20 Aug 2027
Friday
Process
55 Edition

The Rewa Herald

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Beniamino Lebatavatava breaks a bone — 37 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

The dugout

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Squad

Words exchanged at Rewa

Isikeli Sevanaia 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.

Transfer targets

Rewa rebuffed over Maleli Kaumaitotoya

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nadi have kept their man, and Rewa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The dugout

No hiding place for Asivorosi Rabo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Asivorosi Rabo, and the manager let it.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Rusiate Nabenia is in the works

Rewa have made the call to Nadroga. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

Transfer targets

Rewa ask about Ratu Lal

A loan enquiry to Nadi: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Squad

A row about effort at Rewa

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and James Pillay was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Josaia Sela gets picked when it counts

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 Josaia Sela is on it.

In brief

Back issues
54 Edition

The Rewa Herald

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

44 days out for Beniamino Lebatavatava after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rewa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

The view from the top for Rewa

36 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.

The dugout

Setareki Waqa says Rewa went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Tempers go at Rewa

Isikeli Sevanaia 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.

Squad

Nickel Qaraniqio signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nickel Qaraniqio commits to Rewa for another 3 years.

Market

Akuila Kaumaitotoya steps up from the Rewa academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Akuila Kaumaitotoya 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.

Market

Ratu Lal steps up from the Rewa academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ratu Lal 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 dugout

Leon Kofana has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Rewa 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.

Market

Still no ink between Rewa and Raj Pillay

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Rewa, another week without a signature from Raj Pillay.

In brief

53 Edition

The Rewa Herald

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Beniamino Lebatavatava out for 51 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Isikeli Sevanaia in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rewa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

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Squad

Setareki Hughes is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Setareki Hughes has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.

Squad

Neemish Prasad stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Neemish Prasad and Rewa agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

When it matters, Raj Pillay plays

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 dugout

No hiding place for Neemish Prasad

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Neemish Prasad, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Nickel Qaraniqio 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 Rewa, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

The Leon Kofana talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rewa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

52 Edition

The Rewa Herald

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Beniamino Lebatavatava breaks a bone — 58 days out

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.

Market

Beniamino Lebatavatava asks to leave Rewa

“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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Epeli Valevou

“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.

Squad

Dave Krishna signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dave Krishna commits to Rewa for another 3 years.

Boardroom

The numbers do not look good at Rewa

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.

The dugout

Tevita Waranaivalu gets picked when it counts

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 Tevita Waranaivalu is on it.

Squad

Jonetani Buksh 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.

Market

The Gabriele Matanisiga story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gabriele Matanisiga signs something — a contract at Rewa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

51 Edition

The Rewa Herald

19 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Beniamino Lebatavatava breaks a bone — 65 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Dave Jale

20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Rewa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

The dugout

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Squad

A falling-out at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Rewa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. James Pillay 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 dugout

Josaia Sela gets picked when it counts

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 Josaia Sela is on it.

In brief

50 Edition

The Rewa Herald

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Beniamino Lebatavatava breaks a bone — 72 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

The knee: Dave Jale out for 27 days

27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Rewa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match

Nobody above Rewa

First, on 36 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.

Squad

Tevita Waranaivalu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rewa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

One of our own: Epeli Prasad joins the Rewa first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Epeli Prasad is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

One of our own: Dave Krishna joins the Rewa first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Dave Krishna is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

One of our own: Dave Jale joins the Rewa first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Dave Jale is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

One of our own: Tuimasi Ravai joins the Rewa first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Tuimasi Ravai is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Squad

A row about effort at Rewa

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and James Pillay was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

49 Edition

The Rewa Herald

5 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Beniamino Lebatavatava out for 79 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

The season ends: position 1 for Rewa

The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 36 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.

Market

Ratu Matai hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rewa can pretend not to have heard.

Transfer targets

The paperwork begins on Nickel Prasad

A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Rewa have done the hard part with Nadroga, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.

Squad

Tempers go at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Jonasa Ravukitiliva

Rewa 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Rewa against Navua

1‑2 to Navua, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Match

Navua end the Rewa run at 4

Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.

Squad

The month belongs to Josaia Sela

The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Rewa have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.

