You know what you're going to get from James Gavet on the footy field. The same can't be said when you press record on an interview with the hard-charging Warriors prop.
Gavet's bruising defence and full-bore kick returns will be critical if the Warriors are to extend their first finals campaign since 2011 beyond Saturday night's elimination final against Penrith.
The 28-year-old has much to prove against the Panthers too after being a late scratching from the Warriors regular season finale against Canberra last week, with TVNZ reporting his absence from Simon Mannering's 300th match was punishment for turning up late to training.
But while the Warriors expect Gavet to be back to his direct running best at ANZ Stadium, the prop ducks and weaves in unexpected directions when he's being interviewed. Like this ditty when the Samoan forward was asked about his role as a leader of the Warriors' young propping brigade.
"All I want to do is grow the younger boys here in their footy and off the field so that they know it's all about entertainment," Gavet started.
"As hard and as rough as it may look on TV, and everyone may think we look macho and all that, we're actually just entertainers."
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The 1.89m, 108kg behemoth was clearly just warming to his task too.
"We're just like dancers, just like singers ... what we're here to do is to be role models to the younger ones and help inspire others, whether that's as a footy player or just a good person. That's my aim as a leader.
"There's always going to be a bigger, stronger, faster, more talented young gun coming through every year, so what I can offload to them I think can be priceless just like what Simon [Mannering] has done for me."
Admirable stuff, just like Gavet's contribution to the Warriors' best season in seven years which is highlighted by his 100m running metres per game average and 365 tackles at an 87% efficiency rate in 18 appearances.
This is Gavet's third campaign for the Warriors after 14 appearances for the West Tigers in 2014 was sandwiched between one-game stints for Canterbury and Brisbane in 2012 and 2015 respectively. He's made a conscious effort to broaden his repertoire of skills in 2018.
"In the past I've been kind of like a strike runner, kind of one dimensional, just get on and show my aggression, run really hard and direct and try and whack blokes on defence," Gavet said.
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"But this year I've tried to change up my game, save energy where needed, know where to take my rests and when to exert energy. I feel like I'm getting better with each game that goes by, just growing in the game and experience."
Gavet acknowledges he hasn't done all the heavy lifting himself and credits fellow starting prop Agnatius Paasi and interchange impact specialist Bunty Afoa for making him a better player.
"They're a bit of a force as far as hard running goes and that kind of takes a big weight off my shoulder so I can look at doing other things where I can use footwork and maybe play with supporting runners. Just be a more efficient player and kind of be more of leader in that role."
Before the Canberra game where Gavet was named to start before being scratched, Stephen Kearney spoke about the prop's standout performance in the win over the Panthers the previous week and his impact before that against Canterbury and Newcastle.
But while the Warriors coach agreed Gavet "certainly has a presence about him" he also hinted he was not yet the finished article.
"With Jimmy we've got to keep on him to do that [perform], [it's] about consistency and process," Kearney said.
"His consistency at training and obviously everything away from the field as well [which] gives him the best opportunity to perform on the weekend."
Panthers v Warriors - Elimination Final
