Marked for Mervin Chand
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jul 2028
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Rewa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market31 Jul 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rewa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Rewa
Isikeli Sevanaia 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Leon Kofana 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 dugout31 Jul 2028
Leon Kofana 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.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
Josaia Sela knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rewa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout27 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Adrián Vega has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rewa is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Rewa
Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Rewa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leon Kofana 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.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Isikeli Sevanaia, and the manager let it.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Epeli Valevou is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
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.
Looking ahead27 Mar 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mohammed Rasasa’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Rewa needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market27 Mar 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Setareki Hughes’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market27 Mar 2028
Rewa have made Adrián Vega available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout28 Feb 2028
This is not rotation. Adrián Vega has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rewa is pretending otherwise.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Rewa
Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Adrián Vega 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 dugout28 Feb 2028
“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.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Epeli Valevou's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Rewa told Daniel Duvnjak something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 Jan 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nickel Goundar
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Rewa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market31 Jan 2028
Glen Pace puts it in writing
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Rewa, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Adrián Vega has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rewa is pretending otherwise.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Rewa
Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Rewa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adrián Vega 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
A muscle injury sidelines Misaele Matai for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Rewa will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
Epeli Valevou is still paying for one afternoon at Rewa
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
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.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
Theo Robinson 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 Theo Robinson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Jan 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rewa people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market10 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Rewa know it.
Squad10 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Rewa
Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom10 Jan 2028
Rewa counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Rewa now.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Rewa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adrián Vega 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.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
Nobody at Rewa will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mervin Chand, and the manager let it.
Market10 Jan 2028
Glen Pace told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Glen Pace has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Rewa.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Rewa
Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom13 Dec 2027
Belts tighten at Rewa
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Leon Kofana 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 dugout13 Dec 2027
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.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Theo Robinson 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 Theo Robinson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market13 Dec 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Adrián Vega’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market13 Dec 2027
Rewa and Mervin Chand are talking past each other
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Match13 Dec 2027
Rewa in the hunt for Europe
Position 4, 29 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Questions about Adrián Vega on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Rewa
Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom15 Nov 2027
Rewa counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Rewa now.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Rewa
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adrián Vega was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jai Curran-Nicholls, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Gabriele Matanisiga is on it.
Market15 Nov 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Adrián Vega’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
In brief
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Match
Rewa in the hunt for Europe
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Squad
Glen Pace is not doing himself any favours
-
Squad
The penny has dropped for Uzayr Buksh
-
The dugout
The manager plants his flag on Mervin Chand
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rewa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Rewa
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leon Kofana was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Epeli Valevou's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Adrián Vega has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rewa will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Rewa would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market1 Nov 2027
The name of Setareki Hughes keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Rewa say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Rewa’s own kid cannot get a game
At 22, Mervin Chand has come through every age group this club has, and now watches a borrowed player of much the same level start every week. An academy notices these things, and so do the parents in the stand.
Market1 Nov 2027
Rewa have made Adrián Vega available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Rewa
Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Leon Kofana 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.
Boardroom20 Sep 2027
The numbers do not look good at Rewa
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
Nobody at Rewa will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market20 Sep 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Adrián Vega’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Match20 Sep 2027
Rewa in the hunt for Europe
Position 4, 29 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Market20 Sep 2027
Rewa have made Asivorosi Rabo available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market20 Sep 2027
The clock does Kirtesh Prasad’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Rewa could ask drops and the wages Kirtesh Prasad can ask rise.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Questions about Glen Pace on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Rewa
Tevita Waranaivalu 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 Aug 2027
Adrián Vega 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
27 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Adrián Vega's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
Leon Kofana gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Leon Kofana is on it.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
A promise honoured at Rewa
Something was said to Daniel Duvnjak and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Market2 Aug 2027
Reuben Egan joins Rewa to strengthen the squad
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Rewa have gone and got theirs early.
Market2 Aug 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rewa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad2 Aug 2027
22 years old, every age group at this club behind him, and a borrowed player of much the same standard in front of him every Saturday. The parents in the stand have noticed, and so has every kid below him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Rewa
Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Rewa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leon Kofana 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.
Loan watch19 Jul 2027
“I did not go to Labasa to sit and watch. I want to come back to Rewa and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 26 matches say the rest.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jolame Domonikibau, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
Jolame Domonikibau is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
Asivorosi Rabo has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rewa will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market19 Jul 2027
The Adrián Vega story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Adrián Vega signs something — a contract at Rewa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Match19 Jul 2027
Rewa in the hunt for Europe
Position 4, 29 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match10 Jul 2027
Rewa win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 90th minute. Navua will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Match12 Jul 2027
The season ends: position 4 for Rewa
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 29 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Market12 Jul 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Rewa have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Sailose Tawake pops up at the right end — 7.87
7.87, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad12 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rewa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Adrián Vega 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.
Match10 Jul 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Waisake Soga’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Rewa.
The terraces12 Jul 2027
Rewa supporters have found a favourite in Mervin Chand
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Mervin Chand has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Jale Verevou could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.50 for the rest of it.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Rewa can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Adrián Vega 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Rewa
Sailose Tawake 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.
The terraces5 Jul 2027
Rewa supporters have found a favourite in Sailose Tawake
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Sailose Tawake has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad5 Jul 2027
The medical room confirms 56 days on the sidelines for Maleli Tuinakauvadra, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
93% of the income goes out in wages at Rewa
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Adrián Vega's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Intake day at the Rewa academy
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.