Sibisi says transition to Pirates has been fantastic

In what is his maiden season at Orlando Pirates, Nkosinathi Sibisi has established himself as the team’s first-choice centre-half.

Sibisi is the only Pirates centre-back who’s featured in all of the side’s eight league outings thus far, starting in all of them. The lad from Mpophomeni near Pietermaritzburg has chalked up his smooth adaptation to life at Pirates to finding players who also hail from KZN in Siphesihle Ndlovu and Bandile Shandu.

Sibisi also feels reuniting with coach Mandla Ncikazi at Pirates helped him a great deal as well, having worked with him at Golden Arrows.

“The transition has been fantastic. I scored in my second game [when they drew 1-all against Stellenbosch] and got the man of the match award in my fourth game [a 1-0 win over Royal AM]. I think it’s the people around me who have helped me to settle in well here. There are players here who I know from the national team,” Sibisi said.

“Some of them are also from KZN like [Siphesihle] Ndlovu and  [Bandile] Shandu [the duo hail from Pietermaritzburg]. They made it easier for me to settle in. Coach Mandla as well, he played a huge role in helping me to adapt well to life here at Pirates. He [Ncikazi] was the first person I interacted with when I got here.”

“Bhodlela” as Sibisi is known to his peers, has partnered with every other centre-back at the heart of Pirates defence this term. The former Abafana Bes’thende skipper doesn’t really have a favourite central defensive partner, reiterating the team comes first.

“It doesn’t matter who’s playing. I have played with [Olisa] Ndah, I have played with [Innocent] Maela and [Tapelo] Xoki... it doesn’t matter who I play with as long as the job is done. I always put the team first, so I can’t say I prefer to partner with this one or that one,” Sibisi insisted.

Pirates' next game is only on October 1, the first leg of the MTN8 semifinal, against Mamelodi Sundowns at Orlando Stadium.