LIAM NAPIER
Last updated 11:12, March 16 2016
Ultimately, after consulting senior All Blacks and assessing whether he could still add value, Smith felt living in Cambridge, Waikato, a place he loves, being close to family and contributing to a team he loves, ticked all the boxes. He certainly doesn't consider forgoing a sizeable pay rise a sacrifice.
"People think you're turning down massive offers overseas but it's not like we're not well-rewarded here either. At my age [58] I'm not all that ambitious for myself but I am for the team. I want to help them retain the greatness they've got at the moment."
That will be no easy feat. This year the All Blacks face probably their biggest rebuild since John Hart attempted to replace the likes of Sean Fitzpatrick, Michael Jones and Zinzan Brooke in the 1997/98 seasons.
Six legends of the game - Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Keven Mealamu and Tony Woodcock - have moved on after securing historic back-to-back World Cup triumphs.
Replacing their collective presence inspired Smith to stay involved.
"The challenge to bring in new players and help them become good All Blacks that's probably the thing that made the biggest difference to me.
"You can always replace them with good athletes and good players that are almost at the level of those guys. But they weren't just players or athletes; they were leaders. They were hugely driven and they had a chemistry in the team that was exceptional.
"That's the big task to replace those intangible characteristics. Often you can't do that immediately, you've got to work at that bloody hard."
Smith assumes a wider brief than purely the defence and counter-attack roles he had last year. Additional input in selection and overall direction means his tasks will be similar to those he had under Graham Henry.
Steve Hansen, Smith and Ian Foster are now contacted through to the end of 2017 - a period which includes the highly anticipated British and Irish Lions tour. Beyond that, it's a wait-and-see prospect.
"At some point we're going to have to let go and others will come in and we've got to make sure that is done properly with almost like a mentoring process. I'm not sure when that'll be, but we've got to get these new guys in first."
