ALAN Kingsley hopes that the Dragons get a kick out of his work after joining the Rodney Parade region as skills coach.

As a player in Irish club rugby, the former half-back was unashamedly keen of putting boot to ball.

The theme continued when he moved into coaching, first with the Western Force academy after a spell on the field with the University Western Australia in Perth then with Navan and the Leinster age-grade teams on his return home.

"I wouldn't have played the game as long as I did unless there was kicking involved," said Kingsley, from Portlaoise in the Irish midlands.

"I was always out early kicking, staying late kicking and during the game I was never shy about putting boot to ball!

"It was part of the game that from a very young age I really enjoyed and I guess I had a half-decent kicking game that I tried to develop as much as I could."

It's that expertise that led to Kingsley taking the role previously held by Barry Maddocks, who has been promoted to attack and backs coach.

When Shaun Connor left at the end of last season, the Irishman received an invite to apply for a job from his compatriot and head coach Bernard Jackman.

"I did a bit of coaching development at Grenoble, got to know Bernard and stayed in contact, knocking a few ideas around," said Kingsley, who will also be attack and backs coach for the Dragons Under-23s.

"Early doors I boxed myself off to become a kicking and skills coach, put a few ideas across to him and would hear back every three months or so, then it became a bit more frequent and I came over last season on coaching development when Bernard got the job.

"Kicking this year is going to be massively important for him and that's the area that I specialise in, so at the back-end of last season a phone call came through to see if I would be interested in applying.

"I was involved in the under-age set-up at Leinster and around the seniors a tiny bit but an opportunity like this is massive.

"It was a no-brainer to come over and it's been a great start. They are long days at the moment and it's all rugby, rugby, rugby but it's really enjoyable.

"Barry is from a skills background and is very attack-minded, so he is going to be a great help while the lads are mad for their extras, so hopefully we will see big improvements come September."

South Wales Argus:

Some Dragons supporters will be a little edgy at the prospect of more kicking after Rodney Parade grumbles about its frequency in the Lyn Jones era.

But a fan rarely moans about a good kick, and Kingsley is working hard to up the success rate.

"Kicking is a big area and Bernard has put a big emphasis on it. I want the lads to be technically good enough to play Barry's shape and, if they see space, be able to kick correctly to get it there," he said.

"In modern rugby getting the ball into space and kick-metres is massive. We're working to get the lads ready for any type of kick to get the Dragons on the front foot.

"In the last few years it was all about 2-4-2 shapes and 1-3-3-1s or whatever [attacking formations], now it's swinging back to the kicking game and there is a massive emphasis on it.

"Look at Super Rugby, many people have the opinion it is all running rugby but they probably kick the ball more than anyone.

"The accuracy that Saracens' 9s have is amazing and it goes alongside their aggressive line chase – catch the ball and you know you will be thumped straight away because the kick is on the money.

"It's a massive area of attention for all teams and there are a lot more kicking coaches around, whereas 10 years ago you wouldn't have had one. Now people see kicking as a real attacking threat and a massive part of the game.

"Kick accuracy has to be up there and to get consistency you need to put in the hours with someone indicating what you might be able to improve.

"If you hit the key factors we are looking for then the results start to creep up and percentages get higher and higher.

"It's nailing them down to get the accuracy and we are all putting our heads down and working hard."