Mates rate...recently retired All Black superstar Richie McCaw on world player of the year panel

Number crunching - All Black captain Richie McCaw is back, to judge some of his old mates. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Any All Black hoping to be named world player of the year will have to impress Richie McCaw.

Fans and the number crunchers will also have a big say in who wins the men's and women's World Rugby awards.

All Black legend McCaw, who retired after the 2015 World Cup, will sit in judgement on some of his old team mates, having been included on the latest awards panel. McCaw won the men's award three times, as did his old comrade Dan Carter.

Under a new system, the public will get to have its say although it is not totally clear how much that will influence the final decision.

Once the nominees are known fans, coaches, players and media will be able to express their opinions before the decision goes back to the panel.

World Rugby stated: "To be eligible for the top awards, players must be competing at international level and, this year, the awards panel will have access to World Rugby's game analysis performance data and a full bank of digital match videos."

The new panel, which is on a four-year rotations, is.- John Smit (South Africa), George Gregan (Australia), Maggie Alphonsi (England), Clive Woodward (England), Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland), Agustin Pichot (Argentina), Fabien Galthie (France) and McCaw.