Dylan Napa believes he’s ready to deal with the fallout from Big Papi scandal

Dylan Napa has declared he’s ready to take the hits in the fallout from the Big Papi video scandal, revealing he’s been picked on all his life.

Dylan Napa during Canterbury Bulldogs training at Belmore Sports Ground, Sydney. Picture: Brett Costello

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Dylan Napa has declared “If I wanted everyone to like me, I’d go sell ice-creams” in the wake of public taunts following the “Big Papi” sex video.
The Daily Telegraph revealed last week that patrons had secretly filmed Napa at a Bondi nightspot while the Canterbury prop was with friends.

The group taunted Napa regarding the lewd videos before Napa approached the men and told them to stop filming.
“I’m six foot five with red hair, I’ve been targeted my whole life,” Napa said. “I also have the right to stand up for myself. I’m not worried about being targeted. I’ve been told everything under the sun, especially the person I'm portrayed to be.

“My family and friends know who I am and my teammates, that’s all that matters.

“If I wanted everyone to like me, I’d go sell ice-creams.

“That's a quote from (former Roosters teammate) Boyd Cordner and I think it’s pretty correct. If I wanted everyone to like me, maybe I should get another profession because it’s the reality of it.”

Napa made his Bulldogs debut in the loss to the Warriors. AAP Image/David Rowlands.

Napa will come up against Parramatta prop Kane Evans this week. A video — featuring a fully clothed Evans shadow boxing while a near naked Napa sat nearby — contributed to the $70,000 fine that the NRL handed him.
The pair remain good friends.

“I caught up with [Evans] and Roger [Tuivasa-Sheck] and Isaac Liu and Daniel Tupou for dinner about two weeks ago,” Napa said.

“Those friendships will never be broken. You’ll have those friends for life. I’ve known him since I was 17 and hope to know him until I’m 87.”
Napa’s hopes of putting a turbulent off-season behind him with a strong club debut for the Bulldogs were dashed last week when Canterbury were thumped 40-6 against the Warriors last Saturday. It was a long way from his last NRL outing where he helped lead the Roosters to a grand final win over Melbourne.

Can Napa and the Bulldogs turn their season around. Photo by Phil Walter/2019 Getty Images.

“I can’t use that at all [as an excuse],” Napa said of the videos. “It had its effects at the time, but it’s two months ago now. I'm well and truly over that. I'm glad football is back and we can talk about playing Parramatta and trying to beat them.
“I judge my games on our team performance, obviously they [Warriors] put 40 points on us, so I thought it was poor and I need to be better.

“I want to make a big statement every game, I put the same preparation in for each game, I don’t over-think anything. I felt I had a good preparation going into the game, we just lacked a bit of energy and our attitude was not where it needed to be.

“We spoke about our attitude during the game, not necessarily leading up to the game because we thought our preparation and training had been really good.”

Napa was released by the Roosters at the end of last season. Picture by Brett Costello.

Napa arrived at Belmore amid much fanfare as a replacement for club favourite David Klemmer. The Queensland firebrand knows his performances will draw parallels with Klemmer, who won man of the match honours in his first outing for Newcastle.
“There’s more pressure on myself, it’s a lot younger and less-experienced squad, but in saying that we’ve been good at training,” Napa said. “It’s no secret I’ve replaced (Klemmer) in this team. I haven't thought about what anyone apart from my teammates and coaches think about the game I play.
“I feel like the game I played [at the Roosters] was sort a leadership role, so I don't need to change my game too much [here]. I just need to be better.”

Originally published as Dylan Napa believes he’s ready to deal with the fallout from Big Papi scandal