WHAT will constitute a good season for the Dragons? Judgement is going to be trickier when the proposed changes to the Guinness PRO12 are rubber-stamped.

In previous years we have been able to compare and contrast campaigns.

The Dragons haven’t finished in the top half since 2005, they have been bottom Welsh side in 10 of 14 seasons, their first two campaigns were ‘winning’ seasons but their percentage hasn’t been over 50 for 12 years.

I wasn’t much good with maths and data at school – my accountant brother got the knack for figures – but I take bizarre pleasure out of my colour-coded Excel spreadsheet featuring Celtic League finishes.

It’s a nice way to track progress and spot anomalies… but things are likely to be a little bit more awkward in 2016/17 with the arrival of the South Africans.

Of course change is nothing new in the league – there has been the demise of the Celtic Warriors and the Borders, the arrival of Treviso and Aironi, the switch from the latter to Zebre, the introduction of bonus points, play-offs and Euro qualification – but nothing as dramatic as this.

The entrance of the Kings and Cheetahs will lead to the formation of two conferences in the PRO14, each featuring a Glasgow/Edinburgh, Zebre/Treviso, two Welsh sides, a pair of Irish provinces and a South African outfit.

Various formats have been suggested but what seems certain is that we are going to have a lop-sided 21-game fixture list. Gone are the days of all teams facing every rival home and away.

Go to your nearest Principality Premiership club and ask their thoughts about such complicated structures. I suggest you do so at safe distance and with a pair of earplugs.

Anyway, a result of the understandable scramble for additional cash is that the league will lose its symmetry.

In recent years we have been able to measure the Dragons’ success against their cohorts – Edinburgh, the Italian duo and Connacht (if you remove their miracle season when they won the title).

That was going to provide fascinating viewing over 2017/18 with the Rodney Parade side buoyed by the arrival of new coach Bernard Jackman and a lift in the camp courtesy of the Welsh Rugby Union’s takeover.

The Irishman has been making the right noises since taking over the reins and he is clearly empowered by the promise of assistance from the governing body.

The little things have always added up to make it tough for the Dragons to succeed, the previous regime’s preference for just making do chipped away at morale and fostered an environment where excuses cultivate.

Granted, it’s July and nobody has lost a game yet but there is a different feel to life at the Ystrad Mynach training base now.

The same is the case in the capital of Scotland where Richard Cockerill has made a similarly impressive start to life at Edinburgh.

‘Cockers’ is a man who calls a spade a (expletive) spade and the club released an impressive video with the former Leicester and England hooker last week.

“It comes back to hard work, training hard on the field, training hard in the gym,” said Cockerill, who is not one for clichéd motivational slogans.

“Making sure that all the little bits of detail are good whether it’s clearing your plates away in the dining hall, whether it’s wearing the right pieces of kit, whether it’s timekeeping, whether it’s mindset around gym work and pitch work.

“Everything matters. Every detail. Every bit of hard work. Every bit of learning in the classroom about how we are going to play.

“All those things have to be driven every day and eventually that will get us to a point where we are doing it without thinking about it.”

Expect Edinburgh, who just finished above the Dragons last season, to be much better this term while it will be interesting to see how Connacht cope without Pat Lam at the helm.

The Italians? Goodness knows but Zebre are in crisis.

Were it not for the inflation of the PRO12 to the PRO14 then we would have been set for an intriguing battle for spots from mid-table down.

Instead we may have to be a little less data-driven when it comes to the Dragons, whose cunning ploy of dropping Newport and Gwent sees them currently sitting at a healthy fourth rather than eighth in the pre-season alphabetical table.

Since the league was increased from 10 teams to 12 in 2010 the Dragons have finished seventh, ninths, 11th, ninth, ninth, 10th and 11th.

A two-conference format will see them separated from some peers and the necessity to avoid a reduction of the more lucrative derby encounters for the Welsh and Irish quartets will add to the imbalance.

So, in the absence of being able to read too much into league placings, what do we need to see from Jackman’s Dragons?

Firstly, at least one away win after last year’s whitewash in all competitions.

Secondly, at least one derby success after two successive demoralising clean sweeps in the league.

Thirdly, a tally of PRO14 victories that cannot be counted on one hand.

Fourthly, more tries, a demand that will be aided by the returns of Hallam Amos and Ashton Hewitt from long-term injury.

But perhaps the most challenging aspect is that the important improvement will come from a sense of feeling rather than anything measurable.

There must be the sensation of progress being made and many of us have seen enough of the Dragons through the years to know about their common shortcomings and complaints.

I’m confident that there will be more to cheer in the coming campaign, it’s just as shame that we won’t have the placings to prove it. The old league table certainly didn’t lie.

AT TIMES it was like Welsh sport’s equivalent of The One Show, leaping from Cardiff City news to a darts story to a rugby tale to a feature on downhill mountain biking.

The subjects may not have always segued but plenty was covered on BBC Radio Wales Sport from 7pm on weeknights.

Alas, in the coming season those of us who enjoyed making a winter stew to the sounds of Welsh sporting yarns will be disappointed.

The show has been given the elbow with Janice Long continuing in the slot that she has filled this summer.

No doubt the big cheeses will have been armed with listening figures but the show will be missed and it’s a blow for minority sports that sometimes struggle for attention.

The Beeb can be an easy target but the evening show was also excellent for the promotion of women’s sport, something that, if we are honest, we can improve on here at the Argus with your assistance.

Things change and no doubt we will be told in clichéd management talk about exciting opportunities to push Welsh sport by utilising online platforms.

But as a man who still buys CDs and has a slight distrust of downloads, I’ll miss the old Monday to Thursday show on the wireless.