Not much hurts Dylan Napa but the Sydney Roosters enforcer has revealed the pain of missing out on a grand final has been secretly driving him this NRL season.
The prop will get to live out a boyhood dream on Sunday when he runs out against Melbourne with the Provan-Summons Trophy up for grabs.
Napa almost didn't make it - his three-week suspension for dangerous contact for an ugly tackle on Andrew McCullough could have spelled the end of his season.
However, the Roosters won through without him.
Since 2013, Napa has gone agonisingly close to playing in a season decider four times, only to miss out.
Five years ago he was a part of the Roosters side which beat Newcastle in a preliminary final but was ultimately overlooked for the biggest game of the year because of the returns of Boyd Cordner and Luke O'Donnell.
"It was my first year and I missed out with a couple of guys coming back from injury," Napa told AAP.
"It was pretty similar circumstances to a couple of guys in this team with myself coming back.
"I'm not exactly sure of the team just yet but Lindsay Collins has had an amazing last month of football.
"At the time, back in 2013, I didn't think too much about it.
"I've realised how hard it is to get to a grand final and I want to make the most of it."
Robinson told Napa early in grand final week five years ago that he wouldn't be included and tried to take it in his stride.
But he's since learned just how rare grand final appearances can be.
In 2014, 2015 and 2017, the Roosters fell one game short, defeated in the preliminary final.
Being so close yet ultimately missing out is a feeling which has been motivating the Queensland Origin forward.
"It's been fuelling me since the first day of pre-season," Napa said.
"The hurt from last year of losing the preliminary, three of the last four years we bowed out (a game before the grand final).
"It wasn't until I was a bit older that I realised how hard they were to come by."
Share
