CHRIS KIRWAN: Jackman's quest for Dragons improvement should be aided by lack of baggage

The unveiling of new head coach Bernard Jackman was used to also give an update on plans for the Dragons with a chief executive either side of the Irishman, Stuart Davies of the region and Martyn Phillips of the governing body.

There weren’t really any bombshells and the only reason that anybody was left open-mouthed was that they were gasping for air in a sweltering hot room.

We already knew that Newport and Gwent were going to be dropped from the name and it’s now taken place with the evidence on a new-yet-familiar logo.

The marketing folk may have felt smug at using horrible words like ‘hitting refresh on the brand’ – I fear that the ‘growing organically’ will be used at some stage as the blue-sky thinking continues next to the water cooler – but it wasn’t especially startling.

Nonetheless, it was an act that had been promised and now folk can get on with it.

There weren’t a glut of developments unveiled by Davies and Phillips – it’s long been known that a Desso pitch is being laid next month and the hunt goes on for a new chairman and board – while the press release gave some pretty basic goals, many of which have actually long been in place.

The difference is that now the targets will be hunted without any baggage and that the Gwent masses can have no excuses for indifference.

Phillips announced that rugby camps will be taking place around the region this summer while Jackman committed to taking some training sessions away from their Ystrad Mynach headquarters.

This is nothing new – the community team have done sterling work on a shoestring budget for years while I remember heading up to Abertillery in 2012 where one man and his dog watched the team graft in the sun on the 3G surface – but some of the alleged barriers, primarily ‘Newport’, have been removed.

The grumblers’ bluff has been called.

However, more vital for the future of the Dragons will be the optimism that is now is place courtesy of a much-needed change of regime.

Dare I say it, the branding change is almost an irrelevance. It’s the fresh impetus provided by the Welsh Rugby Union takeover and ‘can do’ approach rather than a ‘can we make do without it?’ one that will make the difference.

And an awful lot of the responsibility for enabling change falls on the hefty shoulders of former front row forward Jackman.

Hopefully crowds will be up at the start of next season and the policy of handing out a batch of freebies will continue… maybe more will be taken up.

For all the valid desire to provide a better experience for supporters around the stadium, retention of punters for a Friday night clash with Zebre in December will be down to what is happening on the pitch.

Jackman is not a miracle worker and it will take time for the Dragons to climb the table, but tangible improvement is needed next season.

The atmosphere surrounding the place should help on that front.

He was an engaging and impressive figure as he spoke about his plans for the future while sat in the Hazell Stand but many of the phrases have been said before, just in a Welsh accent rather than an Irish one.

In my time at the Argus I’ve heard from Darren Edwards, Lyn Jones and Kingsley Jones about the slate being wiped clean and everyone starting equal, there have been promises of more expansive rugby because of the lack of a bully boy pack, there have been pledges to provide a more solid set piece.

They have been said before because they are valid, it’s just that Jackman should have a better shot at putting his plans into practice.

The Dragons players now have a year to prove they are worthy of a squad place while their new boss shapes his team for 2018/19 when he will have been in charge of one prime recruitment window.

The hard work continues apace off the field, and in time more flesh will be put on the bones, but the "roadmap for success in the region" will come down to the efforts of those who ply their trade at Ystrad Mynach and on the Rodney Parade pitch.

That make it essential that there at least green shoots from Jackman’s Dragons in the early months of what will still be a tricky campaign.

Men and women of Gwent won’t come flocking if it’s the same old, same old in the Guinness PRO12, even if the ticket is free.

THE rugby world has moved on from Warren Gatland's controversial call-ups now that the Lions are set for the real stuff of the Tests, but it's a decision that will always be associated with Cory Hill after a remarkable end to his stunning season.

For many, the Dragons man was the face of Gatland's contentious but understandable choice to protect his Test 23 for the Eden Park opener against the All Blacks.

Nobody could have had any qualms about call-ups for Gareth Davies or Finn Russell but Hill got the nod ahead of England's Joe Launchbury and Scotland's Jonny Gray.

Such is their quality that, sadly, it led to the Dragons man being painted as a figure of fun by some when in reality cannon fodder has been selected in the past and it will be in the future.

The Gatland Six were called up for geographical reasons and the rest of the party know that they are not rivals for a Test jersey (although I believe Davies, or Scotland's Ali Price for that matter, is a better scrum-half that Greig Laidlaw).

Perhaps Launchbury would have changed the dynamic. Maybe that would have been a good thing?

But the decision was made and it is an incredible honour and experience for Hill, who has had an astonishing season.

In the summer of 2016 he was grafting in pre-season with the aim of cementing his place in the Newport Gwent Dragons XV.

Fast forward 12 months and he has played for Wales against Australia, Japan, South Africa, Italy, England and Tonga, the last of those caps won as vice-captain on tour.

He certainly isn't Taulupe Faletau but next season when the Dragons team is listed in the matchday programmes in Galway, Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow he will be the standout name in the pack.

One would like to think that is because of his rapid rise to become a Test player but in reality it will be he is one of the Gatland Six.

He won't care a jot of course, even if he doesn't get onto the field like Scotland prop Allan Dell.

What an experience to be in the camp for just over a week and mix with the best around ahead of a massive clash with the All Blacks.

It's been a marvellous season for Hill and those of us who watch him week in, week out have seen the strides he has made as a player. This odd situation can only help his development.

Gatland's got thick enough skin to cope with any barbs and thankfully Hill is level-headed enough to take things in his stride.