7 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.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Samuel Navoce 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.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Nobody at Labasa is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Labasa can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aporosa Yada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
5 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilaisa Vulimainavuso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
In brief
The dugoutNemani Dolodai asks for a word with the manager
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
4 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.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
0‑1 to Tailevu Naitasiri, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Aporosa Yada 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Labasa, another week without a signature from Charlie Moody.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Charlie Moody trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Tailevu Naitasiri in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
Christopher Wasasala scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Lautoka, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Samuel Navoce 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Labasa this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Labasa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Labasa and Navua, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Samuel Navoce 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 2‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Beaten 4 times, 5 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“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 Labasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
11 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aporosa Yada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Alipate Sauturaga clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
There is nobody left to promote and nobody left to run a session. The board have brought in a name the supporters do not know, and the question of how a club gets here will outlast whoever answers it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nemani Dolodai provided it, and the 8.53 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
Maro Edirin could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.29
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.29, 0 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Interim Coach recited it perfectly.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Nadroga were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Position 10 and 14 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Labasa can pretend not to have heard.
Nemani Dolodai and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Samuel Navoce 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.
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Labasa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 Labasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aporosa Yada 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.
Nobody at Labasa 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.
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Labasa could ask drops and the wages Charlie Moody can ask rise.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Labasa asked and Nadi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Aporosa Yada 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.
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 Nemani Dolodai is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lebogang Mokotjo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Alipate Sauturaga has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
“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 Labasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Labasa is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
In brief
SquadWords at Labasa training over how hard people work
Nemani Dolodai and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aporosa Yada 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 club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Labasa this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Labasa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aporosa Yada 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.
Nobody at Labasa 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Nemani Dolodai 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 approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Samuel Navoce 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.
Nobody at Labasa 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Labasa can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Labasa had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Rewa, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Suva have kept their man, and Labasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aporosa Yada 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.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
“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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaisa Vulimainavuso 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Labasa has been clear about where Ashnil Raju stands, which is more than many ever get.
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Labasa this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
In brief
The dugoutAporosa Yada has become a man the manager trusts
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Navoce 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.
Nobody at Labasa 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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“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 Labasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Aporosa Yada 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.
Nobody at Labasa 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.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Aporosa Yada 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Labasa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Labasa, another week without a signature from Muayad Al-Karnib.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Labasa would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Position 10 and 14 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Nemani Dolodai and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Navoce 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 manager has a list and the board has a condition attached to it. That is not a crisis — half of football works this way — but it decides which of the two of them gets his way in August.
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 Aporosa Yada is on it.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Iowane Matanisiga is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aporosa Yada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shivneet Sami 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.
Something was said to Netani Suluka and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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 Iowane Matanisiga is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Labasa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Navoce 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.
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 Nemani Dolodai is on it.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Labasa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Alipate Sauturaga has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Samuel Navoce 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 manager has a list and the board has a condition attached to it. That is not a crisis — half of football works this way — but it decides which of the two of them gets his way in August.
Nobody at Labasa 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aporosa Yada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Aporosa Yada 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.
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 Iowane Matanisiga is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Labasa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Labasa. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
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.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Navoce 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aporosa Yada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Labasa this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Labasa can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Navoce was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Labasa has been clear about where Sailimone Ravonokula stands, which is more than many ever get.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Lebogang Mokotjo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Iowane Matanisiga is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Netani Suluka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Labasa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aporosa Yada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Labasa 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lebogang Mokotjo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Labasa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaisa Vulimainavuso 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Labasa are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Labasa this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
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 board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Maro Edirin has just signed for Labasa, and for once the answer mattered.
This is not rotation. Samuel Navoce has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Labasa is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 9 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at Labasa until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Samuel Navoce 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.
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aporosa Yada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Labasa will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
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 Sekove Naivakananumi is on it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Labasa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Akeimi Ralulu 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.
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 Nemani Dolodai is on it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sailimone Ravonokula and Labasa agree another 3 years.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Samuel Navoce 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.
Nobody at Labasa 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
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.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Labasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Lebogang Mokotjo 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.
