DashSync

WHEN asked about the infamous moment his son Dylan secured an NRL contract, Stan Napa produces the proud smile only an old school Brisbane Rugby League hard-nut could.

Dylan’s career-shaping incident happened among the inner-suburbs of Brisbane, as eerie silence drenched a junior football final.

“Dylan laid out two players in his first two minutes on the field with big tackles and people actually thought he killed one of them,” Napa reveals.

“It took 15 minutes to get the game back on. He did them one after the other and they had to carry them off.

“It was a semi-final for Norths in the under 18’s against Easts, and Dylan just smashed their blokes and none of them returned.

“After that, their entire team was frightened of Dylan and then he was picked up by the Roosters.

“He was unique in doing a shoulder charge.

“He put the fear of god into every player he went against.”

A move to Bondi to play for the Roosters came just six months later for Dylan, a 192cm giant.

Then aged only 20, he smashed Paul Gallen to officially announce his arrival in the NRL.

Like his flame-haired son, Stan is a gentle giant who delighted in leaving opponents clutching their ribs.

Dylan, who is just one or two injuries away from a State of Origin berth with the Maroons, produces an embarrassed smile when reminded of that day.

“Did he tell you about that? Nah mate. I’m not talking about that. Don’t listen to him, he talks rubbish,” the 21-year-old said with a smile.

Stan is the type of league character that today’s league fans crave.

After crossing the ditch in the late 70’s, Stan won a BRL premiership with Norths in a 1980 team featuring Joe Kilroy and Mark Murray.

He was famously sent off in three consecutive games the following season.

“I would get suspended, come back then get sent off and suspended, then come back and get sent off and suspended,” Stan said.

“It was during a crack-down on foul play. There are no hard feelings about it.

“I broke this guy’s cheekbone and jaw once when he tried to tackle me.

“That happened in a game where we were reduced to 10 men when we figured they couldn’t send any more of us off, so we went hell for leather.

“We ended up winning too.

“It was different back then. Everything was kept on the field.

“I was sledged a lot. I mean real sledging, racial taunts.

“I once spoke to Arthur Beetson about it and he said to me: ‘You have it easy, they call me a Black bastard and a fat bastard'.”

The legend of Stan began in Auckland, 1978, when local team Otahuhu defeated the Cronulla Sharks after Stan actually ran through the fibro constructed dressing-room wall and onto the field for kick off.

The image of a prop bursting through a wall to play is credited as winning Otahuhu the game before it even started.

“He would have only done that if the wall was made of paper,” Dylan jokes.

Stan became so used to being sent off that later in his career, veteran referee Eddie Ward once blew his whistle following foul play and Stan cut him off with “I know Eddie” and promptly walked off the field.

Dylan admits Roosters coach Trent Robinson is trying to get the ill-discipline that made Stan famous out of his game.

Against the Broncos on Friday night, Napa pointed his shoulder into the chests of several Brisbane players and the referee cautioned him on the run about his technique.

“I have been trying to control my defence because I tend to get a little rowdy and sometimes I get in trouble from the coach,” Napa said.

“I try to keep a cool headed and pick my moments.

“I just have to try and fix my technique up.”

It is understood Maroons selectors want the made-for-Origin style of Napa in their side, they just have to find a spot for him.

Maroons chairman of selectors Des Morris said incumbents would have first crack this year, but Napa, now 21, is a talent built for interstate battle.

“He’s in the Emerging Origin squad and we have had an eye on him for some time now," Morris said.

“He’s only young. He’s one of the better forwards we have coming through. He is a big raw boned thing. Dylan is pretty similar to Stan in the way he plays.

“Stan was a bit out there.”

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