Rugby sleuths didn't have to waste much time prior to concluding that All Blacks lock Scott Barrett would re-sign with New Zealand Rugby.

It was just a matter of when, and for how long. That conversation still had legs, though; because there was still the issue of whether Barrett would remain with the Crusaders, or shift to the Hurricanes to play alongside brothers Beauden and Jordie.

As it happened, Scott, 24, promised to stick with New Zealand Rugby, the Crusaders and Taranaki through to 2020.

GETTY IMAGES

Ryan Crotty, centre. celebrates with team-mates Aaron Smith and Beauden Barrett during the All Blacks test against the Wallabies in Sydney last year. The Crusaders midfielder has re-signed with New Zealand Rugby until 2019.

Things were not so easy when it came to discovering whether Ryan Crotty would remain embedded in the local landscape, or chase some serious loot offshore. Because the 29-year-old midfielder was not prepared to give much away.

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"I'm happy to be interviewed, but I just don't want to talk about contracting," Crotty said when he sat down for a chat with Stuff during the Super Rugby pre-season.

Fair enough. It was obvious Crotty had a bit on his mind. Stay or go?

The Rugby World Cup will be played in Japan next year, but there's no guarantee Crotty will be part of the squad. There are multiple reasons for this. Competition for places will be fierce; among the midfielders lining-up will be Sonny Bill Williams, Anton Lienert-Brown, Jack Goodhue, Ngani Laumape and, potentially, Rieko Ioane if asked to shift off the wing.

Then there is the subject of injuries. Crotty has already been put through the washing machine this year, with head knocks and painful blows to the shoulders and legs causing grief.

Yet, like the prizefighter chasing the chance to finally secure the bout that will pay the bills well into retirement, he wants to represent his country at a World Cup. So he signed a one-year deal with New Zealand Rugby, the Crusaders and Canterbury that will take him through to the end of the next global tournament.

"I took my time to consider my options, and it was clear to me that I still want to be playing my rugby here in New Zealand," Crotty said in a statement.

JOHN COWPLAND/PHOTOSPORT

Scott Barrett, centre, with brother Beauden, left, and Sam Cane before a 2017 test with the Springboks in Auckland.

He knows what it feels like to be snubbed by the national selectors, because his name was missing when they unveiled the All Blacks squad for the 2015 World Cup. Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Malakai Fekitoa and Williams got the votes instead.

When Crotty and Williams were fit last year they were the midfield kings, and that should remain the case when the All Blacks meet France in the first test in Auckland on June 9.

Crotty doesn't possess the big bag of tricks that Williams carts around with him. Unlike the latter he doesn't have the reach to loop passes around tacklers into the waiting arms of gleeful team-mates, or the physical size to smash over opponents like a raging bull on speed.

But Crotty does have intellectual property. He's banked some serious knowledge after playing 131 Super Rugby games and 35 tests – a bit like the veteran soldier who elects to light up a fag and read a comic while the bullets whistle overhead in those classic World War II movies. Been there, done that.

So there you have it, the tale of two players. Barrett, a relative youngster in terms of being an international lock, potentially has a couple of World Cups in him. For Crotty, this contract with New Zealand Rugby will likely be the last throw of the dice.

 - Stuff