He heard all the doubters.
Every day.
He heard them say he was simply too small to cut it in the world of the professional rugby giants, and that elite teams needed hulking halfbacks to play as an extra loose forward and not a 75kg slip of a lad whose speed could never compensate for his relative lack of strength.
They do not doubt him any more. After 183 games for the Highlanders, 114 tests for the All Blacks and a body of work that has most rating him the country’s greatest halfback of all time, Aaron Smith has nothing more to prove.
The Highlanders’ beloved talisman will run out on to Forsyth Barr Stadium for his Super Rugby team one final time when they play the Reds on Friday night.
Hopefully, he will be back with the All Blacks for the Bledisloe Cup test in August, but this is still a time for him to reflect on his extraordinary career. From the "midget from Manawatu" to Highlanders champion and All Blacks great — there is plenty to cover, and Smith’s time is precious.
An interesting place to start is indeed how he changed the game, and how his immense skill and almost peerless attention to detail helped convince those doubters there was still room for a little fellow behind the scrum.
"For me, around 2010 or 2011, I was growing into my body a bit more, but I was getting fitter and I was able to play my game at skill and with speed for longer," Smith recalled.
"That changed the way some coaches felt around, oh, you can actually contribute to a game for long periods and play at a pace that teams don’t like."
The irony is that Smith, whose rugby brain is widely acknowledged as being something close to the size of a small planet, realised it was not his attacking ability — built around those dazzling legs and that sublimely quick pass — that people scornful of his size were questioning.
They wondered how he could cope with the physicality of the defensive side of modern rugby.
"I got a pretty good tune-up in 2010 around making the tackles I needed to make around the ruck. I was a great communicator on defence but I’d still miss some pretty simple tackles.
"I realised that if I could pick up my defence — I was never going to smoke anyone, or put in a really big hit — and get low and make those key tackles, I’d be fine.
"I actually found that if I got my defensive game going, and made a couple of early tackles, my confidence in my attacking game would grow.
"It’s funny. You take a hit, you get a little ding, and it just unlocks something. So I grew to love tackling.
"It’s not my job to go out and make 15 tackles. It’s to make five that might be critical."
The man they call "Nugget" has made a lot of tackles and dished a lot of passes over his remarkable 13-year professional career.
Earlier this season, he became the sixth New Zealander — and first back — to play 350 first-class games. And you do not get to that sort of crazy number without looking after yourself and having some luck.
Smith broke his leg and dislocated his ankle as a youngster but has since been "very blessed" to miss very few games with injury. He is also fanatical about looking after his body.
"I’m a bit of an awkward build. I’m pliable and flexible — but not overly flexible — and I’m not too strong. I’m not fast, but I’m not slow.
"People get too much power for their muscles, so they pop or whatever. I’m sort of a balanced mix of power and fitness.
"The big injuries can be a roll of the dice, and I’ve been lucky. I’ve actually done my knee three times, always near the end of a year, but I’ve been able to play through them then had the summer to get ready again."
That rugby brain regularly kicks in on the field when he makes, well, some judicious calls around where to throw his body.
"As a smaller man — and this does sound bad — I make business decisions around stupid situations.
"I will look at a situation and say, that is dumb, that will hurt. Like when I tried to stop [Blues prop] Ofa Tu’ungafasi 2m out. I tried like hell to stop him and I nearly broke my leg and my ankle. He had a guy behind him, latching, and I had 200kg on my ankle.
"There are things that you need to be smart about. But it’s also about a lot of luck."
It is the size of the fight in the dog, as they say. And Smith has never appeared to lack the fight, the spark and the chutzpah that are essential for a good halfback.
He might be of North Island stock but he found his natural home with the Highlanders, who effectively carry permanent tags like "scrappers" and "battlers".
"I think that’s the way I’m built. That underdog tag — being told you can’t do it — has always suited me. And I love proving people wrong.
"That’s what we have always tried to do at the Highlanders. This year might not reflect that but I’ve been here with some good teams and played with some great players."
Smith’s experience and communication skills will make him a natural coach should he decide to pursue that path after making his final pass on the field.
He is also passionate about inspiring and encouraging the next generation.
"I’ve always been a big fan of the youth coming through, because they are the future of the Highlanders.
"To see some of the boys like James Arscott and Nathan Hastie, who I’ve done passing drills with when they were at school, coming through our system leaves a good mark for me."
And now, the end is near.
The Highlanders’ season is teetering but, regardless of whether they make the playoffs or not, they have a chance to send their beloved No 9 off from Dunedin on a high with a win over the Reds on Friday night.
Smith obviously has bigger fish to fry — winning a World Cup with the All Blacks in France — later this year, but he is prepared to feel some deep emotions this week and next, when the Highlanders play the Blues at Eden Park.
"It’s been an interesting year, on and off the field. It’s been tough.
"When I turned up for this year’s pre-season, and I came back a little later, there were feelings of ‘this might not be the end’, but it is the end for now. It’s coming.
"Every game, every time I turn up for training, every time I prepare to play, my routine for the last 13 years has been coming here and preparing to play for the Highlanders.
"They always say you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. But that feeling of ‘it’s going to end’ is getting real. It’s not at an emotional point where it’s overwhelming me, but the season is drawing to an end, and the end is in sight.
"I look back with fond memories, and I look back as a man who came down as a boy, really. I’ve experienced ups and downs — totally more ups than anything in this beautiful city."
TOMORROW: The highs and lows
