MEIKLE SAYS
Stick a fork in Daniel Carter. He is done.
That might sound a little cruel, but this is no time to get sentimental about things.
You might have heard this line: ''You don't own the All Black jersey; you are merely the custodian.''
That, more than anything, sums up why it is time to put Carter out to pasture.
He must not get selected in the All Blacks as some sort of divine right. Like everyone else, he has to earn his place. And that is hard to do when he can barely stay on the field for half an hour.
When your legs go, your time as an elite athlete is drawing to a close. And there is plenty of evidence that Carter's legs are going to continue to let him down.
He has been bashed, bruised and broken over a long and illustrious career in top rugby, and a body that once made him an underwear pin-up boy is now about as reliable as a politician in election year.
Right now, Aaron Cruden is a better bet to wear No10 for the All Blacks. Even the defensively inept and occasionally scatterbrained Beauden Barrett is a better option. Heck, I might even accept Stephen Donald in a jersey that's too tight, though I would draw the line at Colin Slade.
The truth is Carter peaked in 2005. Hey, it was a glorious peak. I was there, I saw. The night he ripped the Lions to shreds almost single-handedly was utterly awe-inspiring.
But he has been to three World Cups and failed to make an impact, and he has spent more time in recent years flogging the adidas brand around the world than kicking a rugby ball.
It no longer feels like the All Blacks NEED Carter.
His place in the pantheon is secure. He is the greatest first five-eighth this country has produced, and he will forever be remembered fondly as a player of genuine class. One hundred tests, 1440 points. Wonderful.
But his race is run.
We have seen what happens to the All Blacks when they choose on reputation, not form. Look at what happened in 1991. We must not risk that happening again in 2015.
All the best with your work as a brand ambassador, Dan. I'd suggest you follow the path of so many other former All Blacks and join the television commentary team but, er, somehow you do not seem a natural fit behind the microphone.
HEPBURN SAYS
There have been some great race horses that have come out of this country in the past 20 years.
Sunline, It's a Dundeel, Terror to Love.
But the best of them all - or right up at the top table - must be Christian Cullen.
Someone once said of the champion pacer that his determination to win so much eventually wrecked his body. His will to succeed meant his body was sent to places that no horse should go.
And perhaps that is the issue with All Black Daniel Carter.
He plays at such a high standard, and goes to places no-one else can, that in the end his body cannot stand it.
But it is the places he goes that mean he cannot be swiftly discarded.
When he is on form and things are going his way, there is simply none better than the Crusaders man. He can make the winning of games so, so comfortable, and he is light years ahead of anyone else under consideration when the pressure is really on.
His vision and speed of thought when on top of his game will take any team he plays for a long way to victory.
Think back to the pool match against France in the 2011 World Cup.
Carter virtually won that game on his own. In the opening 20 minutes he set up tries, made breaks and kicked goals.
Now, that may be nearly three years ago, and he is not getting a movie made about him, but he is still worth persevering with.
In this day and age, when a week is a lifetime to some commentators, we need to be a bit patient here.
He has had a bit of a run of injuries. He has played in only 14 of the past 31 All Black tests.
But a bad run, with dings and niggles, can happen to lots of players. They come good, and so will Carter. He does not have a debilitating illness that will wreck his career.
At the start of last summer, Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum was said to be on the verge of retirement because of a sore back.
Six months later, he had scored a double ton and a historic triple ton for his country as the New Zealand side had a memorable summer.
Two months ago, Kieran Read's head was in question, but the clouds have now cleared.
Carter may be in the damaged goods department at the moment but he just needs a few repairs and he will be back as the star of the store.