Exclusive: Hendricks' mentoring of Mulder helped elevate his game
WHEN Wiaan Mulder's professional career started, he was still a high school student at St Stithians. His skill was good enough to start his professional career with the Lions.
However, at 18 years old at the time, Mulder had a long way to go and entering the Lions dressing room would have been intimidating for any youngster.
Mulder needed a mentor, an experienced Lions player that would take him under his wing and show him the ropes as a professional cricketer.
Lions captain, Dominic Hendricks, became that mentor for Mulder.
In an exclusive interview with Independent Media, Hendricks highlighted how Mulder's preparation was undercooked when he burst onto the professional set-up and how their chat helped him (Mulder) raise his training standards to meet what is required to succeed at the highest level.
"I think the biggest thing was someone needed to mentor him and at the time, walking into the dressing room basically as a high school kid, you don't really know where to look. We found a lot of commonality in a lot of areas, and I think that's where the friendship started," Hendricks told.
"Just getting him through figuring out what he needs to do at training was a big thing because you could see he was still training like a kid, where there was no real purpose behind training. He'd rock up and he'd get out a couple of times and he'd walk out of training.
"I actually distinctly remember telling him one day, and I think he still mentions it to a lot of people today, that we had this one session and he just got out about six times and I just asked him, 'Are you satisfied with that? Are you proud of how you trained?'
"And he just looked and was like, 'What do you mean?' And I was like, 'well, if you're going to train like that, then you're going to have no chance'. 'I mean, you got out six times. It's not a great reflection of sort of what you're trying to do and what standards you're trying to set'.
"I think ever since that day, his training has changed massively and he's held his training to a very high standard."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The South African
an hour ago
- The South African
Kaizer Chiefs sensation set to join Serie A giants AS Roma
Kaizer Chiefs youngster Reatlegile Mosimane looks set to secure a blockbuster move to Europe. The 14-year-old striker, who happens to be the son of legendary South African coach Pitso Mosimane, has been in scintillating form for the Amakhosi academy. Reatlegile Mosimane leads the line for coach Mohamed Bhamjee's serial-winning under-14 Kaizer Chiefs team. Now, reports suggest the lethal striker is close to securing a move to AS Roma! READ MORE • Orlando Pirates star Monnapule Saleng set to join shock PSL team! READ MORE • Orlando Pirates cut ties with fan-favourite worth R14.5 million! According to agent Jorge Abong of Rojo Soccer Agency, Reatlegile Mosimane is a wanted man in Italy after impressing during a recent trial. He alongside two other South African youngsters could soon find themselves playing for Italian giants AS Roma. 'Ikenna Tladi (9-years-old) has officially signed for AS Roma. We have also organised trials for Reatlegile Mosimane (Kaizer Chiefs under-14). Last month he did well and the club is interested in signing him,' Abong told KickOff . 'We have organised for Shamir Mattera from SuperSport, he is now invited to join the club for pre-season at the end of July. The scouts from Europe were here and they were impressed with Tladi before he traveled to Italy with his mother to finalise the deal. He is now an AS Roma player.' Last year, Reatlegile Mosimane led Kaizer Chiefs to the Gauteng Development League Under-13 title. He finished as the league's top scorer with a whopping 38 goals to his name. READ MORE • Kaizer Chiefs spot huge chance to sign Sundowns man! Needless to say playing for the AS Roma academy will undoubtedly benefit Reagile tremendously. However, will Kaizer Chiefs regret letting their star youngster go? How much do you value the 14-year-old sensation at? Let us know by clicking on the comment tab below this article or by also emailing info@ or sending a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. You can also follow @ TheSAnews on X and The South African on Facebook for the latest news.
