"Any questions?" the media liaison officer had asked the floor after the match against the Pumas that saturated Saturday night.
The silence was deafening. Even I looked like a stunned mullet, wondering if this was going to be my first press conference to be disassembled without a word uttered in the media scrum.
But, hey, before I could put my hand up after snapping out of a self-induced trance, the Shag took matters into his own hands, rambling on with the finesse of a hooker who has no qualms about coming cold off the bench to find a rapport in the lineout.
A fill-in presenter on the Crowd Goes Wild recently confessed he was still traumatised from the grilling Hansen gave him after an article he wrote in his formative years following a press conference.
But I digress. In fairness, no one can argue with Hansen's record of 38 wins, 2 losses and just as many stalemates this season since he stepped out of the shadow of Sir Graham Henry in 2012 in a decade-long service in the All Blacks stable.
It seems New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew's "no brainer" is an overwhelming endorsement rugby is shifting from its traditional stance of crucifying coaches based on the code's premier tournament, the Rugby World Cup.
Whether the public will share similar sentiments come the end of the World Cup in England late next year is another matter. What if the ABs exit in the playoffs, never mind the final?
It will be known in a picosecond (one trillionth of a second), which is the shortest time one can currently measure accurately - yes, quicker than nanosecond (one billionth) and most definitely faster than you can blink (decisecond, one-tenth).
You see, my preoccupation isn't with whether Hansen is a one-million-dollar man or, for that matter, any other ball-park figure.
His worthiness, rightly or wrongly, will come under scrutiny when the dust settles in England. That is and should be the yardstick of global supremacy.
I mean, what do you gift-wrap under a Christmas tree for a man who has vocationally everything he wants?
This may shock you but if you're a disciple of the Grinch, like I am, then the answer is painfully obvious: "Nothing."
So why on earth did NZ Rugby give Hansen the Coach of the Year plaudits at its annual awards night last Wednesday?
For crying out loud, it was the man's third consecutive NZ rugby award, no doubt paling in significance to the IRB one he collected earlier in the year.
Colin Cooper, who took Taranaki to a Premiership crown, comes to mind for the gong.
Cooper, on another day under a different regime, could have become an All Blacks coach.
The 55-year-old's credentials include taking the Hurricanes to two semifinals and the 2006 final. He coached an ABs trials team the year before and became Maori All Blacks coach last year.
But another nominee, Kieran Keane, makes an even more compelling argument.
Here's a bloke whose bubbly would have had more effervescence on Christmas Day.
The 60-year-old, who coached the Hawke's Bay Magpies from 2002-04, took the Tasman Makos from the lower-tier Championship (2013) to the Premiership final this year when they lost 36-32 to Cooper's men in New Plymouth in October.
How much richer would New Zealand rugby have been had the code acknowledged its grassroots, the NPC.
What can be perceived as a trinket, when juxtaposed with Hansen's international accolades, can easily become a springboard for those aspiring for higher honours.
Awards should be catalysts for greater things, not standardise recipients' expectations of their self-worth.
They can be positive reinforcement and an acknowledgement of one's prowess but, then again, you don't have to win one to be successful.
A lucrative salary, IRB awards, Halberg Awards ... it must be difficult for the Hansen family to pick a gift for Shag come Christmases.
