He presents as the down-to-earth Kiwi bloke, with a range of impatient aphorisms of the "flush it down the dunny and move on" variety.
New Zealanders now get a dose of this contrived laconicism - and a "we-know-best" tone - on Tuesdays from the team's media presentations.
Even weekly it is wearing more than a little thin and it must be a moot point whether the public would tolerate even two more years of the Hansen factor.
It is not just the man but, win or lose, the longevity. The Prime Minister, John Key, acknowledged last week that the very things he is now liked for will be the things that, over time, the voting public will turn against. In sporting terms, Hansen has been in place for an eternity.
Four other cup head coaches - John Kirwan, Robbie Deans, Warren Gatland and Kieran Crowley - hail from this country. Of these, Deans has ruled himself out by re-signing with Australia. But Kirwan, who is in charge of Japan and has previously coached Italy, was upfront this week about his ambition to coach the All Blacks.
Intriguingly, Henry is on record as saying someone like himself, a lifetime coach rather than a former top international player, is less likely in future to rise to such a position.
One obvious impediment to many of the men coaching overseas is the union's rules on eligibility, including a strong preference for experience in the Super 15. Present circumstances and the limited number of opportunities in that competition make it difficult to sustain such a position. Indeed, one other sacred cow might have to be reassessed.
That a New Zealander should coach the All Blacks has long been regarded as a given. Yet bringing in someone from overseas has worked for other sports. Take Steve Rixon in cricket, or Andrej Lemanis, another Australian, who this year guided the Breakers to the ANBL title. An outside eye can sometimes approach things with critical perspective denied someone more steeped in a particular sporting culture.
The selection of the All Black coach is never less than highly contentious. It can inflame passions, as happened when Henry, having failed at the 2007 World Cup, went head to head with Deans.
It is time though, to be thinking ahead. Come grief or glory, an irascible, eight-year incumbent is unlikely to be the answer.
