Marked for Anare Tiko
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Sep 2027
Rocky Junior breaks a bone — 90 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 90 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Nadi
Nilkash Prasad 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.
Loan watch20 Sep 2027
“I watch every Nadi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Tailevu Naitasiri runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Aug 2027
Vereti Dickson breaks a bone — 111 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 111 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad23 Aug 2027
He is 15, he is averaging 6.54, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad23 Aug 2027
26 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad23 Aug 2027
“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.
Loan watch23 Aug 2027
“I did not go to Tailevu Naitasiri to sit and watch. I want to come back to Nadi and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 29 matches say the rest.
Market23 Aug 2027
Laisenia Tuisese is 16, and Nadi have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Jul 2027
A muscle injury sidelines William Valentine for 17 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Nadi will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vishant Reddy and Nadi agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad26 Jul 2027
54 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Jun 2027
The wait goes on for Nadi
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market28 Jun 2027
“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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Nadi
Vishant Reddy 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.
Match26 Jun 2027
Nadi come up short against Labasa
Labasa left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Nadi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vereti Dickson 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Elvis Raju 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Anare Krishna pulls a muscle — 14 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Loan watch28 Jun 2027
“I watch every Nadi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Tailevu Naitasiri runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Nadi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vereti Dickson 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 May 2027
Tempers go at Nadi
Eneriko Matau 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.
Match29 May 2027
Tailevu Naitasiri left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match1 May 2027
5 matches without a win for Nadi
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Nadi are no longer polite ones.
Match1 May 2027
Nadi come up short against Nadroga
Nadroga left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad3 May 2027
“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.
Squad3 May 2027
Tempers go at Nadi
Nilkash Prasad 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.
Loan watch3 May 2027
“I did not go to Tailevu Naitasiri to sit and watch. I want to come back to Nadi and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match31 Mar 2027
Cup progress for Nadi
A 4‑2 win over Nadroga, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.39, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
No sign of nerves from Mohammed Ayman at 21 — 7.89
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mohammed Ayman did not need any: 7.89, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match31 Mar 2027
6 goals as Nadi and Nadroga go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Nadi and Nadroga, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Vereti Dickson 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 Apr 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 Nadi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces5 Apr 2027
Nadi supporters have found a favourite in Clivert Sam
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Clivert Sam 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.
Match3 Apr 2027
A bad afternoon for Nadi against Rewa
0‑1 to Rewa, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Eneriko Matau was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match31 Mar 2027
Nasinu go through and Tailevu Naitasiri go home, 1‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Market5 Apr 2027
“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 Tailevu Naitasiri, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match3 Apr 2027
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Tailevu Naitasiri are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Squad5 Apr 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 Tailevu Naitasiri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match3 Apr 2027
Anare Tiko scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Labasa, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Loan watch5 Apr 2027
“I watch every Tailevu Naitasiri game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Nasinu runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tailevu Naitasiri can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Patrick Krishna: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tailevu Naitasiri have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match27 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Tailevu Naitasiri's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Tailevu Naitasiri has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Up for the corner, and Rajneel Kumar delivers — 7.46
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Rajneel Kumar scored, was marked 7.46, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
7 new faces, and Tailevu Naitasiri are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Loan watch29 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Nadi to sit and watch. I want to come back to Tailevu Naitasiri and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Ryheal Ram in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tailevu Naitasiri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match27 Mar 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vereti Dickson and Nadi agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 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 Nadi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Vereti Dickson 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.
Match6 Mar 2027
Suva take the points off Nadi
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Loan watch8 Mar 2027
“I watch every Nadi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Tailevu Naitasiri runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Nadi turn down the training-ground plan
It is the quietest way a club tells you what its ambitions are. The money was asked for, the money was refused, and the people who work there every day now know exactly where they stand.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 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 Nadi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market8 Feb 2027
He is 14, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Rocky Junior is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.