“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The clubs have shaken hands with Tailevu Naitasiri; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Nasinu, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tito Baledrokadroka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Jone Naraba 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.
At 21 nothing has moved for months. Not backwards, which would at least be a conversation — simply nowhere, and somebody at the club has to decide whose fault that is.
The words a physio says slowly. 15 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nasinu can pretend not to have heard.
Jone Naraba 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 Dec 2026
Amani Makoe 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.
43 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Nasinu lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Amani Makoe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
50 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Nasinu lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Jone Naraba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Amani Makoe 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.
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.
57 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Nasinu lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nasinu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Amani Begg is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Osea Tuinakauvadra has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Nasinu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amani Makoe 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.
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Nasinu lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Jone Naraba 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.
100 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nasinu lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nasinu can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Jone Naraba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
8 new faces, and Nasinu 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 107 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nasinu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Ashok Kumar 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nasinu, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Nasinu could ask drops and the wages Lauren Bali can ask rise.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Amani Makoe on the training pitch
Out, 1‑1 to Tailevu Naitasiri, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nasinu can pretend not to have heard.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nadi have kept their man, and Nasinu go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Nasinu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Waisake Navunigasau 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.
Jone Naraba 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.
Nasinu asked and Rewa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Josaia Nailatikau has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Amani Swamy has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nasinu can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Waisake Navunigasau was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Jone Naraba 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Nasinu, another week without a signature from Waisake Navunigasau.
Squad3 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and Nasinu 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.