Dragons RFC - Welsh region are now 'a club' as rebrand revealed
The Dragons will henceforth be known as 'Dragons RFC' as the Welsh URC side unveiled its new branding and identity.
The new look was revealed at Rodney Parade this morning, although photographs of the rebrand were leaked online over the weekend. The new look is a bid to return to their local roots and is the second rebrand within five years.
The new Dragons RFC branding has a thoroughly old school feel and is a conscious move away from the slicker and more modern dragon's tail crest that they've used for since 2017.
A statement from the club reads: "Dragons Rugby today officially becomes Dragons RFC as we start a new era here at Rodney Parade. We also launch a new visual identity as we celebrate our links to our home – the city of Newport and the historic Rodney Parade – and underline the fact that we proudly represent the whole of Gwent.'
"Our new name makes it clear – we are a rugby club.
"This is a message we know strikes home with our supporters. We all see ourselves as a club and we feel strongly about that. It is our identity; it is who we are and what we represent. This does not detract from us representing our region or the people of Gwent. But we are being authentically true to what we have always been and now our name reflects this."
"The history of Gwent has also played a big part in our new brand. It is represented by the introduction of three amber fleurs-de-lis - symbolic across many crests in our region."
Dragons RFC will adopt three main colours going forward: black and amber to represent Newport, plus the blue of Monmouthshire and Gwent to represent the region.
"All three colours will feature on new home and away jerseys, while our new away shirt also encompasses the colours of all the clubs without our region.
"The Dragons' tail - that has adorned our badge since 2003 - will remain on the collar of our playing jerseys."
Chairman David Buttress said: “We are excited to welcome in a new era at our great club and this change comes in the wake of a robust, challenging, and honest debate over the past 12 months.
“Opinions and feedback have been canvassed to ensure the club has a brand that feels authentic and true to us.
“This is a new direction for our club, we are not losing our identity, we are evolving and growing.
“We are proud to be based in Newport at Rodney Parade and the black and amber colour represents that. Our proud connection to Gwent and the player pathway is reflected in the design.
“We know how proud our fans are to support Dragons RFC and we look forward to now coming together as one unified club under this new identity and working together towards a bright and successful future."
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What’s new its a common occurrence, just the journos out there expecting a negative spin. The outcome will be beneficial to jordie and Leinster. The home grown lads hav got some experience to step up to and be more competitive, that or spend the 6 months keeping the bench warm.
Go to commentsI’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
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