All Blacks captain Richie McCaw is quickly finding himself in the same captaincy mould as Sean Fitzpatrick, the last 'successful' New Zealand captain.
Coach Graham Henry said just as Fitzpatrick had not been the 'bee's knees' when he started out as a leader he had developed over time into a highly-influential captain.
"In the latter part of his career he was a colossus of the game as a leader and everybody around the world had their opinions about Fitzy because he was so successful," he said.
"And I think the same is happening to Richie.
"His influence on this group of people [the 2010 All Blacks] has been astronomical, not only as a player but as a leader," he said.
Planning for use of players during next year's Super 15, ahead of the Rugby World Cup, would occur later in September when the selectors meet with the franchise coaches.
Henry said it would be 'ridiculous' to think World Cup-bound players would play every game of the enlarged Super 15 competition which could see a maximum of 19 games.
He didn't think there would be a blanket rule applied because some players would have time out with injury and he thought with two byes during the competition and possibly two other weeks off that was probably the logical way to look at breaks. And the break should get away from the rugby environment and freshen up mentally and physically.
"That's the biggest challenge, staying fresh mentally," he said.
Having the extended squad fully involved was going to be the key to winning the Super 15 and by bringing through less experienced players at the time when All Blacks might be having a break would be crucial to ultimate overall success, he felt.
"If you try and play with a reduced squad week in and week out I think you're just going to fall over," he said.