In brief

  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • Player ratings Nobody could get near Asivorosi Rabo
  • Boardroom Intake day at the Rewa academy
48 Edition

The Rewa Herald

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

A fracture rules Beniamino Lebatavatava out for 86 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

A brace, and Josaia Sela takes the afternoon — 8.91

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Josaia Sela provided it, and the 8.91 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Asivorosi Rabo runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Rewa make it 4 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Rewa have 4 straight wins of it.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Match

Rewa find a way past Suva

Suva made Rewa work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Looking ahead

The big one: Navua come into view

Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Rewa will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.

The dugout

Epeli Valevou gets it from the manager

“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 dugout

A satisfied Roy Baledrokadroka

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Roy Baledrokadroka could afford to be generous.

In brief

47 Edition

The Rewa Herald

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

A fracture rules Beniamino Lebatavatava out for 93 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Rewa march on in the cup

Tailevu Naitasiri are out and Rewa go through, 4‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Match

Rewa make home a hard place to visit

12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.

Market

Keni Cagi asks to leave Rewa

“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.

The dugout

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Squad

A falling-out at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Saula Waqa

13 goals and a season average of 7.25 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

Leon Kofana the difference as Rewa beat Nadroga

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Leon Kofana. 2‑1 against Nadroga, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Josaia Sela runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

46 Edition

The Rewa Herald

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Beniamino Lebatavatava out for 100 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Rewa run riot against Labasa

4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Match

Nobody above Rewa

First, on 30 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.

Player ratings

A brace, and Saula Waqa takes the afternoon — 9.17

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Saula Waqa provided it, and the 9.17 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Jitoko Vulava asks to leave Rewa

“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.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Raj Pillay delivers — 7.81

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Raj Pillay scored, was marked 7.81, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Match

Nobody wins at Rewa

11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Squad

Tevita Waranaivalu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rewa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The terraces

Rewa supporters have found a favourite in Asivorosi Rabo

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Asivorosi Rabo 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.

In brief

45 Edition

The Rewa Herald

7 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

107 days out for Beniamino Lebatavatava after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rewa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Player ratings

Delon Shankar was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 28. 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.

Market

Peniame Drova asks to leave Rewa

“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.

Match

Nadi end the Rewa run at 9

Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 9 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.

Squad

Saula Waqa makes the wrong kind of headline

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Squad

Leon Kofana signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Leon Kofana commits to Rewa for another 4 years.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Jonasa Ravukitiliva

Rewa 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.

Match

Nadi take the points off Rewa

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

In brief

  • The dugout No hiding place for Isikeli Sevanaia
  • Looking ahead The big one: Labasa come into view
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
44 Edition

The Rewa Herald

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

114 days out for Beniamino Lebatavatava after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rewa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

Rewa run riot against Nasinu

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

Both of them Nickel Qaraniqio's — 8.75

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.75, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Match

Nobody wants to play Rewa right now

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.

Match

Rewa make home a hard place to visit

10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Player ratings

Delon Shankar beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The terraces

Rewa supporters have found a favourite in Nickel Qaraniqio

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 14-year-old it feels ownership of. Nickel Qaraniqio 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.

Looking ahead

Top-of-the-table clash for Rewa

Nadi next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.

In brief

43 Edition

The Rewa Herald

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Beniamino Lebatavatava breaks a bone — 121 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 121 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

A brace, and Saula Waqa takes the afternoon — 9.02

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Saula Waqa provided it, and the 9.02 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Beniamino Lebatavatava puts it in writing

“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 Rewa, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

8 unbeaten for Rewa

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Rewa did not have in the autumn.

Squad

A falling-out at Rewa

Setareki Hughes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

The run at home goes on for Rewa

9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

Match

Rewa get the job done against Ba

A 3‑1 win over Ba, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

The terraces

One of their own: Delon Shankar

He is 20 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.

Player ratings

Josaia Sela was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.21. 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.

In brief

42 Edition

The Rewa Herald

17 May 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

128 days out for Beniamino Lebatavatava after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rewa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

Nobody above Rewa

First, on 21 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Delon Shankar

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Whatever happens, Rewa do not lose

7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Tevita Waranaivalu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rewa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The terraces

One of their own: Asivorosi Rabo

He is 22 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.

