Really, we can forget about him being a good bloke. The fact he is always up for a bit of a yarn. Always looking you in the eye and happy to talk about club footy.
Never mind that he comes from here, went to local schools and turned down offers to go elsewhere.
Sure all of the above makes him more admirable. But what is the best thing about the man from Green Island?
Here it is - Ben Smith is an absolutely outstanding rugby player.
Look, you can be the nicest guy in the world, have the morals of Mahatma Gandhi and the generosity of Santa Claus at Christmas.
But in high performance sport it is about being the best and getting the results on the paddock.
Sure you can tick all the popularity boxes and throw as much iron around as you like at the gym and on the training field, but it is about performing on the field at a high level week after week.
Smith does that in spades. Game after game he is totally dependable, always an eight or nine out of 10.
From catching the ball soundly at the back to running in vital tries. Picking the right time to run and the right time to pass.
Making the tackle when it matters. Reading the lines on defence. Going deep into the well to get back and make that final tackle.
Just the way he runs the ball back and always seems to find a hole. Always seems to get his side back on the front foot. If you were paid a dollar for every player he has beaten at Forsyth Barr Stadium you could go and pay off the loan on the stadium.
High level sport is tough. In a sport like rugby in New Zealand, to get to the top is damn hard. Impossible for only the very best. But Smith has come away from the pack, come away from playing halfback at King's High School to be the best Highlander yet.
It is very hard to think of him playing a bad game. Against the Blues in 2011 at Eden Park was probably not his greatest night, but still he was good enough.
What about the shocking 2013 season the Highlanders had? Who was the best player in every game the whole year while carnage was occurring all around him? It was Ben Smith.
Who helped lead the side out of that forgettable year and to the playoffs the next year and then the elusive title the next?
Smith was front and centre. In 2015, Smith and his namesake, Aaron, were two of the best five players in the competition. They were absolutely on fire for the team that year. Going down to Invercargill about a month out from the playoffs, the side smoked the Chiefs and one got a feeling something was building within the team.
Smith led that and kept on coming.
The key thing in sport is as an athlete you have to keep getting better. Smith has done that. He has improved every year. Stayed at the very best. Never looked back. His kicking has got better, as has his energy and desire. He is stronger and wiser in body and mind.
How many guys in New Zealand can be the best player in two positions - fullback and right wing?
Smith has the skills to play out of this world in both of these positions - though he is better at fullback.
Now it is all coming to an end and Smith is off to France and a new chapter will open for the Highlanders.
But it has been a pleasure. A real pleasure to watch a good southern bloke be world class week in, week out.
Of those 152 games, or roughly 12,000 minutes,
it has never been a chore watching Benjamin Robert Smith.
Ben Smith
Stats that matter
Age: 33
Highlanders caps: 152
Debut: v Brumbies, Carisbrook, 2009
Highlanders points: 200 points (40 tries)
All Black caps: 76 tests, one game
Debut: v Italy, Milan, 2009
All Black points: 165 test points (33 tries), 5 game points (1 try)
Otago caps: 44
Debut: v Wellington, Wellington, 2007 Otago points: 55 (11 tries)