EVERY team is optimistic and buoyant in early September but there is a real feeling that Newport Gwent Dragons have got the right mix of youth and experience this season.

Such sentiments were reinforced when the region stood up to Northampton on Friday with older heads Boris Stankovich, Rynard Landman, Andy Powell and Lee Byrne combining with the burgeoning talent to turn over the English champions.

It means that the Dragons head to Connacht in fine fettle.

The Sportsground in Galway has traditionally been a miserable hunting ground with 10 defeats on the spin since Andy Marinos' side triumphed in May, 2004.

But director of rugby Lyn Jones has never been one for dwelling on history and has talked bullishly this summer about how the recruitment will change the culture at Rodney Parade.

"We have a young seam of talent that we need to bring through and we need to create the best environment for them to develop and become good rugby players," he said at the Guinness Pro12 launch last week.

"Young players need role models to learn from and we now have leaders providing an example of what is needed to be a true professional."

After the Saints win Andy Powell talked excitedly about the region's young talent and the elder statesmen seem to be relishing their roles as mentors.

The future looks to be bright with plenty of 20-and-unders set to feature prominently for the Dragons this season; Hallam Amos, Jack Dixon, Tyler Morgan and Elliot Dee will be key figures while others such as Angus O'Brien, James Benjamin and Scott Matthews will look to push their way into contention.

Behind them the Dragons Under-18s look to be a promising bunch and enjoyed summer successes against Northampton and London Wasps.

The talent is there so it's time for the Dragons to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to the academy.

The regions' fresh agreement with the Welsh Rugby Union will see the responsibility for looking after the academies transfer from the governing body to the Dragons, Ospreys, Scarlets and Cardiff Blues.

The old system saw the WRU running them at a cost of £150,000 with the regions adding to that figure if they so wished. The Dragons didn't.

They will now be given that same sum by the Union to run the academy at the plush new training base in Ystrad Mynach and it's about time that they topped it up.

The pot won't be supplemented yet as money is tight but in the future it will be the rugby department's call on how they spend their budget.

It will be about getting the right mix, spending big sums on signing seasoned players to bring on those in their late teens and early 20s while also ensuring adequate funding is keeping the conveyor belt working properly.

That will always be a challenge given that coaches are judged on results, which increases the danger of looking at the short-term at the expense of five or 10 years down the line.

But Jones appears to be a man thinking about the future and there is no excuse for not investing in the youth now that they have the facilities and the expertise to help it flourish.