From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.
Market14 Sep 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Iowane Matanisiga’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 14 in, 1 out at Labasa
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 14 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Rewa keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lautoka have kept their man, and Labasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Labasa
Sekove Naivakananumi 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Labasa
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Samuel Navoce moves up the pecking order
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Labasa than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Market7 Sep 2026
The name of Christopher Wasasala keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Labasa say nothing, which says plenty.
Market7 Sep 2026
Luke Savu leaves for nothing
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Luke Savu leaves Labasa the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Market7 Sep 2026
The window shut and Misaele Hughes is still in the building
Labasa spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
4 Labasa players away with their countries
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 4 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Misaele Singh and Labasa agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Joji Vuakaca 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 dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Eparama Moraica
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Aug 2026
Labasa bow out of the cup
Navua go through and Labasa go home, 2‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad24 Aug 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nadroga have kept their man, and Labasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Labasa
Sekove Naivakananumi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.01 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Labasa
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 dugout24 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Nadi, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Labasa
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Luke Savu may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
Misaele Hughes knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Labasa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Alipate Nakaci 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ratu Hughes has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Taniela Tiko 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sitiveni Nawalu is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sitiveni Rakai and Labasa agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Labasa
Iowane Matanisiga 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Labasa
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.
Market3 Aug 2026
36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
5 new faces, and Labasa are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
In brief
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Market
Luke Savu is free to find somewhere else
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Market
Luke Savu’s agent stirs the pot again