"No, not at all. I'm pretty happy with what I've achieved in my career," Gatland said in his final public address before kickoff. "In 2019 I'll probably finish up and go to the beach and maybe retire and enjoy myself. It's definitely not career-defining I can promise you that.
"There's always pressure on the coaches. That's something we experienced in 2013 and 2009. You know when you take the job there's going to be a lot of focus on the coaches, particularly the head coach. That's part of the role.
"I don't sit here and plan and plot if you are successful. Wherever you are in the environment opportunities come your way. I don't sit here and think about what I'm going to be doing in 2019 or next year. For me, the future will take care of itself."
Conscious of being at the end of a long, taxing season, the Lions favoured a curious build-up by basing themselves in Queenstown, savouring activities such as jet boating. Gatland adopted a similar approach in 2013, taking the Lions to Noosa before the third test. He did likewise with Wales prior to their pool victory over England at Twickenham during the 2015 World Cup.
"I always get questioned about everything. It's not unusual for people to have a pop at me.
"We wanted to give the players a couple of days off and not make a big issue of the venue. We could have done that anywhere but we decided to do it somewhere incredibly beautiful."
Between now and Saturday, the focus switches as Gatland urges his players to seize their chance.
"They have an opportunity to win a legacy. There's been 11 tours in New Zealand and only one ever won. You get those moments in your life and you don't want them to pass you by. I have no doubt that tomorrow and Saturday the players will start thinking about that.
"We had a pretty tasty session today and there were... verbals. It's about having emotional control. You want to take it to the edge but not take it over the top."
On the All Blacks selections, Gatland was only surprised by Julian Savea's recall to the left wing in place of Rieko Ioane, who Steve Hansen said is battling illness. Gatland expects Savea to feature regularly in the front-line to try counter the Lions' defensive line speed.
Otherwise, though, Gatland claimed the All Blacks had been rarely discussed.
"It feels a little bit ironic and strange almost like a role reversal. When you play against the All Blacks you're trying to stop all their threats but we haven't spoken about that we've just focused on our own game. We didn't even speak about the team they have selected.
"We think we're scratching the surface. We think this team has got better and better and we think we can get better on Saturday. If we click, we could do something pretty special."