Match

Rewa find a way past Tailevu Naitasiri

Tailevu Naitasiri made Rewa work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

One of those days for Josaia Sela

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.

The dugout

A satisfied Roy Baledrokadroka

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Roy Baledrokadroka could afford to be generous.

In brief

41 Edition

The Rewa Herald

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tevita Waranaivalu breaks a bone — 33 days out

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.

The dugout

Epeli Valevou says Rewa went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Jitoko Vulava puts it in writing

“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 Rewa, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Rewa

The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Match

Rewa make home a hard place to visit

8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Neemish Prasad

“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 dugout

Roy Baledrokadroka: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

Squad

A row about effort at Rewa

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and James Pillay was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

40 Edition

The Rewa Herald

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Tevita Waranaivalu out for 40 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

Setareki Hughes scores twice — 9.58

Two goals and a mark of 9.58 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

Both of them Josaia Sela's — 8.32

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.32, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Match

Josaia Sela the difference as Rewa beat Navua

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Josaia Sela. 5‑3 against Navua, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Rewa and Navua in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Saula Waqa at his very best

Marked 9.18. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Rewa.

Match

Rewa leaking at the back

4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

Squad

Tuimasi Verevou 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.

In brief

  • Looking ahead Top-of-the-table clash for Rewa
  • Match The half-term report on Rewa
  • The dugout No hiding place for Epeli Valevou
39 Edition

The Rewa Herald

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Tevita Waranaivalu out for 47 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Beniamino Lebatavatava hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rewa can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Nickel Qaraniqio at 14 — 7.91

The hardest thing about being 14 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nickel Qaraniqio did not need any: 7.91, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Squad

A falling-out at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Setareki Hughes

Marked 8.24 — 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.

Match

Two points walk out of the ground

Level with 96 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Rewa had all but put away. Suva will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.

Player ratings

Merrill Nand was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 16. 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.

Match

Rewa and Suva take a point apiece

It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Boardroom

Belts tighten at Rewa

The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.

In brief

  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • Looking ahead Rewa take on the side everybody is chasing
  • The dugout When it matters, Josaia Sela plays
38 Edition

The Rewa Herald

19 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Tevita Waranaivalu breaks a bone — 54 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Rewa refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 13 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

Saula Waqa takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Squad

A falling-out at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Josaia Sela

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Saula Waqa was on a different afternoon to everybody else

9.61. 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.

Match

Rewa see off Nadroga

Three points for Rewa, 3‑2 the final word against Nadroga in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Match

Nadroga blown away early

There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Nadroga tried to reorganise, Rewa did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.

The dugout

No hiding place for Tuimasi Verevou

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tuimasi Verevou, and the manager let it.

In brief

37 Edition

The Rewa Herald

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tevita Waranaivalu breaks a bone — 61 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Market

One of our own: Misaele Singh joins the Rewa first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Misaele Singh is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Isikeli Sevanaia

“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.

Squad

Neemish Prasad out for 17 days

The medical room confirms 17 days on the sidelines for Neemish Prasad, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Setareki Hughes

Marked 8.32 — 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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Saula Waqa

Marked 8.09 — 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.

Squad

Delon Shankar stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Delon Shankar and Rewa agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

Two points walk out of the ground

Level with 95 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Rewa had all but put away. Labasa will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.

In brief

36 Edition

The Rewa Herald

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Tevita Waranaivalu out for 68 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

Delon Shankar was unplayable

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Match

Setareki Hughes the difference as Rewa beat Nadi

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Setareki Hughes. 1‑0 against Nadi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Setareki Hughes

Marked 8.03 — 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.

The dugout

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.” Roy Baledrokadroka, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

The dugout

No hiding place for Jonetani Buksh

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jonetani Buksh, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Gabriele Matanisiga left out for tactical reasons at Rewa

The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Setareki Waqa

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

In brief

35 Edition

The Rewa Herald

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

76 days out for Tevita Waranaivalu after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rewa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Jitoko Vulava hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rewa can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tevita Waranaivalu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rewa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Nasinu take the points off Rewa

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Merrill Nand at his very best

Marked 8.07. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Rewa.

