IT'S not even November and the Ospreys have already done a shrewd piece of business for next season.

The Liberty Stadium side have secured the return of Wales loosehead Paul James, a man who at 32 still has plenty of good years in him and who is certain to be an excellent mentor for Nicky Smith.

Clubs throughout Europe are already be beavering away in the recruitment market for 2015/16 and it promises to be a key six months or so for Newport Gwent Dragons, who could do with a few Jameses of their own.

Their prospects in the transfer market, and the same goes for their three regional rivals, are helped by the new Rugby Services Agreement that was signed with the Welsh Rugby Union.

The August accord doesn't mean that there is suddenly money sloshing around but at least, unlike last season, the quartet have certainty of what the future holds.

Back then the management teams had to sign up players without the knowledge of what competitions they would be playing in, what budget they had or whether they would actually be able to provide the sums that they were offering.

It just so happened that such a turbulent time coincided with a summer of change at the Dragons with a raft of players heading for the exit and a number of new ones coming in.

It's early days in the seasons but so far one recruit, Rynard Landman, can definitely be placed in the hit category and props Boris Stankovich and Lloyd Fairbrother look to be shrewd signings after helping create a much-improved set piece. The jury is out on the rest of them.

There was a big turnover at the end of 2013/14 and we can expect plenty more changes at the end of this campaign, and more quality is needed.

But the Dragons can be a hard sell courtesy of a track record of failure; the perception is that they are perennial strugglers and good players will want handsome sums to commit to Rodney Parade.

Rewind back to the start of 2013 when they were on the hunt for an experienced quality fly-half, something that they will be repeating this autumn and winter.

Back then they had their sights set on Andy Goode and Nicky Robinson and the management was confident that one of them would be wearing 10 at Rodney Parade.

In the end Goode headed for Wasps while Robinson signed for Bristol.

One gets the impression that they were waiting for a better deal and the Dragons were left scrambling around before eventually plumping for Kris Burton.

Perhaps the former Italy fly-half would have done okay had head coach Darren Edwards kept hold of the reins but instead director of rugby Lyn Jones took over and Burton's face never fitted.

But the Dragons didn't get the deals over the line early during 2012/13 and paid the price in 2013/14.

Then director of rugby Robert Beale had said: "The key positions that we have looked to recruit are tighthead prop, outside half, second row and potentially a midfield player".

They signed up Francisco Chaparro, who may prove to be a good prop in the future but wasn't the experienced tighthead they needed and headed home to Argentina, Burton, who retired halfway through a two-year deal, and Martin Muller, who in the end never arrived from South Africa.

The Dragons cannot afford to get it wrong over the next few months if they are to supplement the undoubted talent of homegrown talents Hallam Amos, Elliot Dee, Tyler Morgan, Jack Dixon, Angus O'Brien and Joe Davies.

Coaches live or die by their recruitment and the pressure will be on Lyn Jones and head coach Kingsley Jones to not only turn things around on the field this season once their many injured players return but to ensure that the ranks are bolstered with quality for 2015/16.