He has neither throne nor deferential subjects - although you can be sure some of the young bucks around Highlanders headquarters stand up straighter when he walks past — but Jamie Joseph does carry plenty of influence in his new role.
Joseph, who won the 2015 Super Rugby title as Highlanders coach before a long stint with Japan, is finally in the chair as the club’s new director of rugby.
He was not initially expected to start fulltime until next month, but he could not ignore his itchy feet and desire to get cracking in the job.
"In some respects, I don’t feel like it’s been eight years," Joseph told the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
"The photos on the walls haven’t changed."
The Highlanders are a much bigger club now than when Joseph arrived for his first season in 2011.
He remembers a team with just three coaches, a part-time scrum coach and one trainer.
"Everything is sort of multiplied by three now. That’s modern rugby.
"It’s a big organisation now, and there are a lot of expectations off the field with the commercial arm aligned with the paying part of the business.
"The players are the players, and I’m excited to see 13 or 14 new boys who haven’t played for the Highlanders yet. There are some good-looking fellows there."
The Highlanders have essentially created this role — covering everything that concerns the rugby team, on and off the field — for Joseph, who had indicated he was ready for a spell back home in Dunedin after spending so much time overseas in recent years.
"I’ve got a 15-year-old daughter, and coming back to Dunedin was the priority for me.
"What I was going to do was a second thought. I’ve always put my career first, but this time around it was family first.
"I’ve got a lot of experience, including experience here at the Highlanders, and a strong connection to the club.
"They wanted me to come back and help this set of coaches. And it’s funny, because I pretty much coached all those guys. They were some of the best players I coached, and it’s no surprise they’ve become coaches."
A priority was helping Clarke Dermody, entering his second year in the top job, develop as a head coach, Joseph said.
He was focused on helping Dermody and his assistants establish an environment at the club that would help the players thrive.
Building a successful team, as history shows, is easier said than done, and Joseph knows challenges lie ahead in terms of developing a Highlanders squad that can win consistently against opponents with greater resources.
"Since I can remember, the Highlanders have been a team that’s had to think outside the square when it comes to recruiting.
"If we go to the market, so to speak, alongside the Crusaders coaching team and the Blues coaching team and all the other coaching teams, going for the same kind of players, it’s natural that we will come second.
"We’re always looking for players who are looking for an opportunity and who we feel can really adapt to playing rugby down here. We’ve been successful at times over the years, but it’s getting harder.
"It’s been hard for the Highlanders in the last two or three years, and we hope to turn that around. But it’s going to take a bit of time."
Joseph said it was fine that few people outside the Highlanders were expecting much this year following the departures of All Blacks great Aaron Smith and fellow international Shannon Frizell, and the arrival of a bunch of rookies.
He highlighted the fact Smith was an example of an unheralded youngster who came south to the Highlanders and developed into a world-class player.
Joseph confirmed he intended to coach again some day, and there was still a desire to aim for the top job after missing out to Scott Robertson.
"I don’t wake up in the morning and go, I’m doing everything to coach the All Blacks.
"But the All Blacks are a team that every New Zealand coach that has been at the level I’ve coached at would always entertain."
Joseph loved his time in Japan and has particularly fond memories of the national side’s efforts at home at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
He has no firm views on how controversial ex-Wallabies coach Eddie Jones will go in his second stint with Japan, but said he would be watching with interest.
