NEW Dragons boss Dean Ryan will tap into assistant coach Ceri Jones' knowledge when deciding his first moves at Rodney Parade.

The 52-year-old former England international has been appointed as director of rugby at the Dragons and will officially take up his role on July 1 after leaving the RFU.

Ryan, who will also have a place on the region's board, has pledged to arrive with an open mind, keen to listen to the thoughts of those already on the payroll.

Jones will be a key figure after acting as caretaker boss since December following the sacking of Bernard Jackman.

The former prop will return to his role of forwards coach and join forces again with Ryan, who was his boss at Worcester in 2013.

"Ceri was left holding everything for a number of months and have met him to work out what he experienced," said Ryan, who will be the lead coach despite also having a boardroom role.

"I know him and he has a huge amount to offer the game; he understands this business and I need to work out how best to support him.

"I hadn't seen him for a few years, so didn't know the scars of the last couple of years! But I was keen to catch up."

Ryan will arrive with a listening brief – and is likely to frequently be told that the Dragons are up against it.

Operating on a considerably smaller budget than their Welsh rivals, let alone Europe's best, the new boss will follow his predecessors by pleading for patience.

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"If you look at things in isolation, we've not got the same funding levels as other regions, we have been in some sort of state of flux for a couple of years. To say we are going to be successful right now is madness," he said.

"We've got to make the right decisions about things to take care of the future, we've got to make the right decisions so that we can get better quicker and how we can be more efficient at what we are doing, and we've got to create some real tangible reasons about what is going on at the Dragons.

"We've got to do that quickly and that comes alive with the people that play here; it's not a story that you impose on people, it's through talking and understanding the things that we've got in common.

"It's about dropping some of the things that you might believe in but they are not relevant for this time.

"I am not putting up a smokescreen by saying I am going do a bit of listening – it's integral to getting the decisions right over the next few months."

Ryan has previously coached at Bristol, Worcester and Gloucester in the English Premiership but says he will adapt to the different task at Rodney Parade.

"The danger is that if you see it as the same challenge," he said. "This is about developing the best of this region, this is about making it the best of the players that are here, it is about making it a place that people want to come to and want to stay, because we don't have some of the other elements.

"This is not a normal model, this is not a model where you offer more money or Champions Cup success.

"You have to rewind and look at the things that still make this place special and make people proud to be here. I've got to listen to what those things are."

The retention and recruitment has been done by Jones with little left in the pot, albeit the Dragons are hopeful of signing Wales and Ospreys fly-half Sam Davies.

Ryan won't be delving straight into the transfer market, preferring to give those on the books a crack.

"June is not a good time to be doing business other than filling holes, and I don't know what they are yet," he said.

"I don't want to fill holes if they take opportunity away and opportunity is going to be central to a lot of things that we build here.

"There is no point trying to stabilise what the next three of four months if it takes away opportunity, sometimes development can be bumpy but it's central to what we will do here."

Ryan is back at Rodney Parade after a short spell as rugby consultant for then boss Darren Edwards in 2012, although he sees it as a first time at the Dragons.

"It's a little bit of a false line," said Ryan. "I was here for a couple of months but I felt the club was in transition.

"They were looking for someone to tell them what the next steps should be and I don't believe that should come from a consultant.

"I was here to support a coaching team but it became clear that wasn't the case, so i left because it's not the place of people that aren't going to get their hands dirty to tell people what they should or shouldn't be doing when it comes to other peoples' jobs."

Ryan takes up his new role officially on July 1 but the squad return for pre-season training on June 10 with the director of rugby sure to have an influence.