Support for Pontypridd and Attitudes Towards Valleys Rugby

First topic message reminder :

Now before we begin, I know as well as most of you know, that half of their fans and directors board are blinkered. But let's not take anything away from what the rugby team is doing out on the field. They're on for the Premiership, Swalec cup and the B&I Cup, the treble! I feel as if I admire them slightly, sticking two fingers up to our Union and playing rugby to a high standard. These guys are only part-time, so are at a disadvantage in the B&I Cup.

First up is the B&I quarter final where they face reigning champions Leinster A and are hoping home advantage will see them through. The winner of this game will face Bristol or Leeds (it's likely to be Bristol isn't it?) in the final. Good luck Ponty, you're gonna need it!

how many Newportonians would walk away if newort was dropped?

GavinDragon wrote:how many Newportonians would walk away if newort was dropped?

I wouldn't, neither would my 2 season ticket holding mates. Never supported NPRFC myself.

Problem is, the question has never been put to the actual fans (people who go to matches and put money into the team) properly

If you put an open internet vote out you are going to get the fanatical keyboard warriors from both ends of the spectrum doign their utmost to get something THEY want not what the region needs.

They need to ask the season ticket holders.

In all fairness I never thought the name 'Dragons' was very original anyway for a Welsh team

Just 'Gwent' would have been good

They tried Gwent Dragons and it flopped miserably, would just 'Gwent' do any better ?

I don't see anything wrong with just 'Dragons' - everyone chants it anyway.

I can't what's wrong with dropping all the town/county identification and just being Dragons, Scarlets, Blues and Ospreys.

Irish Londoner wrote:I can't what's wrong with dropping all the town/county identification and just being Dragons, Scarlets, Blues and Ospreys.

Neither can I.

The Regions need to engage with the actual fans, not the vocal minority, and ask what they wan't.

Fact it is, the vast majority of Dragon's season ticket holders are from Newport. The Dragons board probably think 'If we drop Newport, will they all go ?' The answer is no but without actually asking them, how will they know ?

Its all very well saying 'We can't drop Newport to make some fans outside of Newport happy if we don't know they'll actually buy tickets' They need to speak to existing ticket holders, get the green light to drop Dragons (and preferably Gwent) THEN see if all these other fans turn up and buy tickets and support their region at games.

I don't think the rolling franchises idea will work. It takes decades to build good teams and you want them to be changed every 5 years? One solution to strengthen the club is investment, by that I mean ringfence Division 1, make it semi-pro (most of the teams in there are anyway). So in essence, it's kind of a tier 1 and tier 2 welsh premiership. Regional A teams for the B&I cup competition.

North Wales needs some more semi-pro teams, perhaps at least 3, all aimed it feeding into RGC.

We need an International A team too. Its fun being a Welsh rugby fan innit ?

munkian wrote:

Irish Londoner wrote:I can't what's wrong with dropping all the town/county identification and just being Dragons, Scarlets, Blues and Ospreys.

Neither can I.

Really?

"But cash has to be king when making a decision regarding the name of the pro team that plays at Rodney Parade."

The same goes for the pro team that plays at the Arms Park.
So what would be best and bring in more cash, investment, sponsorship etc; Newport/Cardiff or Dragons/Bloos? I know we'll disagree, but think outside the box for a moment. For what it's worth, IMHO Cardiff will drop the blues tag in the near future.

munkian wrote:We need an International A team too. Its fun being a Welsh rugby fan innit ?

A euphemism, shewerly?