That pattern continued yesterday, when Hansen was announced as All Blacks coach, although his panel of assistants was kept private.
Hansen favours working with an assistant believed to be Ian Foster and using technical support from skills coach Mick Byrne and Brian McLean, who coached the national under-19 side, Canterbury and Wellington in the NPC and assisted Samoa in the last World Cup.
Those appointments are expected to be ratified next week.
The 52-year-old Hansen, who was born in Dunedin, did not think he could be any more prepared for the head All Black role, after starting in the Canterbury region, taking on a high-pressure role with Wales and then working for eight years as an assistant to Henry. It was the best grounding any coach had.
"I don't know that I could have done more to get myself ready," he said.
"I think I have got good technical knowledge, man management skills, pretty good strategic planner. I've got plenty of experience and reflecting on that experience and using the good, the bad and the ugly to improve myself and the teams I coach. I'm not too bad analytically."
Hansen was interviewed for three hours on Thursday by a panel which then recommended him as the only contender to succeed Henry.
Hansen then repeated that presentation and answered questions from the full board yesterday, before he was unveiled as coach for the next two years.
"The big differences will be that Graham, Wayne [Smith] and Mike Cron won't be there. So straight away, we get some subtle differences in personnel that allow the team to be different.
But when you sit back and look at the structures and systems we have been using and developing over the last eight years, it would be very foolish to chuck those away," Hansen said.
Fresh ideas would come from members of the new coaching panel because the All Blacks always needed to keep evolving and have an edge.
Hansen is the third and final member of the coaching trio who co-ordinated the All Blacks' World Cup campaign to be appointed coaching supremo.
Smith had two years at the helm in 2000-01 for 12 wins and five losses, while Henry signed on from 2004-11, in which time the All Blacks won 88 tests and lost only 15.
Until the rest of the coaching group was revealed, Hansen was reluctant to detail his ideas about areas of coaching responsibility.
"I am excited by this. I know it won't change me as a human being ... I am just looking forward to it. It will be exciting."
Things to do:
Steve Hepburn suggests five things Hansen and his side must do in the next 12 months.
1. Win. - It is pretty simple, really. All Blacks history is built on success and so Hansen just has to keep racking up the ticks in the win column.
2. Keep playing 15-man rugby - Along with winning, the All Blacks will have to do it in an attractive way. The winning score can not be divisible by three points.
3. Find a back-up to his skipper - The search goes on and on. One wonders for how many tests Richie McCaw's body can hold together. Can anyone else stand up and deliver?
4. Crack a smile or two - Hansen has that somewhat cranky reputation and calls a spade a spade. Graham Henry was a former headmaster and it showed at times. Hansen used to be a policeman and that still rears its head.
5. Unveil the next halfback - The present crop of halfbacks may not last too much longer, so a new No 9 must be found. No-one is running to the front of the queue at this stage.
