KEY POINTS:
When it comes to picking top coaching talent John O'Neill reckons he knows a good thing when he sees one.
Now in his second stint at the helm of Australian rugby, Mr O'Neill was the boss of Football Australia when in 2005 he scored a major coup by
securing the services of supercoach Guus Hiddink.
The football miracle-worker, who coached Russia through to this year's UEFA Euro semifinals, was in charge when South Korea made the semifinals at the Fifa World Cup 2002.
"We really couldn't afford him but we couldn't afford not to hire him ... he was one of world football's top five coaches," Mr O'Neill told an audience at a Herald breakfast at Eden Park yesterday morning.
"We took a deep breath and the rest is history."
The Socceroos qualified for the 2006 Fifa World Cup for the first time since 1974.
"It was the same team but a different coach and I just saw that he transformed that team."
Mr O'Neill, who admitted he "wasn't the most popular person in 2003" in reference to Australia swiping the hosting rights for the Rugby World Cup, warned that a similar transformation under new Australian rugby coach Robbie Deans was possible.
"I think long-term Robbie Deans is going to have a tremendous impact on Australian rugby ... and I'm sorry," he said.
O'Neill said the "Deans factor", which emphasised the basics and team culture, stood him alongside the likes of Hiddink and former Wallabies coach Rod Macqueen.
"Everyone was waiting for The Da Vinci Code to come out of his pocket but he's quite a normal bloke.
"A lot of coaches are not that normal. Coaches tend to be a bit paranoid and insecure but Deans is very comfortable in his own skin."
But Mr O'Neill said that even if the All Blacks lost their must-win test match tonight, they would remain the benchmark in world rugby and the team everyone wanted to beat.
The TAB has the All Blacks, who haven't lost to Australia at Eden Park since 1986, as $1.50 favourites, even though former Wallabies Tim Horan, Nick Farr-Jones and John Eales say they've lost their mana since last year's ignominious World Cup quarter-final exit and should have sacked their coaches.
Adding to All Black anxieties are two consecutive losses including last Saturday's 34-19 hiding to the Wallabies in Sydney - but Mr O'Neill isn't having a bar of it.
"Anytime you beat the All Blacks you bank it, I mean it doesn't happen a lot," he said.
"The All Blacks are the gold standard and [tonight] will be another game, a different atmosphere and different tactics."