Joe Wheeler is not your ordinary lock.
He is not a man of the occasional grunt and one-word answers.
Wheeler likes a yarn.
The Tasman man enjoys his off-field stuff.
He has sung tribute songs to felled team-mates, fronted videos in some plain weird situations - treating Japanese halfback Fumiaki Tanaka as a baby comes to mind - and then joined in press conferences a couple of days before a big match.
But Wheeler knows it is all good fun.
The mucking around and videos have to be backed up by performances on the field.
"It's a nice balance for me. I enjoy it. With the Highlanders TV stuff we try and show the personalities we have got in this team. Obviously we have got plenty of them,'' he said.
"I'm just trying to shed a little bit of light on what we do off the field. We have a lot of fun off the field and I'm just trying to showcase a bit of that.
"We get great uptake, really. Sometimes it is hard to find good ideas . . . if it leads to something, who knows? It is about getting the balance right - 100% still getting the focus on the rugby stuff. It is just a little top-off at the end.''
The man from Blenheim is in negotiations to stay at the Highlanders - his contract is up at the end of the season - and he wants to stay in the South.
"I would like to stay but the Highlanders and us are working through things. Going overseas is tempting. You have got to weigh up everything which is going on in your career and that. The body is in pretty good nick and we just have to wait and see.''
At 28, Wheeler knows his time is passing by and he wants to enjoy the here and now.
That starts with beating a Lions side tonight which has started impressively this season.
No longer can the men from Johannesburg be taken lightly.
They may have no really big names but they are tough and have some good finishers out wide.
But the Highlanders forward pack proved last year big names mean little.
Do the basics well and the rewards will come.
The Lions downed the Chiefs last week with some tough defence and ability to take chances when they came along.
Wheeler said the side was fully aware it had to be on its game tonight.
"Two years ago they played the same style here, similar to us and almost won. They do not have many Springboks, have guys with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder with a point to prove. They have a good team culture and play a great team footy.
"We are used to playing that style of footy. I know teams get excited playing on a dry track under the roof and it makes for an entertaining game.''
The Highlanders have tweaked their forward pack and Alex Ainley gets his first start of the season.
There are four Tasman players in the pack, as prop Siosiua Halanukonuka makes his starting debut at this level.
The Highlanders need to be more accurate with their kicking game this week and be more patient with the ball in hand.
It is fine to run the ball all night but an ability to make space and find holes brings more reward.
The side has two games in Australia after tonight and will want to leave the stadium with a positive win record.