Boss Filo Tiatia welcomed upcoming selection headaches after a thrilling 33-28 victory over Scarlets at Rodney Parade – but insisted his team still had lots to improve on with the season looming large.
Dragons made it two from two in pre-season as they followed up success over English Championship side Hartpury with a five-star show back on home soil.
Joe Westwood grabbed a first half hat-trick while captain Angus O’Brien and summer recruit Harry Beddall also crossed the whitewash.
It was another step forward ahead of the league open with Ulster in less than two weeks – but for Tiatia the hard work continues from Monday.
“It was a good hit out,” said Tiatia. “I thought the first 40 we were pretty good, clinical in different areas. We’ve still got a lot of things to tidy up too.
“There were some good moments, we also were a little bit clunky, we got a little bit loose both sides of the ball. But it’s pre-season and there was a lot of good stuff.
“If we can get our processes right, get the right people doing their jobs as best they can, then we can win moments, build momentum and take it away from other teams.
“Against Hartpury it was a line in the sand. This is another line next to that. There were some improvements in parts of the game, but we need to also tidy up things.”
The home faithful got to see a number of the summer signings for the first time in front of a healthy pre-season crowd.
And that leaves Tiatia and his coaching team to decide who now gets the nod for the league opener in Belfast against Ulster on Friday, September 26.
“There are a lot of headaches at the moment,” he added. “With the coaching team, we are challenging each other just around where guys are at.
“There is a bit of gap, but it is a little bit shorter to some of our young guys and then our older players, our veterans, and our international players.
“That is the job – we want our players to accelerate the learning and keep improving.
“It is now building combinations, cohesion, and really understanding how we want to play. We are still growing in that department.
“Some of our collision work both sides of the ball was very good. Our set piece was good. But still, lots to build on.
“It’s good to have depth in different positions. There is competition forming,” he concluded.
“The last couple of weeks they have been physically going at each other and it’s always good to go against another team to see where we are at.
“Hobbsy (Sam Hobbs) has done a good job with the pack, the pack are working hard, but all the coaches are doing that.
“Dale (MacLeod) has come in and implemented some systems, OB (Matt O’Brien) has done a great job with our attack.
“We are working hard off the grass, and the players are responding to the coaches. But we still have a lot of work to do.
“There are no points up for grabs last week and today. There is a lot of learning to do instead.
“We’re looking forward to the season ahead. It is a tough start at Ulster, they had a good win against Edinburgh, so it is all go, and it is coming around quick.”