Two weeks ago I ran into former Hurricanes backs coach Alama Ieremia.
He was in New Zealand with a Samoa development side and one of his former players quickly became the topic of conversation.
Ieremia introduced Beauden Barrett to the Hurricanes as a fullback in 2011 and then in 2012 moved him into the No.10 jersey Aaron Cruden had left vacant.
Ieremia's thoughts were simple: "He was always going to be this good".
And boy, is Barrett good right now!
(Photosport)
The 25-year-old's performances over the last month are arguably the best seen from an individual in Super Rugby playoff history.
Barrett has always had the tools to be the best first five-eighth on the planet.
He can take on the line (that's the understatement of the year), he has an eye for putting someone into a gap, and he plays the territory game well.
Barrett also has the full bag full of tricks off the boot, but just as importantly for a number 10, he's a smart bloke, who plays what's in front of him.
After four seasons in the All Blacks as a role player, his game just needed some polish. He has that now. He runs matches with the assertion, confidence and precision of an NFL quarterback, imposing his game-plan on the opposition like Peyton Manning and ad-libbing running plays like Cam Newton.
His perceived weakness has always been goal kicking. It's pretty tough to have world-class kicking stats when you play in the swirling mess of Westpac Stadium. Yet, he seems to almost have that sorted too.
That confidence has super-charged the skills he'd already mastered. It's made him possibly the most influential player in the southern hemisphere right now.
In saying that, doing it at Super Rugby is one thing, consistently running Test matches is another. He's jumped past Cruden and Lima Sopoaga this season, but if he wants to be mentioned in the same breath as Dan Carter, it must start in the Bledisloe Cup this weekend.
Ross Karl / Newshub.
