JOHANNESBURG - With Nazeer Allie now likely to miss the rest of the season due to a broken toe, young Reeve Frosler’s promotion to the Bidvest Wits senior team has become an even bigger deal than it was a few weeks ago.
Allie, who has been superb for the Clever Boys at rightback so far in the 2016-17 campaign, and one of the stand-out players in the club’s Premiership title charge, missed the previous two games and has been ruled out of a few more. While Siboniso Gaxa has been the automatic choice, Frosler, 19, proved on Saturday in Wits’ first leg CAF Confederation Cup play-off fixture, a goalless draw at the Bidvest Stadium, why he is also an alternative.
“The coach hasn’t said anything to me about playing more, but at training I can feel the intensity,” the junior international said.
“I am enjoying the opportunity at the moment. It’s always nice coming from the development team to break into the senior team. I think I can be a role model to the other guys in the academy because they can see my story and believe that if one of us can go all the way, then they can all work hard and push themselves and hopefully get a few games with the senior team.”
Wits host Golden Arrows on Tuesday night in a crucial league match that will see them go top of the standings if they win. It’s unlikely Frosler will start ahead of Gaxa, but he has made a case to at least be on the bench.
“I missed out on the Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations last month (where SA finished in fourth place and qualified for the World Cup in South Korea in May) because the club needed me to be here,” Frosler said.
“It is difficult for us because you want to be at your club as well as your national team. I now have to put in my best and if I get selected for the World Cup we will leave it up to the coach (Gavin Hunt) to decide what happens. It would definitely be a dream to go to South Korea, having been in Chile two years ago with the Under-17s. Not a lot of players can say they have been to two junior world cups.”
Frosler said he thrived on competition and looked to have a positive attitude, even if Allie’s injury doesn’t necessarily open the door to play more and boost his chances of getting the nod for the youth World Cup.
“I am learning a lot from a guy like Gaxa with his experience,” he explained. “The competition is healthy and I am there to support whoever is playing ahead of me. If I get off the bench to give the team something, then that is my job and I have to do it well.
“I can’t be in the senior team and give them 20 percent - that is not what I am here for. It’s amazing for me to have to adapt to playing at the PSL level and for my national team. It’s a bigger step for me and less aggressive, seeing that I am coming from the reserve league. I am having to do a little bit extra work to keep up so that I don’t drown when I get thrown in.”
@superjourno