Friendly fire! RYAN AND BRAD BEST OF ENEMIES

ONE month – and a big pile of silverware – is all that separates best mates Brad Singleton and Ryan Shaw.

A tasty clash in Super League will also split the loyalties of the two Barrow men today.

But, once the hostilities have ended at Craven Park, they will return to winding each other up just like they have done all their lives.

Hull KR winger Shaw said: “We’ve grown up together and we give each other stick all the time.”

Leeds prop Singleton added: “We’ve been best mates since we were three and played right through amateur level together.

“He’s a real joker but some of the things I can’t mention publicly!

“But you need people like him in the dressing room, especially after a disappointing defeat. He is usually smiling – not much gets him down. He’s a very happy bloke.”

Shaw, 25 and the elder by a month, could have had plenty of reason to get down over the years after his career faltered.

While Singleton’s star has shone at Leeds – with a trophy haul including two Grand Finals and a Challenge Cup – Shaw has only just made his way into Super League.

He started at Warrington six years ago but failed to get a game and spent three seasons on loan at various clubs.

A year in the Championship with Bradford ended with Rovers signing him and his prolific try-scoring and goal kicking helped them win promotion last season.

He said: “It’s all happened a bit later than I would have liked and I struggled to make my way.

“It’s been a tough old road but I’m enjoying playing Super League now. I’d just like a few of Brad’s trophies!”

Singleton said: “Ryan’s having a great season and I’m glad he’s proving how good he is to a lot of people and definitely to himself.”

The Rhinos star has been winning rave reviews for the champions again this year and they are favourites to win this afternoon.

But Rovers pushed Leeds close in the 20-11 defeat at Elland Road in February and Shaw insists his team-mates can take heart from that.

He said: “We have been close in games, even against the top teams, and there are quite a few we should have won. All the teams around us are probably thinking about the Middle Eights and how we need to finish eighth or above.

“But we cannot look too far ahead. It will probably be close at the end of the year but we’ve just got to go week by week.”

Shaw, who has six tries in 11 games and 33 goals, is a firm favourite with the Rovers fans.

But it is city rivals Hull FC that could have been his first love were it not for a quirk of fate in the early 1990s.

His father Neil, a former captain at Barrow, was due to have a trial at Hull but it never went ahead after he suffered a major knee injury.

Shaw said: “It’s funny how things work out but Barrow and Hull are similar in lots of ways and I enjoy both places.”