While he didn't play for Queensland in game one of the Holden State of Origin series, Roosters enforcer Dylan Napa said he would be satisfied being the side's 18th man again when the Maroons try to clinch the series in Melbourne next Wednesday night.
Apart from halfback Cooper Cronk – who was ruled out for three to four weeks on Monday with a torn meniscus suffered over the weekend –Mal Meninga's men are otherwise fighting fit, meaning Napa is happy to again play a supporting role for game two at the MCG.
Unsure of his fate in the Queensland XXXX Maroons team when asked if he had made the squad on Monday morning, Napa said he was yet to hear anything and said he was uncertain about whether he'll line up for the Roosters against the Warriors over in New Zealand on Saturday night.
"It's awesome being with such a great calibre of players in the Queensland squad. Where do you start from you know? From 1-17 it's just good to see how they back themselves," Napa told NRL.com.
"I don't know how the next week is going to work [if I do make it] but fingers-crossed I do."
Having played the majority of his 43 NRL games from the bench, the impact the 22-year-old has given the Roosters since his 2013 debut was once again validated when he entered into Origin calculations a fortnight ago.
Averaging 29.7 tackles and 112.2 metres per game in 2015, Napa said being a part of Queensland camp has only given him further motivation to make his Origin debut.
"Being a part of the camp definitely drives you a lot to hopefully get across the other side of the white line," Napa said.
"I was sitting on the sideline at Origin I and I was itching to get out there as most players are but I know I just have to bide my time and hopefully I can get there sooner rather than later."
Closer to his adopted Roosters home, Napa said the Tricolours' 10-4 loss to the Sharks on Sunday afternoon was a matter of "not respecting the ball" rather than being complacent against a less-fancied Cronulla team.
The Roosters made an almost unbelievable 20 errors and completed just over 50 per cent of their sets against the Sharks in their uncharacteristic performance
"It's always talked about how Cronulla are our 'bogey' team but we feel we prepared well for the game, trained well and I think the stats highlight we didn't respect the ball so we deserved what was coming to us," Napa said.
"We don't take any team lightly; we just play bad on the day. We expected to play good rather than force our way into the fight. We were lucky to hold on to the scoreline we did considering how much ball we gave them."
