Dragons coach-elect Shane Flanagan has many, many problems to fix when he takes over the team in coming weeks, but the first needs to be giving his players a psychological lesson in winning on the road.The Dragons had 12 away games this season - and lost each and every one of them, with the 18-6 defeat in Auckland on Friday night completing the clean sweep.That made it all but impossible for the club to figure in the finals race, let alone make the big games come September.Winning away from home is largely a mental problem for players - thus the need for a sports psychologist.All fields are basically the same length and breadth and the mentally strong teams have little trouble rising to the occasion on 'foreign' turf.But teams without the grit and confidence struggle when things get a little tough - like a hostile crowd or the referees awarding the '50/50 calls' to the home team more often than not.Three or four away wins and a fair home record will just about get a team into the finals, but the Dragons didn't even come close in 2023.
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