The dugout

Roy Baledrokadroka faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Roy Baledrokadroka after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

Boardroom

Belts tighten at Rewa

The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Neemish Prasad

“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.

Squad

A row about effort at Rewa

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and James Pillay was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

34 Edition

The Rewa Herald

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

A fracture rules Tevita Waranaivalu out for 84 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

A brace, and Saula Waqa takes the afternoon — 8.70

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Saula Waqa provided it, and the 8.70 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

The dugout

Saula Waqa keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rewa may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

A falling-out at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Rewa see off Ba

Three points for Rewa, 2‑1 the final word against Ba in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Delon Shankar

At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

The dugout

Epeli Valevou gets it from the manager

“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 dugout

Roy Baledrokadroka has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Roy Baledrokadroka on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

The dugout

Tevita Waranaivalu gets picked when it counts

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 Tevita Waranaivalu is on it.

In brief

33 Edition

The Rewa Herald

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

A fracture rules Tevita Waranaivalu out for 92 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Cruel end for Tailevu Naitasiri as Rewa pounce

There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Rewa scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.

Market

Beniamino Lebatavatava hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rewa can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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 terraces

Rewa supporters have found a favourite in Nickel Qaraniqio

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 14-year-old it feels ownership of. Nickel Qaraniqio 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.

Player ratings

Josaia Sela was unplayable

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.

Match

Rewa get the job done against Tailevu Naitasiri

A 1‑0 win over Tailevu Naitasiri, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Nickel Qaraniqio takes the honours

Marked 7.36 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Rewa had the best player on the pitch.

The dugout

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.” Roy Baledrokadroka, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

In brief

  • Squad A row about effort at Rewa
  • The dugout Josaia Sela has become a man the manager trusts
  • The dugout A promise honoured for Ratu Matai
32 Edition

The Rewa Herald

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Tempers go at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Match

Rewa come up short against Lautoka

Lautoka left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Setareki Hughes stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.98 on the card, and the Rewa support went home talking about one name.

The dugout

Roy Baledrokadroka: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

Player ratings

Merrill Nand was unplayable

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.

Squad

Rewa are still strangers to each other

5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

Boardroom

No investment in the facilities at Rewa

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.

Squad

James Pillay 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 dugout

No hiding place for Mervin Chand

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mervin Chand, and the manager let it.

In brief

31 Edition

The Rewa Herald

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Jitoko Vulava puts it in writing

“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 Rewa, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tevita Waranaivalu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rewa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Peniame Drova is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Peniame Drova has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.

Boardroom

Rewa counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Rewa now.

Squad

Keni Cagi 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 dugout

Asivorosi Rabo has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Rewa 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.

Looking ahead

A reunion for Isikeli Sevanaia

He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Lautoka in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.

Market

Setareki Hughes linked with a move away

The name of Setareki Hughes keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Rewa say nothing, which says plenty.

Squad

Peniame Drova keeps his options open

“I will play as long as the body lets me and stop the day it does not.” He is 36, with 101 appearances behind him, and the club has to plan for a decision that is not yet made.

In brief

30 Edition

The Rewa Herald

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A falling-out at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Viliame Tiko signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Viliame Tiko and Rewa agree another 3 years.

The dugout

Tevita Waranaivalu has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Rewa 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 dugout

Peniame Drova knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Peniame Drova trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

Viliame Tiko gets it from the manager

“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.

Market

The Isikeli Sevanaia question follows Rewa around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Isikeli Sevanaia’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

29 Edition

The Rewa Herald

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

19 days out for Epeli Valevou after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rewa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Rewa

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonetani Buksh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

When it matters, Josaia Sela plays

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.

Squad

Newton Tabe is a square peg at Rewa

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

The dugout

Peniame Drova knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Peniame Drova trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

28 Edition

The Rewa Herald

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

26 days out for Epeli Valevou after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rewa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Beniamino Lebatavatava hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rewa can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

Peniame Drova says Rewa went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Tempers go at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Market

One of our own: Viliame Tiko joins the Rewa first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Viliame Tiko is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Rewa promote Peni Prasad from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Peni 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.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Rewa

5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

Squad

A row about effort at Rewa

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and James Pillay was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Leon Kofana has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Rewa 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

27 Edition

The Rewa Herald

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

33 days out for Epeli Valevou after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rewa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Jitoko Vulava puts it in writing

“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 Rewa, and it is not being withdrawn.

