KEY POINTS:
Some players are only ever fully appreciated after they have moved on. Like Jerry Collins. For five years, Collins was an active volcano on the side of the All Black scrum.
No one wanted to be anywhere near him when he erupted. His arms, through hours of punishing gym work, had mutated into thighs and come test night, they would be flailed at chest height like a windmill of doom, breaking everything within contact.
Any inside back thinking about venturing down the All Black blindside would have to ask himself a few questions? Should he phone his wife... just in case? Was his insurance up to date? Did he have a small cavalry of support runners up for the trip?
What he didn't have to ask was whether Collins would be waiting for him. Collins was always waiting and always happy to hurt people. Not maliciously, or illegally, but exactly as an enforcer should.
New Zealanders came to take that for granted. Maybe even the All Black coaches came to take Collins for granted and by doing so, they wrongly convinced themselves there was a queue of aspiring Jerrys all ready, willing and able to do a similar job.
So when Collins came back from the World Cup and started to think about escaping from his contract 18 months early, there was no great resistance from the coaching panel.
Graham Henry even went as far as saying Collins was no longer in the All Black frame anyway. Without spelling it out in these terms, Henry also suggested Collins was yesterday's man and wouldn't necessarily be missed.
At the time it was Henry's unnecessary petulance and lack of respect that irked. Collins had not always been conventional off the field. There were incidents, nothing major, that didn't necessarily cover him or the All Blacks in glory.
But when a bloke empties himself in 48 tests, literally gives blood for the cause and would be universally accepted as having been an outstanding All Black, you can forgive a bit of tomfoolery.
Collins deserved an untainted farewell but that is no longer the issue. What has become painfully apparent is that the All Blacks are missing Collins probably more than any of the other senior players who have departed in the past 18 months.
Greg Somerville has emerged strongly to offset the loss of Carl Hayman and the All Black scrum has stayed solid. Brad Thorn has been sensational at lock to the point where Chris Jack has barely been mentioned and Ma'a Nonu has brought a unique set of skills to second five that has lessened the impact of losing Luke McAlister and Aaron Mauger.
It turns out, though, that all those young players Henry believed were ready to jump into Jerry's jersey were barely half-cooked.
Adam Thomson has shown all the necessary energy and application, though none of the accuracy and discipline. Jerome Kaino is rangy, athletic, mobile - and prone to disappearing. His intimidation factor is zero.
It's doubtful that if Collins had still been around, the selectors would have messed with playing flankers left and right. If Collins had been around, it's doubtful Rocky Elsom would have charged 20m down the middle of the park in Sydney without a hand being laid on him.
If Collins had still been around, the All Blacks would have been able to handle better the absence of Richie McCaw through injury.
And if Collins were still around, the All Black backrow would be the unit opponents feared most. Instead, even with McCaw on board, it has lost some of its edge. There is no longer a fear factor, a need for inside backs to ask whether they have the guts to charge down the blindside.
Schalk Burger, the supremely physical Springbok flanker and long-time adversary of Collins said it best: "It was never fun playing against Jerry."
That from a fellow enforcer says everything about what Collins brought to the side and what the All Blacks now desperately lack.
