Veteran striker Robin Rhode is probably one of the most underrated attackers to emerge from Cape Town.
It is just unfortunate that he never really got his break with one of the big PSL teams in Joburg.
“It wasn’t meant to be as my path was designed in another direction,” Rhode told No Bones with Jones. “But I would have loved to play for (Orlando) Pirates, you know. But don’t get me wrong, I have no regrets,” he added.
To still be playing competitive football at the age of 33 is testament of not only his capabilities but also his professionalism and exemplary lifestyle he exudes.
It’s not surprising that the pint-sized striker is still in high demand in the twilight of his career. Hence, Maties FC coach Desmond Crowie was the first to pounce and wasted no time to lure the well-travelled and experienced goal poacher to the Cape Winelands to add more firepower to his ABC Motsepe League outfit.
Rhode, who is currently a football coach at the Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch, crossed paths with Crowie a couple of months ago – one thing led to another and the next thing you know, the former Chippa United, Milano United and Steenberg United striker was thrown into the ‘deep end’ against Rangers during the Nedbank Cup regional final.
‘Robinho’ as the former Belgravia Road resident in Athlone is affectionately known, stepped up in true Rhode fashion – with no fuss or frills – converting his penalty and handing the Maties FC their first piece of silverware in the Second Division – again Rhode’s name was etched in the history of another club.
Just as he did back in 2010 when he scored a winner for the Chilli Boyz in the playoff final to clinch the national championship in 2010 and winning the league.
Rhode helped the former outfit from Philippi to gain promotion to the National First Division and he repeated this feat the following season winning promotion again – this time to the top flight of the Premier Soccer League.
A similar scenario played out at Steenberg where Rhode again played under the late Mike Lukhubeni. Needless to say, the astute coach had a great belief in Rhode – where Mike went Rhode followed.
A lot has changed since then but Rhode’s passion and love for the beautiful game remained committed as ever – epitomizing the true professional that he is.
So, what seems to be the secret to Rhode’s longevity and his resolute character that has kept him going for over two decades in the beautiful game?
“There is no magic formula, all I can say is not to drop down on how you train as you have to continue to keep a level with your training,” Rhode told No Bones with Jones. “Whether you are training on your own or gyming. You know the late coach Mike Lukhubeni’s was all about winning at all costs. But for him, it was all about hard work.
“So that muscle memory and drive that he installed at Chippa already I think has just stuck with me. Whenever I go to the gym I run the treadmill stukkend (broken), you know. Or I will cycle the bike stukkend. People often look at me and I know they probably think is this guy all right (in his head),” Rhode added with a chuckle.
“But that has been me for as long as I can remember playing football. There is no secret it is muscle memory. I have been doing hard running and hard cycling for a very long time and always competing, you know. Either winning the league or winning the playoffs, always being there at a level not dropping your levels besides not drinking and smoking and also kind of watching what you eat.
“Yeah, after 20 years of still playing I would say that it is muscle and the respect that I have for my body, sacrificing a lot of parties, drinking and nice time, I think that is the secret, I guess. Look I would like to play more but it is what it is, as the passion and love for football has always been there.
“I think football is a way of life. It teaches you a lot – how to carry yourself and how to be responsible, you know because it can be a lonely place, but you have to pick yourself up and try to always compete and compete and never drop a level too far off,” Rhode added.
The irony of Rhode’s career is that growing up he rarely had success as a junior and he had to watch his friends making waves and winning accolades.
“The funny thing is that I never won anything during my junior years while all my friends would get player of the year, sportsman of the year, top goal scorer and stuff like that.
But in my first season at Chippa, I won player of the year and was also the top goal scorer. So since then I’ve won with Chipppa, I won ABC Motsepe once, two promotions to PSL, one being winning the playoffs and the other winning the NFD and automatic promotion.
“With Steenberg, I won the Motsepe League four times and the fourth time we won promotion to the NFD and I also won top scorer for three seasons in a row. I think I have five Motsepe wins in Cape town and two promotion wins and two PSL promotions as well,” Rhode added.
Rhode said he has learnt a lot about life and himself because of football and the memories he will forever cherish.
“Being in football so long I cherish everything, all the ups and the downs and I have matured as a person – on and off the field. I have so many fond memories but there is one I will never forget… scoring the winning goal in the playoff final at Philippi Stadium – it was so beautiful back then.
“The stadium was packed to the rafters. I remember coming on in the second half, I got a through ball played to me in space, and then I chipped the keeper with the outside of my right foot and into the net.
“The noise and the emotion I felt that day was crazy and everyone at the stadium knew me because I was homegrown, so doing it in front of them was crazy honestly … not a lot of people will understand that feeling… which makes it sweeter than the rest,” Rhode concluded.
Robin could compound Zizwe United’s misery in stream B when they host the Nyanga-based outfit (15:00) at the Lentelus Sportfield on Saturday.
