Rulani proud of Monyane's Pirates rise

Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Rulani Mokwena is known for his passion for development and has revealed how he uncovered utility player Thabiso Monyane at Orlando Pirates. 

Although Monyane was completely overlooked by Fadlu Davids and Mandla Ncikazi last season, under new coach Jose Riveiro the defender is back in the fold. 

Monyane, still only 22, has played for the junior national teams but being out in the cold following Mokwena™s exit at Pirates two years ago stalled his career. 

It™s only recently that Spaniard Riveiro has brought him back, validating the comments now being made by the Sundowns coach. 

"How I saw Thabiso Monyane [was] one afternoon at Nike Centre in Soweto playing for Pirates' SAB team as a left-winger and,  in my mind, I was very clear that this boy can never be a left-winger but rather a right full-back or wing-back," Mokwena said in an exclusive interview with SABC Sport.

"And today, with the performances that you've seen, he's in that space where he has potential to be one of the best in the country already, and that's three or four years later.

"But that is the work of us as coaches - to identify these special talents that need [grooming], and then look to see what needs to be injected into these talents and try to improve them by improving the wholistic performance of the team and individuals.

"Because when you improve the performance of individuals, you improve the performance of the team, you are then in a space to be able to closely achieve repeatedly the success you want, and it's not accidental success but that you can sustain and repeat."

Mokwena isn™t afraid to mention some of the players he™s previously worked with and œhad to improve - among them Dino Ndlovu, Bongani Zungu and Thembinkosi Lorch. 

"When I was at Platium Stars, I had a Dino Ndlovu and I had to improve him. Today he's gone on to play overseas. When I came to Sundowns, in the academy I had a Percy Tau, Paseka Mako and I had to improve them. I had a Thami Masiya and a Motjeka Madisha, and I had to improve them," he added.

"When I came to the first team as assistant to Coach Pitso, I was in that space where I had to see these young players that had incredible potential and I had to improve them - like Bongani Zungu, I had to stay behind and do extra training for them.

"When I went to Pirates, it was the same. There was a Lorch that had incredible potential and I had to improve him; a Maela with incredible potential, I had to improve him. I say this without any fear of the reaction because I know and the people that have worked with me, like Micho at Pirates, will tell you exactly the same."

By Mazola Molefe