OPINION:
The eight-month story of how Scott Robertson eventually signed to the Crusaders for another three years is a great illustration of how much more there is to the man than huge enthusiasm and break dancing.
Crusaders' CEO Colin Mansbridge is happy to say that one of the tactics to keep Robertson in Christchurch was to "keep telling Razor this is home, and how much we love him, all of us".
Basking in the sun at Rugby Park in St Albans, Robertson made no bones about the fact he, his wife, and their young family feel huge affection for Christchurch, the place he arrived in to play for the Crusaders in 1996 as, in his words, "a blond madman from Bay of Plenty."
But Robertson the person and coach has a clinical and deeply practical side too, so it took his contract representative Warren Alcock, a 20-year veteran of rugby negotiations, months to hammer out a deal with New Zealand Rugby that allows Robertson, if he doesn't become the All Black coach after the 2023 World Cup, to skip the last year of the three-year deal.
"If I don't get the All Black job there is an exit [option] after '23. But if I want to stay around I can," says Robertson. "That's why it took a bit longer than we'd hoped for, just to make sure we got the wording right. Whenever the next All Black role comes up, that's still my clear goal. Now I've got the opportunities [to look elsewhere] if I don't get it, and if I do get it, great."
There is absolutely no doubt that Robertson, without question now the best and most successful club or provincial coach in the world, could command bigger money if he headed to a European club.
During the eight months of discussions with NZR he "looked at the world market, and a couple of opportunities, to see how they compared."
In the end, he says loyalty played a big part of deciding to stay, and no doubt so did the formula he suggests to players who are considering going offshore. "I always talk to my players around the three Cs, which are club, coach and cash. For me now, as a coach it's the CEO you look at. And when you look at a privately owned club, as they are in Europe, you examine how they operate."
It's difficult to imagine Robertson, with his mantra of fair treatment for all, finding a warm relationship with, as one example, Mourad Boudjellal, the owner of the Toulon club, who in 2019, unhappy with how his big signing Julian Savea was playing, said of Savea: "They must have swapped him on the plane. If I were him I would apologise, and go back to my home country."
Robertson as an All Black coach - realistically that must surely be a case of not if, but when - will wipe out the folk wisdom that our national coach needs experience coaching in another country.
That idea almost became locked into our rugby DNA after the success of Sir Graham Henry and Sir Steve Hansen, who won World Cups after coaching Wales.
But while they were good enough to rebound from bitter experiences in the Six Nations to become great All Black coaches, I'm with Robertson when he says, "I've been coaching long enough to feel I can adjust to test rugby. I think staying in New Zealand you get the skills to take you to the next step."
There's certainly no doubt that the passion he has for his Super Rugby coaching is as fierce as it ever was.
His eyes light up when I ask him how much pleasure he gets when his players win All Black jerseys.
"Seeing guys achieve their goals is a massive driver for me. They work so hard to get there. It's just natural that when someone comes in [to the Crusaders] you wonder, spitballing as a coaching group, will he be an All Black? How long is it going to take?
"Then you see someone like Ethan Blackadder as a prime example, who came in through a different pathway, and it's achieved by nothing but true grit, and hard work. He takes his own path, he's his own man, and when he gets there it's 'Oh wow'. He's one who I thought being an All Black might be a push.
"So you get so much satisfaction from his selection. As a loose forward you're working one on one with him, he's in my group. From four years ago, to see him succeed after all the injuries he's had gives you so much satisfaction."
Before he heads away from the ground there's an intriguing revelation about who his own sounding boards are now.
"I've got Robbie Deans and Rob Penney, who I talk to on a regular basis. From a rugby point of view they've been here, done it, know the environment, and had that experience before. They can draw on the past, and tell you what they've learnt. 'I did this. I could have done it better this way.' So the stories have been handed over.
"A lot of the time you're having what you think confirmed. But now and again I'll find myself going, 'Oh, is that right? I hadn't thought of that.' That's the gold."
Then there's someone I've never heard Robertson talk of before. "I have a guy that's been in the army for a long period of time. He's got a great rugby mind, and played to a good level. Best of all he's got a great understanding of how teams work, how to organise an operation. He'll give an opinion from a completely non-biased point of view."
No, he'd rather not name his services friend. But if there are moments when opponents detect traces of military ruthlessness in the Crusaders, they may be right.
