“You can only take care of the things you can control, what is in front of you,”
This is the ethos of Leopards’ captain, Siya Mdaka. While talking to him, this pragmatic approach shows not just in his life decisions, but also on the field.
“I have always enjoyed the physical stuff, tackling. As a youngster, we didn’t have much structure; we just knew you can’t pass the ball forward,” he laughs as he remi- nisces about his time playing rugby in the villages of Mount Frere in the Eastern Cape.
Although his first introduction to structured rugby was in Gr. 8, he was quickly noticed by selectors who wanted him to play for Border country districts at the Grant Khomo Week.
“I told the coach that all my friends were going to the mountains for initiation and I was going with them. He wanted me to do the initiation at a different time, but I knew that if my friends went and I hadn’t gone through it yet, they would make fun of me; I wouldn’t be a man,” he laughs.
Although he missed the Grant Khomo week, he finished matric at the age of 17 and had the oppor- tunity to attend George Campbell School of Technology in Durban as a post-matric pupil. While in Durban, he was selected for the Sharks u.18 academy week, after which he went straight to the Sharks Academy.
While with the Sharks, Siya played under Swys de Bruin and Sean Everitt, but Varsity Cup for the NWU would soon be calling.
In 2010, Siya moved to Potch to play Varsity Cup for the NWU and, by extension, the Leopards.
“It might seem like a strange move, coming to an Afrikaans town and not being able to speak the language. But Potch has become like my second home. It is where I met my wife and, 12 years later, where my daughter was born,” he said.
Siya would play for the NWU and Leopards until 2012 when he moved to Border Bulldogs. In 2017, he played for the Southern Kings during their Pro14 debut before moving to a club in Romania in 2019.
It was during this time that Siya had to choose between family and rugby.
The more one speaks to Siya, the more you realise that family and traditional values are not just boxes to be ticked. He lives for these values.
“I was in Romania for a few weeks when I found out my wife was pregnant. It changed things for me. Although I had a contract, I couldn’t miss the birth of my first child nor leave my wife to look after a newborn by herself. I had to be there,” he said.
Siya left the club in Romania and came back to help raise his newborn baby. He was without a team.
“I decided to take some time off, but coach André approached me to join the Leopards. I only joined when my baby was about six months old,” he says.
In January 2020, Siya signed a contract with the Leopards. Soon after signing, he would be made captain of the team.
“I have always been in leadership positions since I started playing rugby. I don’t know why or what the coaches see in me, but it has always been that way,” he smiles.
André Pretorius, the head coach at the Leopards knows why.
“He is a man of few words; he leads by example. He doesn’t speak much, but when he speaks, he has something constructive to say,” said Pretorius about his captain.
Siya recently celebrated his 100th Currie Cup match when the Leopards played the Valke on Saturday, 7 May.
He will lead his team against the Eastern Province this coming Saturday, 14 May.
Time runs out; there is still much more to discuss with Siya – how he wants to get into coaching to shape men, which he has started doing at iSkills Rugby, or how much he loves the game that has provided him with so many opportunities. One would need many more hours to delve deep into the mind of this purpose-driven leader of men.
