Dean Ryan: Dragons head coach does not know next season's playing budget
- Published
Dean Ryan became Dragons director of rugby in May 2019 after leaving his role as the Rugby Football Union's head of international player development
Dragons director of rugby Dean Ryan says he still does not know what his playing budget is for next season.
There are only three regular games remaining for the four Welsh regions in the Pro14 Rainbow Cup and next season is due to start in late September.
"We still don't know what our funding is," said Ryan.
"There are some figures bandied around, but they are not final figures from my understanding.
"They are impossible to work towards because they are figures that have changed and are continuing to be negotiated."
Ryan says the uncertainty has affected recruitment and retention.
"It's May and you normally look to get business done by January," added Ryan.
"We haven't been able to chase and add players because I can't commit to things on budgets that I don't understand.
"It's just impossible to recruit when you are in May and not understanding fully what your parameters of spend are.
"If you are going after key, marquee players, you need to be working at them for six to eight months prior to bringing them in and you can't do that when you don't know what your budgets are.
"Sadly, we are leaving people to very late stages in their contracts, which creates a huge amount of instability to their personal lives.
"It's a very difficult space to sit in.
"My chairman is fully aware of the challenges we face and he is feeding them into PRB (Professional Rugby Board).
"People don't know what their funding is. All you can do is create the core of your group that you need to be stable with."