I first got to meet crafty medium pacer and humorous opening batsman Martin Snedden at Eden Park for the 2009 media launch of the hosting venues for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Discussing the philosophy involved in choosing which international teams would stay in which cities -- the island nations in Auckland, Scotland going to Invercargill and pre-earthquake Christchurch getting a virtual Six Nations competition -- Snedden greatly impressed me with his knowledge of the multitude of geographical and cultural similarities between those towns and their intended guests. He really had thought of everything.
Having spent the years since the 2011 RWC, which along with his universally praised term in charge of New Zealand Cricket (praise never given his predecessors) has made him perhaps the country's pre-eminent sporting administrator, Snedden's visions have only increased.
He led the joint-Anzac bid to host what is being considered one of the best Cricket World Cups in memory, has a hand in the 2017 World Masters Games in Auckland, and was a guiding force for the Irish, who have their eyes on RWC 2023.
Now earning a living "smoothing the rough edges" off boxing promoters Duco Events, Snedden unveiled what would be the pièce de résistance of his career this week when he went on record with his desire for this tiny nation to co-host a Fifa World Cup.
I cannot deny his dare to dream, but I think the reality would be a harsh wake-up call.
Under Snedden's proposal we would naturally be the junior partner -- responsible for hosting two or three of the eight pools, so eight-12 teams, plus a couple of the knockout matches.
But as much as our infrastructure has grown in the past decade, we still just aren't that big.
Currently the only two feasible grounds are Eden Park, which would need the return of temporary stands to reach 70-80,000 seats, and the Phoenix's home at Westpac Stadium, not able to put in too many more above its 34,500 capacity.
The proposed new home for Canterbury rugby is still just that -- a proposal -- while Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium is a fine facility but perhaps too far down south to be preferred by travelling teams and their supporters, especially those who live close to the equator.
There is also the problem of getting everyone at home on board before you take your plans to a sceptical and often corruptible Fifa committee.
Labour's Trevor Mallard tried to think big in 2006 with grandiose plans for a new $700 million stadium in Auckland in time for RWC. How'd that go again?
The Snedden interview pointed to the incredible spinoffs during CWC, with the India versus Pakistan pool match watched by a billion television viewers and 25 million more on the internet.
What it doesn't say was how much resources were stretched in and around the Adelaide Oval, where locals only made up a quarter of the 41,587 attending.
There were also 6000 tickets sold where the seats were not filled -- put down to people being put off by the extreme heat -- while others were left stranded in India when there was problems with understaffed airlines transporting them to Aussie.
Of those who did show up, over 5000 had no accommodation. After the match they just camped out at the airport, which stayed open 24 hours for the first time.
Hold Fifa games in Dunedin in June and July, even inside a roofed stadium, and you will find plenty of South American fans not eager to experience 5-10C weather.
Or even if they did travel all that way, would their view of accommodation in the student city be a ringing endorsement?
The logistics on the home front are tough enough and Fifa can easily hide behind those when they rebuff the proposal.
Their Swiss president, Joseph "Sepp" Blatter likes things big -- big stadiums, big world highways to get to them, and a big bulge in his wallet.
Australia has already been through the ringer with him and his cronies, after their promising (and stuffed envelope) bid for the 2022 world cup was beaten by Qatar, leaving the taxpayers A$46 million out of pocket.
Our Government will be reluctant to risk a similar fate. There's Christchurch to finish rebuilding, and the usual lightning rods of healthcare and education.
We are all set to host the baby brother of the Fifa World Cup when the Under-20 event kicks off at North Harbour next month.
So far, 100,000 tickets have been pre-sold, compared to 350,000 in New Zealand for CWC just a month ago.
Snedden may dream of this rugby-mad nation embracing football with packed stadiums and millions of TV viewers, but the dreamland is where it needs to stay.