When you are 5, one year is a fifth of your life.
So when you are 62, like Graham Henry, the years should fly by, and last year should seem like yesterday.
However, for Henry, last year must seem like two decades ago.
In 2007, leading up to the World Cup, Henry was telling the nation we had the depth, thanks to the rotation policy, to field two players of international class in every position.
Now, a year later, that depth has totally evaporated.
Disappeared into thin air - or to be more precise into northern hemisphere grounds.
This week we've had hookers no-one has heard of called into the national team, and we are trawling through the halfback ranks so quickly, Sid Going must be getting the boots out.
The loss of depth is hardly Henry's fault.
He only picks the players he can pick.
When half the team from last year is no longer available, then the chances of keeping a near 80%-plus win record are slim.
The rugby landscape is moving rapidly, and one wonders if the All Black aura is disappearing with it.
If, 20 years ago, someone had said one of the world's best rugby league players was to switch to play rugby union in France, for $1.5 million a year, and play for a team coached by a Samoan ex-All Black captain, and financed by the son of an Algerian immigrant who made his money from comic strips, then the doors of the lunatic asylum would be opened.
But that is what is happening.
The game is changing very quickly, and Henry is caught in the middle.
He wants to keep the All Blacks' invincible aura but does not have the artillery to fight the battle.
Many of the big weapons he had last year have gone off to fight another war.
And how does any coach-selector react when the pressure is on? He goes back to his tried and tested.
The All Blacks team selected yesterday indicates the game plan is in for a tweak.
There will be no running the ball back in sight of its own tryline.
Leon MacDonald at the back means any ball will be returned via the boot and Saturday night's rematch may well turn out to be a game of force-back.
Mils Muliaina on the wing is a case of wanting to have the best players on the paddock, irrespective of position.
Richie McCaw is warmly welcomed back, and you get the feeling he would have run on to Eden Park, dodgy ankle or not.
The onus on Saturday night for the home team will be to win, first and foremost.
Everything else will be a distant second.
