Woodman made his senior Dragons debut against Pau in December 2022 and has grown into a leading figure.
After making 18 appearances last season, the 6ft 5ins forward has featured in 13 of 16 games in 2025-26.
Woodman – tipped to be a future Dragons captain by Tiatia – remains mobile but has put on weight with Wales listing him as 18st.
“My main goal for the season was to be more of a physical presence, I want to be a big six” he said. “I definitely still have improvements to make but I am going in the right direction.”
That progress will be put to the test over the next three weekends with Dragons taking on Stormers on Sunday (13:00 GMT), followed by the Lions in Johannesburg and Stade Francais in Paris.
“It’s always tough playing South African sides, especially away,” said Woodman. “Stormers have quite a few Springboks in their team and it will be a good physicality test.”
Dragons have never beaten a South African side in the URC with their last success coming in 2020 against Cheetahs in the Pro14 before Stormers, Lions, Sharks and Bulls joined the tournament.
