Gone are the days when wings were seen and not heard.
As Cory Jane tells it, it was once the position you get shunted to "when you're a little kid and got no skills."
Even at Super Rugby level wing is sometimes the ideal out-of-the-way spot to put someone with athleticism, but no real aptitude for catching, passing or directing play.
Not so Jane. As he'd be the first to remind you. The 33-year-old might not top the tryscoring charts these days, but he remains among the first Hurricanes picked each week.
That's because of what he says, as much as what he does, and if none of the Brumbies score a try down his side of Canberra's GIO Stadium on Friday night, then he'll walk off a happy man.
"The way we look at rugby these days, you can drop the ball eight times, miss 14 tackles, but if you score two tries you've had a hell of a game and you're the man," Jane said ahead of his 83rd match in Hurricanes colours.
Jane might wander off having made one tackle, not run the ball once and caught four kicks, which he regards as the sort of performance that prompts people to say 'oh Cory's had a crap game."
But they don't see the work that he really prides himself on. Whether it's offering his own halfback and first five-eighth advice on which channels to probe or reading the opposition's attack and snuffing it out, Jane's never quiet.
That's a quality the Hurricanes will need, now Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith are no longer controlling the midfield.
"I've always been big on sharing what I learn, what I know, what I see," said Jane.
"I always say that if I knew my school work like I know rugby, I'd be a rocket scientist. I understand rugby."
Jane has high hopes for the Hurricanes' new second five-eighth and centre pairing of Ngani Laumape and Vince Aso. But Friday marks their respective Super Rugby debuts and there will be errors against the Brumbies and probably everyone else they play against.
But with Jane in their ear, hopefully any mistakes can be kept to a minimum.
"Every winger's different but I've been around for a while so I expect a lot from myself and on defence I spend a lot of time trying to organise the people inside me," he said.
"I make sure that it's self-explanatory to whoever's inside me. So if there's a centre inside me, then there's a flanker inside him and then a lock inside him, they all know who they're supposed to get.
"It's a winger's job to talk but I take it one step further and try to organise as many people as I can, because I take pride in people not making breaks down my side. So the guys inside me have got no excuses because I've told them who to get."
That extends to meetings and video session, where Jane's ability to read defences and spot potential weaknesses that might be exploited are admired by everyone, including the Hurricanes' coaches.
There's pressure on the Brumbies. They have plenty of 'name' players, headed by David Pocock and Stephen Moore, but it's blokes such as Moore's co-captain Christian Lealiifano that need to pull finger this season.
Matt Toomua is another who's, occasionally, performed at a high level, but been pretty anonymous at others.
Provided Jane's done his homework and tells everyone what he sees, then there should be no surprises.