Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has put five of his players forward for the Premier Soccer League Player of the Season award.
The Masandawana coach himself was named for SL Coach of the Month award in December/January on Thursday, and is expected to win the Coach of the Season gong.
Many expect the Player of the Season award to go to one of his players, while some other names such as Moonapule Saleng have also been brought up in the discussion.
“Of course, we also speak about the Footballer of the Season, but to be Footballer of the Season you need to maintain a level of consistency,” said Mokwena, who assumed his head coach post in October and has no idea what the smell of defeat is like, having won 17 of his 20 games as head coach and drawn the other three.
“This is what, just not in my opinion, but Ronwen [Williams] has shown, a lot of players have shown, Themba Zwane, Teboho Mokoena have shown this consistency, Peter Shalulile, Cassius [Mailula], so many.
“Congratulations to the team in its entirety, congratulations to the technical staff. The support of the management has been incredible and of course without the supporters, we wouldn’t be able to perform at the level we’re performing.”
Zwane has been one of the most consistent footballers in the last five seasons now for Sundowns and was at the heart when they crushed Al Ahly 5-2 in the CAF Champions League group stage to seal their spot in the knockout stages with two games to spare.
Shalulile, who is gunning for his third Golden Shoe award with 11 league goals to his name, scored twice against the Egyptian giants, denying them an opportunity to win in Mzansi.
Mailula, who took centre stage when Shalulile was out due to sports hernia earlier in the campaign, is hot on his heels, having scored nine league goals in his first senior season.
Williams, who was signed from SuperSport at the beginning of 2022/23, has kept 17 clean sheets in 27 matches in all competitions.
Sundowns, who have no match in the league, also have a huge cushion at the top with 59 points after 23 matches, 20 points clear of second-placed SuperSport.
The Tshwane giants are set to break their own record of the 2020/21 season where they won the league with four games to spare, and could already claim it with a win over Cape Town City after the international break with six games to spare.
