The Suva Courier
Squad23 Aug 2027
15 days out for Patrick Matai after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Suva will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match23 Aug 2027
Suva up to position 3
30 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
The paperwork begins on Jonasa Ravukitiliva
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Suva have done the hard part with Nadi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Suva
Seb Stacey 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.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
Door shut on Lauren Bali
Suva asked and Nasinu said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Salesitino Caucau
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Amitesh Krishna 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 dugout23 Aug 2027
Peniasi Rotidara 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 Suva, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market23 Aug 2027
The Simione Nabenu story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Simione Nabenu signs something — a contract at Suva or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
- The dugout Amitesh Krishna has become a man the manager trusts
- Squad Questions about Simione Nabenu on the training pitch