Epeli Kumar

Attacking Midfielder (R) - Free Agent
9 Dec 2029
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Marked for Epeli Kumar

93 Edition

The Navua Chronicle

8 May 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad8 May 2028

17 days out for Epeli Kumar after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Navua will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Player ratings8 May 2028

Jack Wale runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market8 May 2028

Akuila Nailatikau 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 The request is on a desk at Navua, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market8 May 2028

Akuila Tuinakauvadra is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Navua is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

The dugout8 May 2028

Christopher Lal frozen out at Navua

This is not rotation. Christopher Lal has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Navua is pretending otherwise.

Squad8 May 2028

Words at Navua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriele Matanisiga 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.

Squad8 May 2028

Jovilisi Borisi 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 Navua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match8 May 2028

Halfway: Navua sit in position 6

14 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.

Match6 May 2028

Maleli Nailatikau rescues a point for Navua

It needed Maleli Nailatikau to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Rewa, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

Back issues
92 Edition

The Navua Chronicle

1 May 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match29 Apr 2028

Jonasa Ravukitiliva leads the rout of Tailevu Naitasiri

3‑0, and Jonasa Ravukitiliva took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Navua tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad1 May 2028

A fracture rules Epeli Kumar out for 24 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Navua will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings1 May 2028

Both of them Jonasa Ravukitiliva's — 8.87

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.87, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings1 May 2028

No sign of nerves from Christopher Lal at 16 — 7.92

The hardest thing about being 16 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Christopher Lal did not need any: 7.92, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

The dugout1 May 2028

Gabriele Matanisiga frozen out at Navua

This is not rotation. Gabriele Matanisiga has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Navua is pretending otherwise.

Player ratings1 May 2028

Jack Wale beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad1 May 2028

A falling-out at Navua

Jovilisi Borisi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The terraces1 May 2028

One of their own: Jonasa Ravukitiliva

He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

The dugout1 May 2028

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Viliame Naranayanan, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

In brief

91 Edition

The Navua Chronicle

24 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad24 Apr 2028

31 days out for Epeli Kumar after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Navua will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market24 Apr 2028

Jovilisi Borisi hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Navua can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings24 Apr 2028

Maleli Nailatikau, 17, plays like he has been here for years — 7.77

A mark of 7.77 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 17-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Market24 Apr 2028

Roy Waqa is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Navua is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad24 Apr 2028

A row about effort at Navua

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriele Matanisiga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match22 Apr 2028

Navua come up short against Lautoka

Lautoka left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout24 Apr 2028

Zainal Ali frozen out at Navua

This is not rotation. Zainal Ali has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Navua is pretending otherwise.

Squad24 Apr 2028

Words exchanged at Navua

Jovilisi Borisi 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.

The dugout24 Apr 2028

Viliame Naranayanan: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief

90 Edition

The Navua Chronicle

17 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad17 Apr 2028

Epeli Kumar breaks a bone — 38 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match17 Apr 2028

Navua refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 10 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Player ratings17 Apr 2028

Maleli Matai, 15, steals the show — 7.73

Marked 7.73 at 15, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Market17 Apr 2028

Only the photograph left for Laisenia Cama

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Laisenia Cama will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Navua the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Player ratings17 Apr 2028

Jack Wale beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout17 Apr 2028

Filipe Baravilala frozen out at Navua

This is not rotation. Filipe Baravilala has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Navua is pretending otherwise.

Squad17 Apr 2028

Words at Navua training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriele Matanisiga 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 terraces17 Apr 2028

Navua supporters have found a favourite in Maleli Matai

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 15-year-old it feels ownership of. Maleli Matai 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.

Squad17 Apr 2028

Tempers go at Navua

Jovilisi Borisi 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.

In brief

89 Edition

The Navua Chronicle

10 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match8 Apr 2028

Chastening afternoon for Navua

A 1‑4 beating by Suva was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Squad10 Apr 2028

Epeli Kumar breaks a bone — 45 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings10 Apr 2028

Marlon Swamy, 15, steals the show — 7.62

Marked 7.62 at 15, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Market10 Apr 2028

Akuila Tuinakauvadra is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Navua is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

The dugout10 Apr 2028

Christopher Lal frozen out at Navua

This is not rotation. Christopher Lal has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Navua is pretending otherwise.

Squad10 Apr 2028

Jovilisi Borisi 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 Navua this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market10 Apr 2028

Jack Wale told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Jack Wale has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Navua.

Boardroom10 Apr 2028

Inquest at Navua

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

The dugout10 Apr 2028

Viliame Naranayanan: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief