Dragons confident Wales trio will follow Rio Dyer in signing new deals

Rio Dyer (centre) is the first Dragons player to sign a new deal this season and the region hope Taine Basham (left) and Aaron Wainwright (right) will follow his lead

Dragons are confident Taine Basham, Aaron Wainwright and Leon Brown could join fellow Wales international Rio Dyer in committing their futures to the region.

Wing Dyer, 24, signed a two-year contract this week to extend his stay after the end of the 2023-24 season.

Dragons boss Dai Flanagan is now hoping for more positive news.

"I am confident, they are Gwent boys and I am sure they want to stay," said Flanagan.

"It's up to us to make sure the offers are fair and help them.

"We don't want to lose our best Welsh players. There is a list of them - Taine, Aaron, Leon, we want to keep the best Gwent players in Gwent.

"How we make that work is over to me and balancing the books with the profile of the squad.

"That's ongoing and each player will have conversations along the way that they like and don't like with the new budget.

"Then it's over to them, they will make the best decisions for themselves."

Flanagan insisted he hopes contract talks will soon be resolved.

"It's ongoing and there is never a direct deadline," said Flanagan. "I try to be as transparent as possible and my door is always open.

"I speak to their representatives a lot to keep them updated and the last thing you want as a player is to go into March not knowing what you are doing. We will definitely be done way before that date.

"It's a bit of a waiting game with certain things because there is only so much money to go around.

"We need to make sure we don't overpay or underpay and we are fair in what we do.

"They all have different ambitions in life, there is competition in certain places around the squad, but fundamentally they are good players we want to keep."

Leon Brown has played 23 internationals for Wales

Flanagan hopes Dyer's long-term Dragons commitment can help.

"It's fantastic news for us," said Flanagan.

"We see a massive ceiling for him, so we want to help him get to the highest point, firstly for us and then for the national team.

"We spoke to Rio about where the Dragons are going, what we want to achieve and how he fits into our plan.

"He can help us keep our other best players and also recruit better players because they get to play with Rio Dyer."

Flanker Basham, number eight Wainwright, prop Brown and Dyer are among six Dragons players named in Warren Gatland's Six Nations squad this week with hooker Elliot Dee and full-back Cai Evans completing the contingent.

Basham and Brown have been left out by Flanagan recently, but he insists the pair will be involved when Dragons' host Sharks on Sunday evening in the Challenge Cup.

"We set them both individual tasks about their games to work on in training," said Flanagan.

"We want to create an environment where if you play well, you keep the shirt. If you don't play well, someone is ready."

Brown has a chance to establish himself as Wales' first-choice tight-head after being named in the squad alongside the inexperienced Keiron Assiratti and Archie Griffin, with World Cup trio Tomas Francis, Dillon Lewis and Henry Thomas missing out.

"Leon was set certain tasks at the set piece and the game," said Flanagan.

"He has gone above expectations of the coaches and has earned the right to have a go.

"I am sure the international game suits Leon because he's such an athlete and so mobile, the game is faster and built for someone like him."

Dee has recovered from a rib injury and is in contention for selection this weekend.

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