IOL News
3 hours ago
- IOL News
'Big adrenalin' propels Tadej Pogacar to Tour stage and 100th career win
Pogacar wins fourth stage Tadej Pogacar cycles to the finish line to win ahead of Jonas Vingegaard taking third place during the 4th stage of the 112th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, 174.2 km between Amiens Metropole and Rouen, Northern France, on Tuesday. Photo: Loic Venance/AFP Image: Loic Venance/AFP Tadej Pogacar blew past his rivals in an "explosive" finish to take Tour de France stage four at Rouen on Tuesday and claim his 100th professional victory. "That was really pure, classic Tour-de-France-style explosive," said an elated Pogacar. The win did not quite bring him the overall lead. Dutch powerhouse Mathieu van der Poel finished second to keep the yellow jersey. Pogacar attacked on an incline to the line to finish just ahead of Van der Poel with Jonas Vingegaard third. Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ It was the 26-year-old Slovenian's 18th Tour de France stage win as he seeks a fourth overall triumph on the Tour. "There was big adrenalin and a big field of contenders," Pogacar said. Fans were treated to another Pogacar-Vingegaard head-to-head duel as five hills made the final 40km a roller-coaster. Van der Poel also entered the fray and kept the overall lead he took from Alpecin teammate Jasper Philipsen, who quit the Tour injured after a nasty fall on Monday. "Jasper needs to recover, and I hope he understands how hard I tried to win for him today," Van der Poel said. On the day's final real climb, Pogacar dropped all his rivals with only Vingegaard offering a real fight. But the big Dutch rider and the slender Dane both came back at Pogacar, making him fight all the way to the line in a thunderous finale. The same trio top the overall standings, with Pogacar second and Vingegaard in third. Van der Poel took the overall lead on stage two but risks losing it on Wednesday's time trial. "I should be happy to have the jersey again," said Van der Poel. "I was surrounded by climbers out there you know." "Tadej was stronger and it's as simple as that." Plenty of falls Unlike the opening three stages, there was hardly a puff of wind and not a drop of rain, but there were still plenty of falls. There was also a knifing incident with a man at Rouen slightly injuring a police officer before himself being shot as he tried to escape. Neither the police officer nor the alleged culprit suffered life-threatening injuries. Stage five will shake up the overall standings with a 33km individual time trial around Caen. The stage is being billed as the day Remco Evenepoel will finally slip into the overall leader's yellow jersey. To do so the 25-year-old Belgian world and Olympic champion in the discipline will need to cover the course 59sec faster than Pogacar and Vingegaard. "Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be the big day, the real test of how good everyone is," said Pogacar. "Don't count Remco out," he added. "He's the best in the world and he'll be going full gas, like me." The man who designs the race, Thierry Gouvenou, predicted big time differences on the time trial. "It's flat and runs through exposed plains. This is a course designed for the specialists. You need to be aerodynamic and powerful," he said, which suggests it could suit Evenepoel in particular. "This is a red letter day for all the main contenders." Rarely lacking in confidence, Evenepoel was true to form. "I can put a minute into them all tomorrow," he said in Rouen after the fourth stage. The first mountains come as late as stage 10 over the volcanic landscape of the Puy de Dome, with two more colossal climbing days in the Pyrenees before the blockbuster final week in the Alps. AFP Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.
IOL News
4 hours ago
- IOL News
Taylor Fritz reaches Wimbledon semis despite fresh line call blunder, Aryna Sabalenka advances
Fritz advances US player Taylor Fritz celebrates after victory over Russia's Karen Khachanov at the end of their men's singles quarter-final tennis match on the ninth day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on Tuesday. Photo: Henry Nicholls/AFP Image: Henry Nicholls/AFP Wimbledon's controversial line technology system malfunctioned again as Taylor Fritz beat Karen Khachanov to reach his first Wimbledon semi-final, while world number one Aryna Sabalenka survived a scare to make the last four on Tuesday. Swedish umpire Louise Azemar Engzell had to stop a point in the opening game of the fourth set on Court One when "fault" was incorrectly called after a Fritz forehand landed well inside the baseline. The call of "fault", rather than "out", and positioning of the ball suggested the system was still tracking Fritz's serve as opposed to a rally and the point had to be replayed. Tournament organisers were forced to apologise and make a change to the system to avoid further issues after a major error in Sonay Kartal's fourth-round defeat to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the women's draw. Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ On that occasion, the new system failed to call out when a shot by Kartal landed well behind the baseline. A fully automated system has replaced human line judges at Wimbledon for the first time this year, in line with the Australian Open and the US Open. The latest blunder did not stop American fifth seed Fritz advancing after another hard-fought 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7/4) win over Russian 17th seed Khachanov. Fritz, who lost in the US Open final last year, will face the winner of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz's clash with Britain's Cameron Norrie. Sabalenka fought back from the brink of a shock exit to reach the semi-finals with a gutsy 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win against Germany's Laura Siegemund. Sabalenka twice trailed by a break in the final set on Centre Court and was two games away from crashing out before staging a dramatic revival to win in two hours and 54 minutes of unrelenting tension. The 27-year-old top seed is through to the All England Club semi-finals for the third time after losing at that stage in 2021 and 2023. 'I need some time to cool down' Beaten in the Australian and French Open finals this year after winning the US Open in 2024, Sabalenka remains on course to reach a fourth successive Grand Slam title match. The Belarusian will face American 13th seed Amanda Anisimova or Russian world number 50 Pavlyuchenkova for a place in the final. Sabalenka remains the only one of the top six women's seeds still standing at the tournament after two weeks of shocks. The three-time Grand Slam champion nearly joined that list of high-profile exits in a memorable clash. "That was a real test. I need some time to cool down and recover after this," Sabalenka said. "She pushed me so much. After the first set I was looking at my box and thinking, 'book the tickets, we are about to leave this beautiful place'. "She played an incredible tournament and match. I'm just super happy with the match and win." Alcaraz has dropped four sets during his run to the last eight before raising his level to keep his title defence alive. The world number two is aiming to join an elite group of men who have won the tournament in three straight years in the Open era – Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. But the Spaniard knows large sections of the Centre Court crowd will be behind world number 61 Norrie, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2022. "He's going to use the crowd to his advantage," said Alcaraz, who is on a career-best 22-match winning streak. "I have to be really strong mentally and focused to play good tennis if I want to beat him." Alcaraz has won 33 of his 36 Tour-level matches on grass. The five-time Grand Slam winner's last defeat at Wimbledon came against Jannik Sinner in the fourth round in 2022. AFP Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.
