Stellies CEO Benadie – We Do Not Want To Be A Selling Club

Stellenbosch CEO Rob Benadie says he certainly does not want Stellies to be known as a selling club despite selling two of their best players to Kaizer Chiefs. 

Stellies sold Zitha Kwinika and Ashley Du Preez to Chiefs at the beginning of the 2022/2023 season. Both Kwinika and Du Preez were an integral part the club as they finished fourth in the DStv Premiership.

Kwinika was named Stellies’ Players’ Player of the season and Player of the Season, while Du Preez finished as the top goal scorer with nine goals.

“We certainly do not want to see ourselves as a selling club, and we are not a buying club either,” Benadie said.

“Our aim is not to sell out best players! Yes, we sold two players at the beginning of the season to Kaizer Chiefs, two excellent players that we would have preferred to keep. We did try to retain the services of Ashley (Du Preez) and Zitha (Kwinika), but at the end, we were unable to, but it was a good move for both players, for Kaizer Chiefs and Stellenbosch.

“This happens in a professional sport; we released nine players as you all probably know plus those two, we sold. That is a big turnaround, but you could have asked us that 12 months ago and we would have told you that we are not going to renew the contracts or retain the service of those nine players, maybe one or two could have changed as a season goes by.

Benadie stressed that the club has a three-year strategy when it comes to the recruitment of the players that is based on their playing philosophy.

“We have got a strategy where we look ahead, at least three years – a rolling three-year strategy with our team. So, it is not a surprise to Steve (Barker) or to the players that we did have a big turnaround of players. We have a specific strategy that we are trying to follow with regard to our playing methodology, and that demand different type of players. There is a lot of people in the background working towards what type of players we require.

“We will put a plan, we will sit months in advance before the season ends to try to work out whether we have the right pieces of the puzzle, the right type of players in different positions, and the right age group.

“Our job from a strategic point of view is to try and put a more competitive squad together every transfer window. If we can improve by just 5% every transfer window, that is what we try to do with regard to the depth and quality of the squad etc.

“Yes, we have got a strategy with our squad. I think you will see more consistency now for the next three-year cycle because we did have a big turnaround now, and those players are all on new contracts. We do not like to typically contract a player for one year, we prefer at least a two-year contract if we have made a right decision. Hopefully we do not sit here at the end of this season and again there are 11 players turning around, there would be less.”

Written by: Diski Voice