DEAN Ryan has hailed his players as “outstanding” for the way they are adapting to changes the Dragons are making to how they approach games and develop players.

Director of rugby Ryan believes emerging talent like Aneurin Owen, Chris Coleman and Ben Carter are “showing the sort of behaviours and the way forward” for the Dragons in the future.

While results have not gone the region’s way this season, Ryan is pleased with the additions he has made to the squad for the 2022-23 campaign.

And he’s confident that the likes of Wales forwards Rhodri Jones and Bradley Roberts will be able to fit into the new way of thinking and boost their own chances of further international honours.

Dragons have confirmed that Welsh-qualified duo Max Clark and Sean Lonsdale will be arriving from the English Premiership, and Clermont’s Irish fly-half JJ Hanrahan is also coming on board.

“We are always looking to evolve the squad and we have got some momentum now,” he told the club’s official website.

“I’m pleased with the quality of people here and I’m looking to complement that with people looking to come back and really impress in Wales. We will continue to work on all fronts.

“It is a combination of continuing to accelerate the development of some of the players within while at the same time finding a way of raising the bar.

“One of the challenges of the resources available to us is that we tend to be thin in the frontline XV and young in supporting players.

“What we are trying to do is create more competition and peer pressure in certain positions.”

He added: “We’ve spoken to people that are keen to come back to Wales.

“Sean went away and made a name for himself at Exeter and Max broke through the English system at Bath.

“They are keen to come here, and they see it as an opportunity to play in front of national selectors. Both aspire to be recognised in a wider Wales squad.

“We have got to look at how we keep improving. We’re trying to change some of the ways we approach games, the way that Dragons has traditionally developed people.

“Sometimes that’s tough, but at the same time the players have been outstanding in terms of the attitude, the willingness to look at different ways and some of the growth of our youngsters has been significant.

“Although everything wants to lead into wins, we shouldn’t lose sight of the growth of an Aneurin Owen, Chris Coleman and Ben Carter.

“Those players are showing the sort of behaviours and the way forward for the Dragons in the future.

“You combine that with the people that are coming in the next six months or so and that keeps us on a focus of how we can get better.”