"Jimmy Cowan springs to mind [although] he was great off the field."
Pollock had "a very, very good relationship" with ex-Hurricanes and Wellington pivot Piri Weepu.
"For a period we'd end up walking off the field hating each other but then we'd take a little bit of time to start talking to each other again."
Before Weepu headed off overseas, he and Pollock came to an amicable settlement that they were not good together on the field because they always ended up arguing.
Rugby has evolved considerably in Pollock's decade-long tenure as referee.
"When I started there was a lot more social aspect to it so there were more opportunities where you'd end up going out and have a couple of beers with them."
Nowadays that social carpet has shrunk to a doormat that boils down to running into players along a street or some other peripheral zone.
"If they respect you then you end up having a good chat with them and some of them you end up calling, you know, friends," says the whistle blower who has promoted Super Rugby with All Black captain Richie McCaw.
He harbours no regrets hailing from a country that bullies others on the park, thus depriving him of the opportunity to do what should be heralded as rugby heaven for officialdom.
"I'm sitting in the stand at Twickenham, watching that semifinal knowing I probably have got a chance of touch judging if the All Blacks lose but all I want is the All Blacks to win.
"Like all New Zealanders, I want the All Blacks to win and I'm a very competitive person so you want your team to be the very best."
Hawke's Bay Rugby Football Union chief executive Mike Bishop pays him the ultimate compliment in declaring rugby referees seldom ever receive the accolades they deserve alongside players.
"Chris is right up there with any other young guy from Hawke's Bay who has eventually gone on to become an All Black," says Bishop.
Impartiality aside, Pollock reveals he simply couldn't control a defining match involving the ABs and sees that as a blessing in disguise.
He has never made the cull in two World Cup playoffs but, philosophically, accepts he was at the peak of his cycle in 2013 during the Lions' tour.
That debacle aside, his hip surgery last year made that ambition a bridge too far for someone who did relish his time running the sidelines as an assistant during cup playoffs.
"The simple answer is I would have loved to have done a playoff game but I'm also realistic about accepting I haven't done enough matches at that level for the past couple of years to convince selectors I was ready for it, I suppose."
It's imperative, Pollock reckons, for people to understand refs are human because they know when they step out on the park they are bound to make several mistakes.
"What you want to do is ensure the mistakes you do make aren't going to be game-deciding ones or be big howlers because they are the ones that everyone remembers."
Put another way, no one remembers the bloke who accepts a forward pass before he is bundled out before the corner flag but should that player dive over for a try and two points converted then it is game on for the cheap seats.
"That's the kind of mentality you have so if you're going to make [errors] then make sure they aren't howlers."
That is not to say Pollock doesn't grasp how passionate and parochial rugby faithful can be.
He is no exception to that rule, working himself into a state while watching the All Blacks play the Springboks in the World Cup semifinal in England last month.
"When something isn't going your way, the easiest person to get stuck into is the man in the middle with the whistle because they give the penalty.
"I had those emotions against my good friend refereeing that game [ABs v Boks] so I get where people come from."
The bottom line, Pollock stresses, is that officials don't go out there to be poor or inconsistent but they soon come to the realisation that the challenges on some days are harder than other days.
