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.
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.
Joji Vuakaca 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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sitiveni Rakai signs something — a contract at Labasa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Christopher Wasasala 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 Joji Vuakaca 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.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Lautoka 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.
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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
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.
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. 49 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.
Joji Vuakaca 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.
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.
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.
“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.
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joji Vuakaca 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.
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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Viliame Prasad is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Akuila Kalounaiwai 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. Malakai Baledrokadroka 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.
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 6 on 25 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joji Vuakaca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Labasa have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A mark of 7.61 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 14-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Labasa told Simione Ragoneturaga something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutAporosa Yada has become a man the manager trusts
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Successful dribbles: 30. 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.
The hardest thing about being 14 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ratu Nabenia did not need any: 8.29, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Jone Lalagavesi scored, was marked 7.06, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joji Vuakaca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
He is 14 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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.
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joji Vuakaca 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Iliesa Lino
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.
“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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.85 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Christopher Wasasala. 2‑0 against Tailevu Naitasiri, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 100 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad31 May 2027
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.
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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Dave Drudru could afford to be generous.
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.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Christopher Wasasala provided it, and the 9.15 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Labasa and Navua, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Joji Vuakaca 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.
Marked 9.55 — 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 Ilaisa Vulimainavuso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sekove Naivakananumi 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 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joji Vuakaca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Maleli Nawalu 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad3 May 2027
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.
Half the programme played, position 4, 15 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nadroga 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.
In brief
The dugoutAkeimi Ralulu asks for a word with the manager
“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.
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.
“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.
Defensive actions: 16, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Dave Drudru kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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.
A 1‑0 win over Nasinu, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad19 Apr 2027
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.
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.
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.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.96, and 2 involvements.
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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Filipe Tuyaga is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Peni Tuisese 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.
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 point taken on 95 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
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.
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.
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 touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Labasa will not try tonight.
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.
Sekove Naivakananumi 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.
0‑2 to Lautoka, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad29 Mar 2027
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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Off the academy pitches and onto a senior team sheet at 14. The debut is the easy part; the second appearance is the one every young player has to earn.
“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.
Anare Goundar, 15, plays like he has been here for years — 7.64
A mark of 7.64 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 15-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
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.
With 6 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Navua scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
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.
A performance of 8.27 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simione Ragoneturaga 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Dave Drudru on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Christopher Wasasala was the best thing in any of them.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
9.32. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help 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 dugout8 Mar 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.” Dave Drudru, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.
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.
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.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Nadroga in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Misaele Tiko 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joji Vuakaca 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.
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.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Taniela Matai is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Aporosa Tuisese 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.
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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Labasa close the window on a squad of their own making
2 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.
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.
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
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.
Ashnil Raju 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 Aporosa Yada is on it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joji Vuakaca 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 dugout25 Jan 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Misaele Tiko'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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 58 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
“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 Ilaisa Vulimainavuso 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.
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.
Everything agreed with Tailevu Naitasiri, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Tailevu Naitasiri is saying, and nobody at Labasa is enjoying the guessing.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ratu Nabenia is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Alipate Tuyaga 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.
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.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Labasa have done the hard part with Tailevu Naitasiri, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
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.
Tailevu Naitasiri have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
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 registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
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.
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.
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.
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 dugout28 Dec 2026
Misaele Tiko 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.
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.
“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.
Christopher Wasasala was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadWords at Labasa training over how hard people work
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.
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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Christopher Prasad 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Christopher Matai 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joji Vuakaca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Iowane Matanisiga signs something — a contract at Labasa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
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.
Squad7 Dec 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 108 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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joji Vuakaca 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.
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.
5 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.
Iowane Matanisiga 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 no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Marlon Raju 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.
Squad9 Nov 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.
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.
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.
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.
Squad2 Nov 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.
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.
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.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Netani Suluka on the training pitch
Ashnil Raju and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 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.
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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Iowane Matanisiga signs something — a contract at Labasa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joji Vuakaca 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.
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.
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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
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.
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 Ilaisa Vulimainavuso 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.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Sitiveni Rakai are not good
Iowane Matanisiga and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Labasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joji Vuakaca 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 been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Iowane Matanisiga signs something — a contract at Labasa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Sekove Naivakananumi 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Alipate Tuyaga 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. Rusiate Tuinakauvadra is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The clock did what Rewa would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
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.
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.
Labasa spent the window trying to move Luke Savu on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
In brief
SquadJoji Vuakaca is not doing himself any favours
$4.0K settles it between the clubs for Uzayr Buksh
Rewa have accepted the money. What Labasa do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 8 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Ashnil Raju 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.
Labasa ran out of time with Tailevu Naitasiri. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
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.
5 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Labasa and Lautoka, 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.
“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 dugout31 Aug 2026
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 3‑4 Dave Drudru left the room before anybody could ask which.
Going 2 down does something to a side, and what it usually does is finish them. Not here. Labasa rebuilt the afternoon goal by goal, and Navua had no answer to any of it.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Lautoka is saying, and nobody at Labasa is enjoying the guessing.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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.
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.
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 no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Samuela Begg 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Anare Goundar 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. Amani Verevou 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. Misaele 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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.