THE Dragons’ season may have been stopped in its tracks by coronavirus but Argus readers still get their annual chance to honour their top performer.

Voting is open for the Argus Dragon of the Year with six of Dean Ryan’s squad in the running for the honour.

Back row forward Taine Basham, tighthead prop Leon Brown, fly-half Sam Davies, loosehead prop Brok Harris, lock Matthew Screech and scrum-half Rhodri Williams are the candidates after strong campaigns for the region.

Throughout the coming days we are giving the lowdown on the potential winners that are looking to succeed last year’s winner Aaron Wainwright. Today’s nominee is LEON BROWN...

South Wales Argus:

The 23-year-old from Newport headed into the season on the back of World Cup woe.

The prop spent the summer training with Wales ahead of Japan 2020 but he missed the cut after Warren Gatland opted to take just two specialist tightheads – Tomas Francis and Dillon Lewis.

Brown won his sixth cap against Ireland in the warm-up Test but was shown a yellow card after referee Romain Poite deemed he was guilty of scrummaging offences.

That perceived weakness in the dynamic prop’s game was tackled from the off in the Guinness PRO14.

New boss Dean Ryan spoke about how impressed he was with Brown’s attitude when he returned from Wales camp.

"He has attracted a lot of headlines but people should look at that performance and see that is a weapon coming forward for the Dragons," said the director of rugby after the season opener at Munster.

"The first thing that has impressed me is how open he has been. I don't know the answers, because I'm not a scrum coach, but I did ask him to look at doing things differently because it was pointless carrying on doing the same things."

South Wales Argus:

Brown kept making strides and was rewarded with a return to the international scene off the bench against the Barbarians in November.

The prop was part of a strong set-piece derby period against the Scarlets, Cardiff Blues and Ospreys and provided one of the moments of the season in the third of those tussles, showing a tremendous turn of speed to charge over from 40 metres.

Brown’s exploits ensured that he stayed in the Test squad to make his Six Nations debut against Italy in February and keep his spot on the bench.

“Leon is a young prop who is nowhere near the finishing product," said head coach Wayne Pivac.

"He is learning a lot and is getting better and better each training session. He has come a long way in a very, very short space of time.

"Leon is an exciting prospect because he fits the profile that we are looking for – he is a big man and is very quick in training with fast feet.

"It's just about getting him into good habits and making sure he can repeat performances week in, week out. He deserves an opportunity and has trained well."

South Wales Argus:

Brown made 14 regional appearances (13 starts) and five international outings and also grafted hard with forwards coach Ceri Jones..

"Some people question my scrummaging a lot but all I can do is keep playing and keep getting better," said Brown in October.

His season went a long way towards doing that.

Vote for your player of the year: HERE