Tony Brown was born and bred in Otago. This year, the Highlanders had just five players originally from the region.

When Super Rugby made its debut on a chilly Palmerston North evening, nobody anticipated the recruitment wars that would eventually ensue.

Super Rugby hasn't so much evolved over its 21 seasons as undergone a revolution in the way squads are complied in New Zealand.

Two decades ago, Tracy Chapman's Give Me One Reason, Bone Thugs' Crossroads, The Spice Girls' Wannabe and Los del Rio's Macarena were hit tunes - and rugby had just turned professional.

DAVID HALLETT Carlos Spencer moved to the Blues from Horowhenua-Kapiti.

Tuesday-Thursday sessions moved to full time training. And Tony Brown, the then tenacious Highlanders first five-eighth, was introduced to conditioning.

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PETER MEECHAM Richie McCaw was recruited to the Crusaders from Otago.

"I remember having to do weights. Getting strength tested for the first time was pretty embarrassing for a skinny white guy," Brown, now Highlanders head coach, recalls.

These were exciting times. Trips to South Africa became the norm, and players were paid for the first time.

Kiwi Super Rugby teams were, at that point, extensions of provincial partners. From Balclutha to King's High School and Otago University, Brown was the rule not the exception in the original Highlanders' squad. He was home-grown.

Other New Zealand teams were full of similar local products.

In that inaugural season the Blues had three players from outside Auckland and Counties Manukau - Carlos Spencer, Greg Cooper and the late Jarrod Cunningham. The Crusaders had the most players from outside their region (13) - and it did not help as they won two of 11 games. That same year the Chiefs had no imports. Not a single player their five provinces didn't provide.

Any remaining squad voids were filled from a player pool. Under this contracting system, Robbie Deans later took great pleasure from bartering and selling decoys around the negotiation table to get his man.

Back then players moved provinces, but recruitment had not taken a stranglehold like it has now.

"Even though the game officially turned professional in '96 it took five to 10 years before everyone got a good grasp of how to operate in that era," Brown said.

Slowly but surely rugby was dragged - kicking and screaming in some cases - into the modern sporting world.

As the number of teams grew - from 12 to today's bloated 18 - and global broadcast deals rolled in to bankroll national bodies, Super Rugby fast became a multi-million dollar business. The "Wellington" Hurricanes and "Waikato" Chiefs titles were casually dropped along the way.

Those confined identities certainly aren't relevant since the introduction of franchise contracting, the ability for teams to select from outside traditional boundaries, in 2010.

That seismic move wrestled power away from the provinces, whose books were in dire shape, and fast-tracked the changing face of New Zealand rugby.

Two years later private investment further cemented Super Rugby teams as their own entities, creating distance from the national body and reinforcing the recruitment drive.

This year we had the Highlanders recruit 31 players; the Chiefs 22, Crusaders 19, Blues 9, Hurricanes 7.

Scouting players is now as fierce as on-field collisions. Geography is largely irrelevant. Loyalty is a dwindling notion.

Given the money on offer and short nature of careers at this level, players can't be blamed for viewing themselves as mini businesses. They're simply products of the industry.

They're only one injury away from retirement. And there's always someone snapping at their heels. That's the reality of this cut-throat environment.

Essentially director Warren Alcock was there at the start and now handles contracts for Steve Hansen, Wayne Smith, Beauden Barrett, Kieran Read and Ardie Savea among others. He says in '96 a small crop of top All Blacks earned around $200,000.

Next year the maximum Super Rugby salary alone will be $195,000 - and that's without any third party, provincial and All Blacks payments factored in.

"From my point of view it's a helluva lot easier under the old system because you'd just deal with the NZRU as opposed to five different franchises," Alcock said. "You got consistency across the country in terms of what players were being paid. Now franchises control their own budgets.

"Players have benefited because there's suddenly five people who might want to sign you. There's no doubt that player salaries have generally gone up in this new system."

Having lured the likes of Justin Marshall, Richie McCaw, Read and the Whitelock brothers, the Crusaders caught on to recruitment earlier than most. Seven titles made them a desirable destination, and proved it worked. Others have since followed.

The Hurricanes and Blues harnessed the most local players this season, with varying degrees of success, but both have been guilty of letting go home-grown stars.

