Gilbert Enoka: The man behind the All Blacks’ ‘no d***kheads policy’ joins Chelsea Football Club

Jared Wright
Front of Chelsea stadium

All Blacks leadership manager Gilbert Enoka is set to join Premier League football club Chelsea, it was announced on Tuesday.

The New Zealand rugby leadership manager will consult with the club on matters relating to team culture on a short-term basis.

Background

Enoka famously introduced a ‘no d***kheads policy’ to the All Blacks, which helped the side recover from their disappointment of being knocked out at the quarter-finals of the 2007 World Cup to win the tournament four years later.

He is set to begin work at Stamford Bridge soon and is expected to be at the club for several weeks after a host of new players joined the side in the transfer window.

Enoka is famed for working with the All Blacks as a mental skills coach, helping the side win back-to-back Rugby World Cup titles in 2011 and 2015.

The former PE teacher also spent six years as a mental skills coach with the Black Caps, New Zealand‘s cricket team, and three years with its netball team.

The no ‘d****heads policy’

Enoka explained the meaning of his most well-known policy while working with the All Blacks.

In an interview in 2017, he said: “A d******* makes everything about them.”

“They are people who put themselves ahead of the team, people who think they’re entitled to things, expect the rules to be different for them, people operating deceitfully in the dark, or being unnecessarily loud about their work.”

Chelsea bring the former All Blacks mentor in after the club signed 16 new players, including sever big-money signings, as Graham Potter looks to haul the side up from ninth place in the Premier League.

It is believed that co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali will also lean on Enoka to support the re-build of the corporate culture at Stamford Bridge.

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