‘Settled” Dylan Napa ready to push Bulldogs to next step
Having endured a challenging start to life at Belmore, Dylan Napa is ready to put his experience to use and start 2020 with genuine optimism for the Bulldog’s chances.
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DYLAN Napa was a world away when the Roosters were defending their premiership title.
Twelve months earlier he had helped lead the Roosters to a premiership win against Melbourne.
He had no idea it would be his final game for the Tricolours.
With his new club Canterbury not making the finals, Napa was deep into his time off — holidaying in the US — when the Roosters took to the field against Canberra in the premiership decider at ANZ Stadium.
Napa was with friends crammed around a screen watching the match.
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“It was just like watching a few of my mates play a footy game. I was happy for the Roosters guys to win it as I have a lot of friends in that team.”
Napa was Canterbury’s major recruit in the 2018 off-season. He arrived as a direct replacement for Newcastle-bound David Klemmer, but the transition was far from smooth given Canterbury’s poor start to the year.
He won just two of his opening 10 games as a Bulldog.
“After the first month of football, the games we were losing we weren’t losing by much,” said Napa, 27. “We knew we were there and we just had to win those games late. That’s what we ended up doing. As a group we started playing our best towards the end of the year.
“This pre-season we know what we’re capable of doing.”
Napa said he was “far more settled” as a Bulldog this time around. The last off-season was a blur for the Queensland prop who had to deal with a high-profile club switch and also unwanted media attention.
Napa knows he is a leader among a developing Bulldogs roster.
“I play in the front-row, I usually have to do some sort of leadership in the game,” he said.
He said that having been around the club for a year and “being familiar with the faces, just being a bit tighter with the group” had greatly helped. “Hopefully I can have a more consistent year as a player and us as a team.”