Greater Western Sydney's Heath Shaw has no regrets over his heated on-field argument with Aidan Corr as the Giants' poor discipline comes under scrutiny again.
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The return of Toby Greene from his second suspension this year has been offset by the loss of ruckman Shane Mumford for Friday night's clash with reigning premiers the Western Bulldogs. It follows a costly sanction to Steve Johnson last September which cost the goal sneak a berth in the preliminary final.
The latest bans come at a time when the Giants are being urged to "play on the edge" by coach Leon Cameron.
Shaw too has come close to the line, though some might say he crossed it, with his spray at Corr, who returned fire, after a recent win against Fremantle.
The veteran defended his role in the confrontation, which was captured on camera, saying he had intended no malice.
"I'm really close with Aidan. I'm very passionate about my footy and winning and those conversations happen a lot," Shaw said.
"That was caught on camera, we were over it within the hour. Little bit of a hug, hand shake, had a couple of beers after it and we were fine.
"There's no regrets in it. Those conversation happen four or five times in a game. There was no malice in it, it was a conversation about footy."
Shaw accepted players can err when they play so close to the edge but urged Mumford and Greene not to change their ways.
"There's a certain ruthless and aggressive part of football that you need to be successful," Shaw said.
"Not everyone plays on the edge, not everyone has to go out and belt people and rough up people and get aggressive at the ball and man to play well. Some guys do and that's how they become really good players. We're not going to take that away from two of our most important players and curb what has made them who they are.
"We don't want them to miss games of footy but we want them to keep playing the way they do."
Ravaged by injury for much of the year, the Giants are edging closer to having their best team available in the run into the finals.
Key forward Jonathon Patton will have a fitness test on his hamstring after missing last week's win over Melbourne. All Australian Jeremy Cameron is two to three weeks from resuming while veteran Ryan Griffen and youngster Tim Taranto are due to return in four weeks, which would put them in the frame for the first round of finals.
"There's a bit more pressure for spots," Shaw said. "Guys have to perform."
