Gavin Hunt not prioritising any competition over another at Stellies

The well-travelled mentor says he will play a full-strength team in all the matches they play to give themselves the best change of advancing, explaining that the resting of players tactic does not always guarantee success.

Stellies are away to Sekhukhune United in their first game of 2026, and Hunt will be hoping to get off to a positive start.

"You cannot prioritise things in football, because you can get caught with your pants down, so we will concentrate on each game as they come. If you start thinking Confederation Cup is not important or the Nedbank Cup is not important, you might get found out, and that happens. 

"I won't rest people, they have to be really tired for me to rest them, but this is obviously within reason," explained the experienced tactician. 

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They turn their attention to the Confederation Cup on Sunday against CR Belouizdad of Algeria, and Hunt says he knows the kind of mentality needed to play North African teams. Stellenbosch went all the way to the semi-finals of the competition last season, a feat he seems keen to emulate.

The coach also says it will be important how they recruit new talent to the club in their quest to stabilise things and possibly challenge for trophies again. He believes they either have to be willing to spend money, or have quality youth structures.

"The bottom line is that the teams who spend the most money are sitting at the top of the league, anywhere in the world. The top two teams have pulled away in terms of the buying of players and bringing in foreign players of top quality, whereas before, talent was more evenly spread and then they bought all our best talent, plus they added on.

"At a club like this one, youth development is key for us to get the young players in earlier, and we will give them opportunities."

On whether he will be bringing his own backroom staff, Hunt says he sees no need to, as he’s already familiar with most of the people at the club.