The Chiefs and Highlanders, two of New Zealand's most successful teams in recent times, are ringing endorsements for the value of recruitment.

When the Chiefs won their maiden title in 2012, they had two Waikato players in their starting line-up. Dave Rennie came on board that season and, with no room for sentiment, welcomed 13 new faces from elsewhere.

This year the Highlanders had just five Otago born-and-bred talents, with Ben Smith the most prominent.

With so many players flooding to franchises they may not have an inherent affinity towards, developing a sense of identity has taken on greater importance.

"Your team environment and culture and the way you operate is probably more important than the quality of player you get," Brown said. "There's an argument that says those things actually creates the player rather than the other way around so you take pride in your environment creating a number of different All Blacks."

The scrap for the next superstar starts in secondary school rugby.

Most Super Rugby teams now have development or high performance managers. Among others things, these full-time roles involve offering teenagers long-term contracts, often to move away from home.

Alcock understands the pressures this places on young athletes.

"The most obvious development is franchises are contracting players younger and younger," Alcock said. "They're all so desperate to keep their young talent that they'll contract a guy two or three years out from when they expect him to play Super Rugby.

"It's one of the negatives of the current system that players are contracted and have agents a lot younger than they used to. It happens way too young now, but if you're not part of it you miss out as an agent. And if it's not to a rugby agent, it's a rugby league agent because they're very active and aggressive so you can't be too self-righteous about it.

"Is that a good thing for a young kid? I'm old school and think you should have to earn your stripes."

Those good enough to make the New Zealand under-20s team have it made. Get that far, and futures are mapped out, or several enticing options are at least on the table.

Brown doesn't hide from the dogfight for talent.

"Everyone is looking for a bit of an edge," he said. "Gone are the days where you're trying to develop your own players. Every side is looking for players outside their region; guys out of secondary school rugby nowadays. We're looking for guys who are going to be All Blacks in two or three years and trying to get them into our franchise early.

"It's so competitive you have to do it that way. There's not many players that slip through the gaps. It's a bit of a shit fight for players right around New Zealand.

"It won't be long before there is a draft system like American sport. I'd say New Zealand and Super Rugby will naturally head that way. We've already got the conference system so we're slowly getting there. It's the only way it can go.

"They're successful models and proven over time so I think we'll follow that lead.

"You can't have all the best players at one franchise in New Zealand. Over the past few years all the franchises have been pretty even; anyone can beat anyone on the day. Ultimately it's made NZ rugby stronger and the All Blacks benefit from all of that."

The shift towards recruitment has seen territorial tribalism initially attached to Super Rugby diminish significantly. That's now confined to provincial rugby.

But, surprisingly, support methods haven't altered drastically. Fans still tend to gravitate towards their local team, regardless of where players come from. Success seems to be all that matters.

"The fans have grown with the coaches and teams around professionalism. They want to get that exciting player; to come along and support Malakai Fekitoa because he's in your colours. Everyone understands that's just the way professional rugby is.

"There is still the old school person who wants to see the local guy out there, and wants to see more local guys playing, but the majority of fans want to see the team do well."

The other notable trend is the average age drop from 26.2 in '96 to this year's 25. Former All Blacks prop Richard Loe was 36 in his debut for the Crusaders. He would struggle to keep up with the current speed of the game, though Highlanders lock Alex Ainley, 35, continues to offer hope for the older generation.

"Yes it's going to get younger but there's definitely room for the experienced guy. He just needs to be more professional in how he prepares his body.

"All those rugby players - the greats of the past - would 100 per cent be fine today they'd just train differently. The game is moving so fast so the players have to do the same."

How recruitment has changed:

Hurricanes 2016:

Recruits: 7

Average team age: 24.7

Hurricanes: 1996

Recruits: 3

Average age:26

Blues 2016:

Recruits: 9

Average age: 24.7

Blues 1996:

Recruits: 3

Average age: 26.2

Chiefs 2016:

Recruits: 22

Average age: 24.2

Chiefs 1996:

Recruits: 0

Average age:27

Crusaders 2016:

Recruits: 19

Average age: 25.4

Crusaders 1996:

Recruits: 13

Average age: 25.6

Highlanders 2016:

Recruits: 31

Average age: 26

Highlanders 1996:

Recruits: 6

Average age:26.3