George Smith has long been assured his place among the Wallaby greats, but exactly where does the recently retired openside flanker sit in the pecking order?
The father of three shocked the rugby fraternity on Friday by announcing his decision to cut short his Wallabies career, despite having signed on for a third World Cup campaign in May of last year.
Had he seen out the remaining two seasons of his contract, the 29-year-old would have almost certainly surpassed former team-mate George Gregan's world-record mark of 139 Test appearances.
Smith will see out his 12th season with the Brumbies before continuing his career off shore.
The unassuming veteran, who captained his country on seven occasions, is currently the second most capped Wallaby with 110 caps, and sits fifth on the all-time list of Test appearances.
Australia's most capped forward has two John Eales Medals in his trophy cabinet to go with four consecutive Australian Super 14 Player of the Year awards and eight Brumbies Player of the Year awards.
He has also amassed 120 Super rugby caps for his beloved Brumbies since making his debut in 1999.
But just as a beep test never did his unparalleled on-field stamina justice, his momentous contribution to Australian rugby cannot - and should not - be judged on statistics alone.
Exactly where Smith stands among other Wallabies greats of his lifetime such as David Campese, Nick Farr-Jones, John Eales and Gregan, will be argued out in bars for years to come.
And while he may have to defer to the likes of Eales and Campese in most instances, he is definitely in the conversation.
Coach Robbie Deans, who helped craft the career of All Blacks skipper and Smith's long-time rival Richie McCaw in his time in charge of the Crusaders, is in no doubt as to where Smith stands among the great Wallabies No.7's.
"He's right up there, I mean you'd have to say he's the best (openside flanker) that's ever pulled the Wallaby jersey on, simply through the weight of numbers," Deans said.
"Crikey, it's a tough position. You look at that number of games at Super rugby as well as Test level plus the travel - it's the toughest competition in the world when you consider the travel."
"It's unprecedented - he's the greatest to that end. There's no one been going as long in that position as consistently. And he'll prove it this Super rugby season, keep watching."
Sadly, the once dreadlocked Smith will be lost to the Australian scene at the end of May - let's just hope Australia's chances of a third Web Ellis Cup aren't going with him.