The major partnership agreement will see the club aligned with the sports nutrition brand through to the end of the 2008/09 NBL season.

Ascend is the third major brand to be signed to the club ahead of its Round 1 clash with West Sydney on September 22, joining naming rights partner Crazy John’s and major sponsor Deloitte for the new season.

On the back of a hugely successful debut year, the club has been quick to secure the support of leading local and international businesses in the lead-up to season two.

General Manager of MG Nutritionals, Peter Hobman, said the agreement would reap significant benefits for both parties.

“We’re really excited about our sponsorship with the Dragons because the club portrays a good, positive image of sport,” he said.

“Obviously there’s a lot of potential on an Australian scale but there’s also potential globally, so we’re excited to be very closely associated with the Dragons.”

The range of Ascend supplements hits the market after years of extensive research.

“Four years ago we made the decision to look for new components of milk that would deliver health benefits and we focused on muscles, bones and weight loss as the primary targets,” Hobman said.

“We discovered two products in milk and put them through human clinical trials that showed they gave athletes the potential to improve their output and recovery; by taking Ascend supplements, recovery time was reduced from five days to less than one.”

In a bid to distance itself from its competitors, the Ascend range is available exclusively via www.ascendsport.com.au

“At the present time we’re restricting our marketing to the web and the reason is that nutrition stores are crowded and confusing; we’re trying to separate ourselves from the market,” Hobman said.

Crazy John’s South Dragons star and Ascend convert Joe Ingles said the new sponsorship deal would help boost the performances of all players.

“Obviously with training and weights every day and then playing games throughout the year as well, we all want to play to our highest potential every game and impress and be 100% fit - if you’re not you need to do something about it and the Ascend products really help,” Ingles said.

“For me it’s all about weight gain at the moment and then the recovery side of it will become really important once the season is under way.

“We have something like seven games in 12 days this season, so being able to use the Ascend products to recover and play at that high level every night - even if I am feeling a bit tired – is great; the product kicks in and really gives you some extra oomph.”

Visit www.ascendsport.com.au