How Hunt helped Tyson get his groove back

The serial winning mentor was a huge influence in getting Hlatshwayo to join Matsatsantsa following a forgettable two-year stint at Orlando Pirates, whom he signed for when Bidvest Wits were sold.

Hunt has explained what led to the centre-back’s resurgence after his confidence took a huge knock at the Soweto giants.

"It's very simple – play to his strengths, like any footballer, don't ask them to do things they can't do. Ja, so that's basically [it] – play to his strengths," said Hunt.

"Why do things... Also, in his position, for me, centre-backs only mature after 30. And I say this, if you go around the world, who are the best centre-backs? Generally, most of them are over 30 – the best ones.

"And I think in that position, maturity takes [time]. Whatever happened, happened with him, we all know. But it would never have happened if another scenario didn't happen, that's the bottom line. We sold the club and everybody went [their separate ways]."

At Pirates, the 32-year-old was criticised for being error-prone, and Hunt explains how he is making sure the veteran defender avoids being put into situations that may force errors. 

"Well, like my old theory is, I tell the goalkeeper, don't give the ball to the centre-half and I tell the centre-backs don't get the ball from the goalkeeper. So there's no argument, nobody gets the ball and we solve the problem. It's a very simple [solution]," he added.

"I don't want you to get the ball inside the box, so if you're going to get it inside your big box – which is the world thing now, you're going to have to make sure, my friend, that it's very accurate on these bumpy pitches here in South Africa.

"You're going to make an error, so why make the error [in and around the box], let's make an error on the halfway line, so get the ball there [from the goalkeeper]." 

Hlatshwayo has played every single minute of all 13 matches for the club this season, adding one goal to his appearances.