Jebel Ali Dragons duo Ryno Fourie and Brian Elvis believe the fallen giants of UAE rugby have to use their championship pedigree to get back to winning ways.
The 2014/15 campaign was a disastrous one for the Centre of Excellence outfit, who followed back-to-back treble-winning campaigns with a plummet to earth.
Dragons’ descent into mediocrity was both shocking and speedy, the player/coach duo of Murray Strang and Sean Crombie failing to yield further glory.
Dragons stuttered in the Premiership, finishing fourth to amble into the Gulf Top Six. They faltered too at the Dubai Sevens, only making the quarter-finals.
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Meanwhile, in the post-Christmas pantheon of West Asia rugby they unravelled, finishing second bottom and winning just two of 10 GT6 games.
They still have no coach as the new season approaches, while talisman Crombie has left the club, but Elvis and Fourie are upbeat about the challenge ahead.
“It was horrible last year but hopefully we can pick it up. I’m looking forward to next season and hopefully we will be back contending for trophies,” said Elvis, 26.
.@JebelAliDragons’ Ryno Fourie targets @uaerugby squad berth for Asian 7 Series @MattJones360 http://t.co/Alf2nWjhtX pic.twitter.com/q2QX7hHbWV
— Sport360° (@Sport360) August 3, 2015
The Kenyan winger has been a Dragon for three years and says the club’s former successes can help drive them on to greatness again.
“Confidence is high, you never lose it. If you’ve won trophies before you have to be confident,” he said.
His optimism is shared by team-mate Fourie, who insists last year’s disappointment will act as a spur to get Dragons firing again.
“It was a good learning experience. We won back to back trebles but it just gives us more motivation to build from here and show people we’re still a good club and we want to be back at the top and fight back to get our place,” said the 33-year-old full-back.
“In the long run we want to re-establish the Dragons’ name but at the moment we’re focusing on getting enough players.
“Silverware comes later on in the season. An improvement on last season is first and foremost. Hopefully the rest will fall into place.”
