Carter, Jonny Wilkinson, Juan Martin Hernandez, Cruden and Barrett have all turned down big-money offers to come to Auckland in the last six years. The Blues never work with the man they want - it's always the man they get and this year it is Ihaia West.
He's in possession of a bag of tricks - has a running game, a step, good attitude and the capacity to learn. He has a future in the top flight but, on the evidence of the first two games - and the back half of last year - the Blues need a different type of player at No 10.
Their forwards have found the edge that has been missing. Charlie Faumuina wants to dominate everyone, every time, Patrick Tuipulotu is similar and Jerome Kaino is himself - destructive, committed and inspiring. Collectively, it's obvious there has been an attitude shift. The Blues pack want to be recognised for doing more than delivering the ball to the backline.
Where they are struggling, unusually for a Blues side, is creating and exploiting holes. They haven't got the timing of their attack quite right, or their counter attack flowing.
And it's not for lack of pace or power. The talent is there, but it's talent that needs direction and understanding. It's talent that needs a strong, composed leader at No 10, not just for the decision-making on the field, but as a mentally strong operator off it.
That is Taylor. He was minding his own business in August 2013 when he was asked to fly to Wellington and make his test debut against the Wallabies. Thrown in at the deep end, he didn't falter once.
He played about as well as any No10 could have been expected in the circumstances and, while he has a range of skills that have tempted the Crusaders into playing him across the backline, the All Blacks view him as a first-five.
Taylor isn't quite in the same league as Carter, Cruden, Slade and Barrett, but isn't far off. The only realistic way he can close the gap is to play regularly at first-five. That isn't going to happen this year and probably not that much next year, either, as, while Carter will have gone, Slade will still be there.
Slade, of course, is an interesting case in point as it wasn't so long ago he was in the same predicament as Taylor - a loyal Crusader whose path to the No 10 jersey was blocked.
Slade upped sticks to the Highlanders and, while his time there was badly disrupted by injury, the fact he had the determination, courage and desire to win game time at an underperforming team rather than play out of position at a champion team told the All Black selectors much about his drive and ambition.
Israel Dagg was another who forfeited a place at the Hurricanes initially - where he would have been well down the pecking order - to join the Highlanders, play regularly and make a big impression.
Taylor would benefit from showing similar initiative. Loyalty is admirable and versatility can be valuable, but there comes a point when both can stunt the growth of a career.
Taylor now appears to be at that particular crossroad where, if he's serious about regaining an All Black place, he has to shift to Auckland. Why not give two years to the Blues? If it doesn't deliver an All Black recall, he could then head offshore.
The Blues are also at the crossroads where they need a player of Taylor's calibre to pull the backline into better shape and help transition some of the outside backs from boys into men as it were.
