With the countdown on to the Halberg awards on February 18, Newshub is running through the credentials for the sportsman and sportswoman of the year contenders.
In part four of the series, Hamish McKay looks at why All Black Dan Carter should take out the Sportsman trophy.
Should Dan Carter win the Halberg Sportsman of the Year award? Well, in a country where rugby is our every waking hour, our meat and three veg and our Sunday rest, this is a no brainer. It's our game, our yard stick, it's what we do.
From the moment the left-footed Carter slotted the final conversion of the World Cup final - with his right foot - this award was a done deal. The crux of this is that Carter had achieved what so many of the critics and doubting fans thought he couldn't.
Like an ageing thoroughbred with dodgy bones and joints taking their toll, Carter stood tall in a way that can only be described as from another planet, a bit like Novak Djokovic against Roger Federer at the Aussie open.
And now that Planet Dan has left our solar system it's time we acknowledged him with the ultimate sporting accolade. If it's good enough for the BBC and Laureus awards, then it has to be good enough for the Halberg awards.
Players like Carter don't come along every day. He's a freak of nature and some clearly outstanding nurture down there on the plains, south of Christchurch.
Humble and blessed with that "gee, shucks, who me" kind of innocence, Carter made us feel like he was the boy next door. At the same time his very presence sapped the confidence from every opposing team, something that was never better illustrated than at RWC 2016.
Without him the All Blacks will move into a whole new space of vulnerability. With him running the cutter they went back-to-back.
The very fact that he will never wear the black jersey again is, in itself; reason enough to acknowledge Carter's 2016 Rugby World Cup dominance. The cake and the icing were perfection. It's time to put the cherry on the top.
Had Danny Lee won the Masters or Scott Dixon had switched to Formula One and headed off Lewis Hamilton and co, then maybe we'd have a debate. But they didn't. Game, set and match to Carter.
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