This is not rotation. Sahil Deo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Labasa is pretending otherwise.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Akeimi Ralulu 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.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Labasa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Labasa have done the hard part with Rewa, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sailose Tawake was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Nemani Dolodai is on it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Jitoko Vulava
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Labasa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rewa have kept their man, and Labasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Akeimi Ralulu 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.
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.
Nobody at Labasa 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Labasa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 10 on 14 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
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.
Labasa asked and Lautoka said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Labasa can pretend not to have heard.
7.54, 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Labasa and Nadi in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
“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 Labasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kartik Sharma will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Labasa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Akeimi Ralulu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The terraces19 Jun 2028
A cup hiding at Ba leaves Labasa explaining themselves
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
The deal with Ba 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.
4 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Labasa 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aporosa Yada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“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 Labasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Suva 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.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
This is not rotation. Sahil Deo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Labasa is pretending otherwise.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Akeimi Ralulu 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 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Aporosa Yada decided nobody was going anywhere. Navua had no time left to answer.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Labasa can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Labasa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Aporosa Yada. 1‑0 against Navua, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.16 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aporosa Yada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lebogang Mokotjo is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aporosa Yada 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.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.68, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“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 dugout22 May 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Alipate Sauturaga to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutAkeimi Ralulu dropped after a run of poor form
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Labasa can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Akeimi Ralulu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Lebogang Mokotjo 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Labasa can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aporosa Yada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Looking aheadLabasa face Nadroga in the game that matters most
“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 Labasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Labasa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Lebogang Mokotjo 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 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.
4 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sailose Tawake, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Alipate Sauturaga to a room that had heard them before.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Akeimi Ralulu 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sailose Tawake was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Alipate Sauturaga to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Labasa 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.
Nemani Dolodai 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Alipate Sauturaga to a room that had heard them before.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Labasa has been clear about where Simione Ragoneturaga stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Iliesa Lino 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kartik Sharma will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Labasa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
13 combined actions and 7.11. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Nemani Dolodai 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 award goes to Netani Suluka, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Alipate Sauturaga to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
SquadAkeimi Ralulu falls out with a teammate over standards
This is not rotation. Netani Suluka has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Labasa is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aporosa Yada 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.
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 Iowane Matanisiga is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Joji Vuakaca trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Lautoka next, and one man in the Labasa dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aporosa Yada signs something — a contract at Labasa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 91th minute. Navua will replay every second of the added time for a week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.41, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaisa Vulimainavuso 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Aporosa Yada 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.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 13 combined actions and a mark of 7.50, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Netani Suluka. 2‑1 against Suva, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Akeimi Ralulu 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Alipate Sauturaga could afford to be generous.
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 Aporosa Yada is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samuel Navoce trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Iliesa Lino's mistake
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Labasa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Lebogang Mokotjo 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 morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aporosa Yada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Maleli Cama has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Maleli Raju has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Amani Cama is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilaisa Vulimainavuso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aporosa Yada signs something — a contract at Labasa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Akeimi Ralulu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aporosa Yada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
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 Nemani Dolodai is on it.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Alipate Sauturaga has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Labasa close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Labasa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Lebogang Mokotjo 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Navoce 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.
Nobody at Labasa 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.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Lebogang Mokotjo's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Iliesa Lino'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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Labasa can pretend not to have heard.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Labasa will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
This is not rotation. Netani Suluka has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Labasa is pretending otherwise.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Akeimi Ralulu 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.
Nobody at Labasa 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aporosa Yada signs something — a contract at Labasa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Labasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
This is not rotation. Sahil Deo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Labasa is pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aporosa Yada 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sailimone Ravonokula and Labasa agree another 3 years.
Nobody at Labasa 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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Labasa can pretend not to have heard.
Lebogang Mokotjo 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aporosa Yada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lebogang Mokotjo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Labasa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 Labasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Labasa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Aporosa Yada 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Akeimi Ralulu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Ilaisa Vulimainavuso and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
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 board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Labasa have had the benefit of it.
