They took us for granted
On Richards Bay FC’s great start to the season
It’s going to be a long time before the season resumes and we play our next league match on New Years’ Eve against Swallows FC because of the FIFA World Cup break. When I look back at our first season in the DStv Premiership so far, I think so far, so good considering all the good work we have done in such a short space of time. We are second on the log so far and have kept nine clean sheets. The exposure given to us as a team has also been quite overwhelming for most players like me, to be honest with you. I mean, personally I’ve played in the PSL before, but I’ve never been this consistent before. I used to be in and out of the team. Sometimes I would get to play and sometimes I didn’t play at all, but this season I’m playing on a regular basis and the experience has been great. When I was in the PSL before, there were senior players who were playing ahead of me and they were playing very well, so I cannot faulter anyone for me sitting on the bench. In this game, you have to be patient and wait for your chance. I was waiting for my chance, I knew that it was coming and it was just a matter of being patient, and now that I’m getting all these opportunities to play at Richards Bay FC, I’m grateful for that. And just because we are number two on the log doesn’t mean we have to be complacent and start taking things for granted. Everyone in our team knows that we must remain humble no matter what happens between now and the end of the season. My mindset has been great as well because this is an opportunity I have been waiting for all my career. I had the taste of professional football before, but I was in and out, like I said. Now I’m playing regularly and people are praising me, so I need to keep the consistency.
On the surprise factor
We started with a tough pre-season training, which was going to prepare us for the season ahead and that taught us a lot about to expect. We have a group of players who want to help and fight for each other because we all understand that there is no one bigger than the team. This team is made up of players who want to fight for one another. I knew that if we kept the right focus, we would eventually get the results. But some DStv Premiership teams were undermining us, they were underestimating us because we were coming from the National First Division (Motsepe Foundation Championship). They thought that playing against us was going to be easy for them. As a newly promoted team, they were targeting us for three points and we knew from the onset that we had to fight for respect and three points. And the funny thing is, now that they have seen what we are all about and what we can do on the field, they are more cautious in their approach. Our defence is strong, we are playing with a defence that has played about 10 matches together if I’m not mistaken. Our defence is solid and united – whoever is selected knows what is expected and what they need to do. And as strikers, when your defence keeps clean sheets on a regular basis, it’s motivating us. Sometimes I track back and help out in defence depending on what the coach tells me to do because our game plan is never the same. Every game is different and we approach it differently too. It’s not about me, at the end of the day it’s about helping the team.
On the lengthy FIFA World Cup break
We are not worried about the FIFA World Cup break and we are not even thinking about the fact that it might upset our rhythm. We will only close for three weeks and then get back to together to prepare for the first match when the season resumes on the last two days of December. I think the break is what we needed because the games were coming in quick succession. Now we must look back at our games, analyse what we did and we must prepare thoroughly for the remainder of the season. Most teams will sit and analyse how we play as individuals and they will be determined to beat us in the second half of the season. We need to come back with a stronger plan and desire to win and not concede goals, but we also need to make sure that we sore more goals because we have only scored 11 goals in the first 13 matches. Our biggest surprise was (discovering) how different the DStv Premiership is compared to the NFD – the two leagues are com
pletely different with different approaches and that took us by surprise. In the NFD, teams come at you all out and you have to be capable to match them pound for pound. In the PSL, they took us for granted and thought we will sit back, and now they are surprised that we can compete them. From now going forward, when they play us, they know they have to come prepared. Against Orlando Pirates, we went with a plan because we wanted to win and unfortunately, we got a red card. This match was by far our most difficult so far because we had to show character and resilience. We ticked all the boxes and we knew that there is nothing we can’t conquer if we are united. For any newly promoted team to be number two on the log is a big deal. Between now and the rest of the season, our main objective is survival. Once we achieve survival, we can talk about pushing for MTN8 or CAF Champions League.