FOMO: The fear of missing out.

Travelling away to cover Newport Gwent Dragons can be a draining experience and I can assure you that Galway coach station is not the place to be at 3am while waiting for a bus to Dublin Airport for an early morning flight.

At this point I should make it clear that I realise how lucky I am to do my job; I’m not going to drive a Lexus any time soon but I get to travel Europe watching sport without having to dig into my own pocket.

But when the fingers are cold, you have the sniffles and you are waiting to get reaction to another defeat it’s inevitable that, for a split second, the demons enter your mind.

‘Why didn’t I just cover it off telly like the others?’

But this is the Argus, while others treat the Dragons as an afterthought, we cover them in depth, warts and all.

Alas unlike Oliver Cromwell, credited for coining that phrase, the men from Rodney Parade are not loathed in Scotland or Ireland.

I’ve been at the paper for over a decade now and have been the Dragons writer since the start of 2012.

I have been to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cork, Limerick, Belfast, Galway and Dublin and can count the number of grounds where I’ve spoken to a beaming visiting coach on one hand. And that’s using thumbs, not fingers.

Add Swansea, Cardiff and Llanelli to the list and my tally goes up by just one, the Boxing Day success in the capital two years ago.

Yep. Murrayfield is my PRO12 happy hunting ground… and Edinburgh have now binned the home of Scottish rugby in favour of the cosier Myreside.

There was the 9-8 victory under Paul Turner in 2009 when Taulupe Faletau made his regional debut (doing a ‘Ben Kay’ and dropping the ball with the line at his mercy in the closing stages) and the 2012 success under Darren Edwards when it was Tonderai Chavhanga and Steffan Jones that were the heroes.

Yet it was Murrayfield that has played it’s part in giving me Dragons FoMO.

Two years ago I was sat on the press bench watching Warren Gatland’s side secure a 26-23 win in the Six Nations that was more comfortable that the score suggests.

I was doing an on the whistle report yet I was distracted. Newport Gwent Dragons were winning in Dublin, where they had never won.

I didn’t know how to feel. While I wanted them to hold on for an important success, there was tinge of regret that I was in Edinburgh rather than at the RDS to see it after so many disappointments.

I’ve been the recipient of so many sympathetic looks in press rooms through the years, oh to be the smug one while the home journalists carry out the post-mortem.

The Dragons did hold on and I was glad, quietly conducting a phone interview with a delighted Lyn Jones at the back of a room while a glum Vern Cotter was talking about Scotland’s loss.

It was a famous win to go with the 23-8 success in Glasgow the previous year… another one I couldn’t make.

Thankfully I have been in Paris, Pau, Bucharest, Newcastle and Gloucester to witness memorable European upsets to boost the spirits.

And it is those marvellous victories that provides the hope that so often precedes crushing defeats away from Newport in the league.

My counterpart covering the Ospreys for the South Wales Evening Post doesn’t know how lucky he is, a 13-game winning streak? That’s two seasons worth.

I am not a fan. I don’t slam the desk when the Dragons concede or punch the air when they score.

I am a journalist, not a cheerleader.

But I want success for the Dragons and I’m desperate to be there when Lewis Evans and his team break their away duck.

I’ll be there in Galway and I’ll be there in Glasgow, my cold digits in fingerless gloves crossed for an upset.

The Dragons players aren’t the only ones desperate to shake off a losing streak on the road.

South Wales Argus:

IT’S never easy balancing the books at Newport Gwent Dragons and there will always be question marks over the decisions made before head coach Kingsley Jones holds up the red briefcase outside Rodney Parade.

In a week where Leicester reportedly paid a £500,000 transfer fee for England fly-half George Ford, the Argus revealed that Nick Crosswell and Tom Prydie have not been offered fresh deals by the Dragons.

It’s testament to the character of both men that they will remain important figures for the Guinness PRO12 run-in and in an ideal world both would be on the books next season.

When lock/back row Crosswell arrived he declared that he was one for the “nitty-gritty” and he hasn’t disappointed.

The New Zealander is incredibly consistent and is usually a solid 7/10 performer, doing the donkey work that some flashier players forego.

I was surprised to learn he is being let go but the proof will be in the pudding; he is being released to free up an overseas spot and the new recruit has big boots to fill.

Prydie is also a touch unlucky but is a victim of there being a glut of back three talent coming through the academy.

It’s remarkable to think that the five-times capped winger is still only 24 and he will add value to whatever squad he is part of next season.

Would he be useful for Newport Gwent Dragons in 2017/18? Of course, but like Aled Brew before him I guess it’s a case of making the pennies stretch.

Hallam Amos is a shoo-in in the back three while Ashton Hewitt isn’t far behind. Carl Meyer, Adam Hughes and Pat Howard are dependable and then there is a raft of young talent in Lloyd Lewis, George Gasson, Jared Rosser, Will Talbot-Davies and Joe Goodchild.

Harlequins can boast a squad that features the likes of former Dragons Owen Evans, Luc Jones and Netani Talei as squad fodder but there can’t be such luxuries at Rodney Parade.

Leicester can shell out £500,000 for a quality player but the Dragons can’t even put that figure towards a new ‘Desso’ pitch, let alone four fresh recruits.

Jones and his coaching team have made tough calls on good servants with some reluctance. This time next year we will be judging whether they got them right.