This is not rotation. Netani Suluka has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Labasa is pretending otherwise.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Aporosa Yada 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.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
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 Iowane Matanisiga is on it.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Iowane Matanisiga was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
This is not rotation. Sahil Deo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Labasa is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Aporosa Yada 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.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Nobody at Labasa 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Akeimi Ralulu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kartik Sharma will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Labasa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aporosa Yada 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samuel Navoce trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Alipate Sauturaga has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Aporosa Yada 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Akeimi Ralulu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Lebogang Mokotjo's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samuel Navoce trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Lebogang Mokotjo 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.
This is not rotation. Sahil Deo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Labasa is pretending otherwise.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Akeimi Ralulu 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.
18 games, 3 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Labasa now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lebogang Mokotjo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aporosa Yada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sailimone Ravonokula trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Labasa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Labasa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aporosa Yada 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 dugout15 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Iliesa Lino'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.
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Labasa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Akeimi Ralulu 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.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
4 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.
Nobody at Labasa 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.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Iowane Matanisiga is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Labasa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Lebogang Mokotjo 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.
This is not rotation. Sahil Deo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Labasa is pretending otherwise.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aporosa Yada 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.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Iowane Matanisiga was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
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 Sekove Naivakananumi is on it.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Labasa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilaisa Vulimainavuso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samuel Navoce trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Nemani Dolodai is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Labasa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Labasa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Akeimi Ralulu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Labasa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Iliesa Lino 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 words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Labasa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Lebogang Mokotjo 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Aporosa Yada 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Labasa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Labasa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Position 9 and 17 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Alipate Sauturaga has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Labasa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Aporosa Yada 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.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Lebogang Mokotjo is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Labasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Akeimi Ralulu 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.
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 Nemani Dolodai is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 40 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kartik Sharma will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Labasa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aporosa Yada 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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.
“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 Labasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Labasa asked and Lautoka said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Akeimi Ralulu 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.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
“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.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Alipate Sauturaga left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Labasa can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Labasa can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Labasa close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Aporosa Yada 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 approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Akeimi Ralulu 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“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 Labasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Nasinu waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Labasa is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aporosa Yada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 6 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
Labasa 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aporosa Yada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Kartik Sharma again, and this time the name on the line is Nasinu. Labasa are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Aporosa Yada is on it.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Iliesa Lino'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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Labasa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Labasa can pretend not to have heard.
Labasa asked and Nadi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Akeimi Ralulu 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.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
Nobody at Labasa 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Labasa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Labasa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
3 goals in 18 games at Rewa — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Labasa updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Position 9 and 17 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Tailevu Naitasiri waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Labasa is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rewa have kept their man, and Labasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aporosa Yada 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.
Nemani Dolodai 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Kartik Sharma has come up in conversations Labasa were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Sitiveni Rakai is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Labasa has been clear about where Sahil Deo stands, which is more than many ever get.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Labasa can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Labasa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Akeimi Ralulu 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Labasa 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Labasa people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Akeimi Ralulu 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.
Labasa asked and Lautoka said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sitiveni Rakai 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.
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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Labasa told Jone Lalagavesi something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Labasa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 9 and 17 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Position 9 on 17 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
1 for Jone Lalagavesi, marked 7.81, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Akeimi Ralulu 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Jone Lalagavesi 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.
Add another name to the list: Navua have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Kartik Sharma. The answer from Labasa has not changed — yet.
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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Tailevu Naitasiri waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Labasa is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Labasa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Akeimi Ralulu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Labasa, another week without a signature from Joji Vuakaca.
Akeimi Ralulu 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Labasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Nobody at Labasa 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.
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Labasa lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Iliesa Lino'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.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Labasa scored in the 115th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Simione Ragoneturaga 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.
Add another name to the list: Nadroga have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Kartik Sharma. The answer from Labasa has not changed — yet.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.15, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aporosa Yada 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Simione Ragoneturaga, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
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.” Alipate Sauturaga, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Position 10 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Labasa can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Up for the corner, and Samuel Navoce delivers — 7.85
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Samuel Navoce scored, was marked 7.85, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Labasa and Tailevu Naitasiri, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Akeimi Ralulu 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.
Aporosa Yada 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Tailevu Naitasiri waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Labasa is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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.
“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 Labasa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Akeimi Ralulu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.