Plaatjies, 20, has spent the past few seasons developing in Stellenbosch’s reserve setup and played a key role in the club’s DStv Diski Challenge title-winning campaign in the 2023/24 season.
The forward also caught the eye during Stellenbosch’s NEXTGen trip to the United Kingdom, where he scored a superb goal against Everton. Despite the impressive showing, Plaatjies did not break into the senior side last season and continued to feature in the reserve league.
Almost two years after his memorable UK trip, Plaatjies finally received his opportunity in the first team when he made his senior debut against Marumo Gallants in Cape Town on Friday.
He made an immediate impact, scoring three goals to inspire Stellenbosch to their first victory of the season and quickly becoming one of the biggest talking points in the Betway Premiership.
Hunt believes Plaatjies possesses a rare quality that is difficult to teach – an instinct for finding the back of the net. The experienced coach compared him to Bafana legend Williams, who was renowned for his ability to score despite not always being heavily involved in build-up play.
“I saw him last season. He’s not a striker. This boy, he’s a goal scorer. Now there’s a big difference for me. He’s like, if I’m going to say this, it’s going to be all over the media, like Mark Williams,” Hunt told the media.
“The build-ups, you don’t get him involved, but he can score goals. I saw him in pre-season. I thought, my God.”
Hunt revealed that Plaatjies had been regularly finding the net during training and pre-season, convincing him that the youngster was ready for his opportunity.
“But he’s a goal scorer, he’s a natural goalscorer, and that’s hard to find,” Hunt added.
“There’s a difference between a striker and a goal scorer – a striker holds it up and he can run, and press, and this guy scores goals.”
Despite Plaatjies’ dream debut, Hunt cautioned against rushing the youngster into too many matches, particularly away from home, as he continues his development at senior level.
Golden Arrows will look to break their scoring drought when they host Stellenbosch FC, while newly promoted Milford FC aim to continue their impressive league start when they face Polokwane City in Wednesday's Betway Premiership action.
Richards Bay head coach Ronnie Gabriel says his side are gunning for their first win of the new Betway Premiership season against Kaizer Chiefs at home on Wednesday.
Aubrey Modiba says Mamelodi Sundowns must bounce back from their MTN8 semi-final first leg loss to Golden Arrows with victory over AmaZulu in the Betway Premiership on Tuesday.
Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has challenged Sebastian Pedersen to raise his fitness levels after getting his first glimpse of the Norwegian striker in competitive action.
