A few years ago Hansen was asked if he'd look at a women's team training in Christchurch. He nodded and later arrived without any fanfare and took the group through several sessions of instruction.
His father Des was his guru. He was a natural, someone with strong ideas who accepted fresh themes like the drift defence he introduced to his sides.
The pair could analyse games without help from computers or number crunchers. They had instinctive gifts, they saw themes and patterns others could not decipher.
Hansen is portrayed as gruff and overly defensive of his team. Sounds a bit like his predecessor, even sounds a bit like Wayne Bennett in his lengthy and celebrated league career. Some complained about his lack of interaction but few sniped at his results with the Broncos or St George.
It may all be in the delivery. Hansen can be funny and incisive, he is not afraid of company, never short of a quip or two. Now he will be front and centre of all things All Black unlike the sidekick role he has grown into for the last eight seasons.
Hansen likes a cool drink on a hot day, he has a passion for the horse-racing industry, has the physique of someone who likes the couch rather than the gym and has four children from two failed marriages.
But he can coach and that's what he is employed to do.
The players like him, All Black captain Richie McCaw has worked with him since his early academy days in Christchurch and they like his mix of knockabout behaviour and coaching sharpness.
Hansen can portray a gruff edge and at times he can be quite defensive. He has battled to connect with the media without appearing unhelpful or unco-operative but has worked on changing that image.
Manager Darren Shand and sports psychologist Gilbert Enoka are key team officials who help balance Hansen's characteristics.
They will offer clarity and insights which mould the loyalty Hansen offers and demands from his troops.
The All Blacks or any team Hansen controls will have his priorities, he will defend and shield them from prying inspection.
But behind closed doors Hansen will confront players with his blunt assessments.
He has undertaken courses on self-improvement, on dealing with the wider ramifications of being the coach rather than an assistant.
That instruction will undergo some serious tank testing next year with the All Blacks embarking on a 14-test schedule and flying around the globe several times.
Hansen has felt the pain and pleasure of World Cup events, he has been through a swag of scenarios in 103 tests with Graham Henry and Wayne Smith.
If the premise behind the trio's re-election in 2007 was the advantage they brought in experience, then Hansen will be riding high next year.
He might also be judged more harshly because of that background and the rich pool of players he will carry into his work.
Hansen and those players have a deep knowledge of each other's methods and personality.
But now Hansen is stepping up to the big chair, he will still be a shoulder to lean on, a bloke to chivvy and chide but he is now the big kahuna with all the care and all the responsibility.
As Henry discovered in the last eight seasons, the blowtorch will be firmly channelled in Hansen's direction.
