Phil Davis lifted the lid on what makes Heath Shaw so special

FROM afar, Heath Shaw’s a loveable larrikin out to get laughs, but the Giants inner sanctum knows something we don’t about the AFL’s premier defender.

Classic Heath.

FROM the outside, Heath Shaw is the footy equivalent of the class clown.

He’s the guy who last week politely asked journalists to please put forward “stock standard questions” so he could give them “stock standard answers”.

He’s the guy who wore former Australian batsman and Giants runner Simon Katich’s helmet to a press conference ahead of his return from an incident that left him with a slight bleed on the brain.

He’s the guy who helped devise what a GWS Giants team would look like if his teammates were Simpsons characters. Then the year after he did the same with Harry Potter characters.

He’s the guy who thought his brother Rhyce’s partner might have tried to poison him with a dicey risotto before the two played each other last year for the Giants and Swans respectively.

And he’s the guy with this awesome Twitter account.

But that doesn’t mean everything in his life is all fun and games. The 30-year-old has put his hand up as the premier backman in the AFL, and a lot of his good form is down to a side of him the Giants inner sanctum sees but the public doesn’t.

Just a precaution, fellas.

Speaking on ABC Grandstand after the Giants’ win over the Swans in the Sydney derby on Sunday, fellow defender Phil Davis said everyone else sees the larks and the high jinks, but they don’t see the ferocious competitive streak that runs through his veins.

“He’s different, I think his actual persona in the public is a bit embellished on what Heath really is, to be honest,” said Davis. “I think he’d be rapt with how he’s perceived.

“In saying that, he is as cheeky as they come, but I must admit if you found a more ruthless competitor I’d like to see him because Heath is a psycho.

“I love playing with him. He yells at me a lot and I yell at him and we have a lot of fun.”

It shouldn’t really come as a surprise to hear of Shaw’s burning desire to win. After all, you don’t carve out a 10-year plus footy career and reach the phenomenal heights he has by being blasé about things.

He was at Collingwood for nine seasons before making the move to Sydney in 2014, and has only gotten better the more he’s played for the AFL’s newest club.

Shaw just keeps reaching new heights.

“One thing he can do is win one-on-ones. I said to him, ‘I thought you were a good player when you were at Collingwood,’ but now I think he’s the best backman in the comp, tall or small,” Davis said.

“I do tell him he doesn’t play on anyone but teams try everything against him, and the one thing about him is he reads the ball as well as I’ve seen.

“I just love playing footy with him.”

Shaw had a stellar 2015 where he led the league in kicks and rebound 50s, won the Giants’ best and fairest award and gained his first ever All Australian selection. He’s continuing that trend in 2016, highlighted by an incredible day out against the Western Bulldogs in Round nine where he had 38 disposals including 36 kicks at 97 per cent efficiency — the most kicks by a single player in a game in 35 years.

He’s racked up more than 20 disposals nine times in 12 games this season, and in the Giants’ latest win over their cross-town rivals, Shaw won the Brett Kirk Medal for best on ground with 10 marks and 25 touches overall to go with two tackles.

With performances like those, he won’t need to resort to cheeky gags to keep Leon Cameron and the Giants coaches smiling.