Sir Steve Hansen has only been with Canterbury Bulldogs for a week and he’s already shown what made him one of the greatest coaches in international rugby.
Hansen, a two-time Rugby World Cup winner with the All Blacks, has signed on as a consultant at the struggling NRL club, where he will provide support for head coach Trent Barrett.
The 62-year-old is in the middle of a two-week stint in Sydney, evaluating the culture, coaching and training programmes implemented at the club.
And while he stops short of crediting Hansen for a dramatic turnaround in form, Barrett says the skillset of the rugby savant has been clear to see.
The Bulldogs scored just their second win of the season on Monday, thrashing St George Dragons 28-6 at Stadium Australia.
"He's [Hansen] been good for us all week," Barrett says. "He has an aura about him and he's a really good bloke.
“He's extremely knowledgeable, but he doesn't talk too much. When he does talk, it's sense and there aren't too many things he hasn't seen.
“He'll be around another week just to watch what we are doing, and he'll give us a lot of feedback on the programme we are running and what we can do to improve a few things."
Barrett and Sir Steve are working very closely together during his stay, with the former Crusaders coach providing a calm sounding board.
But Barrett isn’t the only one benefitting from Hansen's presence - the playing group have responded superbly to his input.
"We are very lucky, as a club, to have someone of his status and he's very well respected across our group,” says Barrett. “You can tell, by spending as little as 10 minutes with him, why he has been so successful.
"We speak regularly and it's good for me to know what we are doing in training has us heading in the right direction.
"He has some input into where he thinks we can do things a bit better and that's all we ask of him.
"He is a very honest bloke and he wants to help.”
Last week, NZ Warriors confirmed their first Mt Smart Stadium home game in almost two years against the Bulldogs on August 15.
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