Marked for Sailimone Ravonokula
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Labasa
Simione Ragoneturaga was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Ilaisa Vulimainavuso falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Joji Vuakaca gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Akeimi Ralulu knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Akeimi Ralulu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad2 Nov 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
21 days out for Setareki Matai after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Labasa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Labasa
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sitiveni Rakai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Labasa
Simione Ragoneturaga was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Labasa close the window on a squad of their own making
15 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The deal with Nadi is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lautoka have kept their man, and Labasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sitiveni Rakai is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Labasa
Iliesa Lino and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ashnil Raju, and the manager let it.
Market7 Sep 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match19 Aug 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Nemani Dolodai obliged against Navua. 3‑2 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Labasa.
Match19 Aug 2026
Nemani Dolodai wins it after the whistle should have gone
92 minutes played. Nemani Dolodai found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Navua went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.56 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 7.60 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The deal with Ba is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market24 Aug 2026
Business is business: Aporosa Yada goes
Ba paid $43.0K and Labasa took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Sitiveni Rakai falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.