Sydney Roosters hitman Dylan Napa respects Sam Burgess so much he personally targeted the South Sydney forward in a brutal defensive performance that inspired his side to their first win of the season at ANZ Stadium on Friday night.
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Napa fires Roosters to win over Souths
Sydney Roosters front-rower Dylan Napa inspires his side to their first win of the year, a 17-10 defeat of South Sydney.
After losing their first five matches of the season, the Roosters needed to win or they would have had to do what no other team had done before to make the finals after starting a season with six successive defeats.
While goalkicking had proven costly in the Roosters' losses to Manly and Canberra, their defence was the worst after five rounds in the 109 seasons the foundation club has competed in the premiership - after conceding 124 points.
However, the minor premiers of the past three years changed that to restrict Souths to just two tries - the second of which was scored by Cody Walker in the 77th minute - and reverse a 42-10 loss to their arch rivals in the opening round of the season, with Napa leading the way.
Just as Rabbitohs star Sam Burgess had made it his personal mission to line-up Sonny Bill Williams after his return from rugby union for the Roosters in 2013, Napa targeted Burgess and hit the English dual-international with two absolute bell ringers in the opening half.
"I respect Sam Burgess and the way he plays so much," Napa said. "I was so disappointed when he left for rugby union. I think he left as one of the best forwards in the game so I thought it was a bit of respect to go at him tonight and I wanted to get a bit of respect off him and do what is best for our team."
The 23-year-old also came up with a big shot on Souths prop Chris Grevsmuhl in the first half that led to a try by Roosters second-rower Aidan Guerra, who started the match at five-eighth.
Given his impact on the game, Roosters coach Trent Robinson left Napa on for the full 80 minutes and he made 39 tackles - all of which contained a similar amount of sting.
"Not many players can do what he can do tonight. It is a credit to him," Robinson said. "He decided he was going to have a game tonight and he definitely delivered.
"He has got that motor and he just said at halftime 'I'm right', so I went 'sweet, I will leave him on and I didn't even think about [replacing Napa] in the second half."
Napa also made 158 metres from 19Â runs with the ball, which included one tackle break and one offload, and scored a try in a performance that would have had Queensland Origin coach Kevin Walter regretting the fact that Napa had been one of 10 players suspended from this year's series after breaking curfew in a pre-season Emerging Maroons camp.
Asked how often he thought about his Origin ban, Napa said: "A couple of times a week but that is done. What can I do? We lost five in a row and I wasn't thinking about Origin then. I was thinking about getting a win for the Roosters."
After such a disappointing start to the season, the Roosters were desperate to break the drought and their decision to adopt a more attacking approach paid dividends in the 12th minute when winger Daniel Tupou scored off a cross-field kick from halfback Jackson Hastings after skipper Jake Friend had made a midfield break and linked with Mitch Aubusson.
Their increased intensity in defence was also on display soon after when Souths winger Bryson Goodwin was bundled into touch after centre Kirisome Auva'a found his path to the tryline blocked by a wall of defence and flung the ball backwards for his left side partner.
The bone jarring tackle by Napa on Grevsmuhl shook the ball loose in the 26th minute and Guerra scored the Roosters' second try after Friend delayed a pass to create a hole for him to run into near Souths' line.
Aaron Gray's fifth try of the season got the Rabbitohs back in the game just before halftime, and hooker Cameron McInnes looked set to score just three minutes after the interval but he lost the ball over the Roosters' line.
Napa made Souths pay when he scored a deserved try for his efforts in the 47th minute after Hastings kicked into the Rabbitohs' in-goal and Greg Inglis missed the ball as he dived to diffuse the danger.
A Hastings field goal sealed the win before Walker crossed for a consolation try three minutes before fulltime.
"I reckon it was less control and more heart," Napa said. "It wasn't the perfect game, it was just a lot of desire to win."
The only downside from the win was a knee injury which forced lock Sio Siua Taukeiaho out of the game in the first half.
Souths coach Michael Maguire is expected to rush halfback Adam Reynolds back next week after his recovery from a broken jaw suffered in the opening match against the Roosters.
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