It is safe to say neither those MPs nor Collins would ever have thought Collins would end up being the "safe pair of hands".
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?objectid=12348272&&ref=topbox

There will be shifts of emphasis – the law and order rhetoric will ramp up again, and the farmers will be happy Collins will not be putting up with any of that "nonsense" on the left.

By and large, leaders can be sorted by the rhetorical weapons they use for political surgery.
Ardern uses a scalpel, a nuanced and tidy nipping and tucking, wielded with a smile.
Bridges used his bare fists, thudding away to some effect until Covid-19 came along, but bruising his own knuckles in the process.
Collins will be oiling up the chainsaw as we speak.