there are large numbers of Newport fans staying away due to the current poor product and identity. I'm one of them. The fact is that this Drag--ons product is unattractive and is nowhere near as strong a brand as when the real Newport were at the top table. It's a complete half-arsed fop.

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CaptainB says...
1:01pm Wed 26 Sep 12

I'm off on holiday for a fortnight and I find myself almost hoping the Dragons fail again this weekend so that by the time I get back we might have a new Coach in place, very sad bit it's true.

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Robert Shillabeer says...
1:45pm Wed 26 Sep 12

David they are not my figures, they belong to Andy Howells of the Western Mail. But on the supporters from the Valley clubs they may be few but until you attract them you won't know if there are any really interested but attract them s a must if the crowds are to sustain a strong region.

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high x boy says...
1:51pm Wed 26 Sep 12

I would say a lot of people come to watch the Dragons are from outside Newport now but we want more.

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Robert Shillabeer says...
3:15pm Wed 26 Sep 12

High X boy you are quiet correct there is a strong support from outside Newport, Caldicot to be precise along with a few from Rogiet, Undy and Magor. Often see them either at the game or travelling into town on match day. The point is though what under lying support that stay away exists and needs to be encouraged to attend or even buy season tickets.

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stevey says...
6:29pm Wed 26 Sep 12

I wouldn't take the Andy Howell article seriously at all....it has Ebbw Vale's home Celtic League attendance as 353...we sometimes take nearly as many as this away from home nowadays...so back then, before thousands of rugby supporters became disenfranchsed we regularly had gates of 2 to 4 thousand, depending on the opposition,(think there is a nought missing off there Andy). And note that as stated, if correct, that 2011 to 2012 season included season ticket holders whether they attended or not, so this would inflate figures considerably. Playing with statistics I think.

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stevey says...
6:34pm Wed 26 Sep 12

Another thing to take into account is.. does the many free tickets that are given out every week really count? I've been offered one this week but politely declined, wouldn't be happy if I were paying my hard earned money to stand next to a bunch of "freebies".

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