Dragons consider fresh name change - chairman Buttress

Dragons chairman David Buttress says they are considering following Cardiff's example and changing their name.

Cardiff Blues rebranded as Cardiff Rugby on 1 August, 2021 and Buttress says talks are "live now" at Rodney Parade over the same issue.

"We're having that internal dialogue," he told BBC Radio Wales Sport.

Buttress also said the Covid-19 pandemic paused the bid to return Dragons to private ownership.

He described the impact on Welsh rugby's regions and sport in general as "horrendous".

During the pandemic, Cardiff's chiefs have chosen to drop Blues from their name, a move Buttress backed.

Dragons, Scarlets, Ospreys and Blues were formed along with Celtic Warriors as Welsh rugby's top echelon was reduced to five teams in 2003.

A year later the Warriors, made up of a combined Bridgend-Pontypridd team, folded.

Ospreys dropped Neath-Swansea from their title in 2005 and Scarlets did likewise when Llanelli was removed from their moniker in 2008.

Buttress says he has "provoked" a "great discussion" at Dragons, who dropped Newport-Gwent from their name when they were saved from insolvency by the Welsh Rugby Union's (WRU) 2017 takeover.

He contends "not enough thought" was put into Welsh regional rugby's brand name "20 and 15 years ago and even four years ago".

"I think it wasn't given enough thought; there wasn't enough scrutiny and intellectual horsepower put into how to develop four regions from a brand perspective," said Buttress.

"Which is why I think, ultimately, we've wrestled with it as Welsh rugby in the last 15-20 years.

"So what I'm pleased to say is like in other areas of our business we're doing a proper, proper drains up thinking about it deeply - what's the right thing for the long-term that we can back and invest in.

"And whatever that is I trust myself and the others involved in that process, including the chairman of our supporters club who is in that process, to come up with the right answers.

"So I'm pleased for Cardiff actually. It always felt like Cardiff to me, Cardiff Rugby, over the last 10 years.

"And I think having that authenticity in their brand is important to them so good on them for making the change."

In May 2021 Buttress was behind an official bid to return Dragons to private ownership.

"I think we'd have done that by now frankly if it wasn't for Covid," he said.

"You can imagine no private investor during all the uncertainty of Covid would probably have done that then.

"Maybe if I was Warren Buffett I might have done because I could take a very long view - fortunately for Dragons fans and myself I'm not, so obviously we had to hit the pause button.

"But no, our intention is to get that done."

However, Buttress says "some very good progress" has recently been made on that bid with WRU chief executive Steve Phillips.

"So I think that is the right structure for Welsh rugby - you can't have three privately-owned entities and one that's owned by the governing body," added Buttress.

"The WRU did a really good job stabilising the Dragons and bringing them out of insolvency three years ago, but I don't think unless they were going to own all four that it makes sense to own one.

"So I think that's the logical next step now."

'Be pragmatic over tenancy'

Buttress believes a "pragmatic" approach needs to be taken over the issue of primacy of tenancy for leading Welsh teams.

Cardiff and Scarlets have that status at their grounds while Dragons and Ospreys play at grounds at which Football League teams have first call.

Swansea City own the stadium at which Ospreys play. The WRU owns Rodney Parade, where League Two team Newport County's fixtures take top priority.

"I understand the argument [over primacy of tenancy]," said Buttress.

"We talk about it with the league all the time, but in the end sometimes you've got to be pragmatic, right.

"Newport County are a very important stakeholder at our ground and as a professional football team in the fourth tier of the English EFL, as part of their participation in that tournament, they have to have primacy at their venue.

"And so frankly I think we do a pretty good job with the league. To be fair to the EFL, they are pretty flexible - they give us Newport County's fixtures very early."

Buttress highlighted the relatively early timescales in the publishing of football fixtures compared to the often delayed scenario that can bedevil rugby's equivalent.

He would like organisers of Dragons fixtures to "get a bit sharper" in issuing them.

"I think the fixture list comes out so late for rugby that it then creates issues that we could probably have avoided," he said.

"So I think that's something we have to own, I have to own and we need to sharpen up on.

"But as far as the ground is concerned, we want Rodney Parade to be the centre of professional sport in Newport for the long term."