Orlando Pirates right back Thabiso Monyane has expressed that he and his teammates are looking to come flying out of the blocks at the commencement of the 2024/2025 Premiership season.
The Sea Robbers have been victims of poor starts in recent seasons, having left themselves too much work to do in the second half of campaigns to have any chance of toppling Mamelodi Sundowns.
Pirates have finished as runners-up to the Brazilians in back-to-back league seasons under the guidance of head coach Jose Riveiro.
Despite their excellent cup expeditions, the Buccaneers have failed to consistently replicate that form in the league, which has resulted in them finishing 22 points behind Sundowns in the 2022/2023 season and 23 points behind them last season.
Pirates have not won the league since 2012, under the stewardship of Dutch coach Ruud Krol.
Monyane, 24, has stated that Riveiro’s men are aware of the reason behind their shortfalls, having finished off previous terms with a flurry, and are eager to put that right in the new season.
“We’re looking forward to starting the season on a high note, and the rest will take care of itself. We know what we’re capable of. We know that we can finish the season strong, which is something that we’ve proved,” Monyane said.
“We also know that for the past few seasons, we haven’t started the season as good as we wanted to, so we’ll be looking to rectify that. We want to start this season well.
“So, we’re looking forward to being consistent throughout the season. We know that sometimes we don’t have to play beautiful football ... as long as we grind out the results.”
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Pirates have dominated domestic cup competitions in the past two seasons, having won both the MTN8 and Nedbank Cup back to back, and could make history if they somehow managed to retain the two trophies.
Monyane expressed that alongside their huge ambitions for the coming CAF Champions League campaign is their desire to retain the two trophies.
“We also want to retain our titles – the MTN8 and the Nedbank Cup. We also want to add one more title and make it a treble. Those are our ambitions, those are our goals for this season.
“Obviously, we don’t want to repeat the mistake we made last season, when we bowed out of the Champions League very early. This time we want to go all the way,’’ he said.
Over the past year or so, Monyane has got himself closer to the senior national team, having played at both Under-20 and Under-23 levels, and even featured in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
He has now set his sights on pushing the usual Bafana duo, Nyiko Mobbie and Khuliso Mudau, for that right-back spot, with the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers currently under way.
“I’d like to, first of all, get to that Bafana team and cement my spot there, heading into the World Cup. I am looking forward to that. I am willing to work hard for it,” he said.