Boardroom

Rewa 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.

Squad

Tevita Waranaivalu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rewa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Raj Pillay signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Raj Pillay and Rewa agree another 3 years.

Boardroom

Rewa counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Rewa now.

The dugout

Asivorosi Rabo has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Rewa 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.

Market

Setareki Hughes linked with a move away

The name of Setareki Hughes keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Rewa say nothing, which says plenty.

Market

Nobody at Rewa has picked up the phone to Jonetani Buksh

11 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.

In brief

26 Edition

The Rewa Herald

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Epeli Valevou out for 40 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Merrill Nand puts it in writing

“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 Rewa, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Rewa say no — this time

The offer from Labasa for Nickel Qaraniqio was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

A falling-out at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Rewa lose Anare Naitura

14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

The dugout

Tevita Waranaivalu has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Rewa 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.

Squad

James Pillay 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 dugout

Ratu Matai gets it from the manager

“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.

Market

The Isikeli Sevanaia question follows Rewa around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Isikeli Sevanaia’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

25 Edition

The Rewa Herald

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Epeli Valevou out for 48 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Rewa

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Keni Cagi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Josaia Sela gets picked when it counts

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 Josaia Sela is on it.

Squad

No place for Jonetani Buksh in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Rewa are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

Market

The Gabriele Matanisiga story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gabriele Matanisiga signs something — a contract at Rewa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

24 Edition

The Rewa Herald

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Epeli Valevou out for 55 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Jonetani Buksh is a Rewa player again

He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.

Squad

Tempers go at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Squad

Rewa lose Neemish Prasad

28 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

The dugout

Peniame Drova gets it from the manager

“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.

Squad

The formation has left Saula Waqa behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Rewa will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

Market

Jonetani Buksh already looking beyond Rewa

He signed expecting a bigger stage than the one he found. It has not taken long, and it has not taken the dressing room long to notice either.

The dugout

Leon Kofana gets picked when it counts

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 Leon Kofana is on it.

Market

Peniame Drova placed on the list

Rewa have made Peniame Drova available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

In brief

23 Edition

The Rewa Herald

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

62 days out for Epeli Valevou after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rewa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Beniamino Lebatavatava asks to leave Rewa

“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.

Squad

Tevita Waranaivalu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rewa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Rewa

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tuimasi Verevou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

A stepping stone, not a home, for Raj Pillay

He is doing his job and he is not settling. Rewa were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.

Squad

Jitoko Vulava is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Jitoko Vulava has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.

The dugout

Asivorosi Rabo gets picked when it counts

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 Asivorosi Rabo is on it.

Market

Merrill Nand told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Merrill Nand has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Rewa.

Market

Setareki Hughes linked with a move away

The name of Setareki Hughes keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Rewa say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

  • Boardroom Open for business: Rewa enter the window
  • The dugout Peniame Drova has been promised minutes
  • The dugout The manager plants his flag on Delon Shankar
22 Edition

The Rewa Herald

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

69 days out for Epeli Valevou after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rewa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Jitoko Vulava asks to leave Rewa

“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.

Squad

A falling-out at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Sakaraia Qaraniqio signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sakaraia Qaraniqio and Rewa agree another 3 years.

The dugout

Tevita Waranaivalu has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Rewa 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Rewa

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jolame Domonikibau was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

21 Edition

The Rewa Herald

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

76 days out for Epeli Valevou after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rewa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Tuimasi Verevou

“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.

Squad

Jolame Domonikibau 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 dugout

Josaia Sela has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Rewa 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.

Market

The Gabriele Matanisiga story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gabriele Matanisiga signs something — a contract at Rewa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

20 Edition

The Rewa Herald

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

84 days out for Epeli Valevou after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rewa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

Rewa count the cost of losing Neemish Prasad

56 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Tempers go at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Market

One of our own: Sakaraia Qaraniqio joins the Rewa first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sakaraia Qaraniqio is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

One of our own: Peni Goundar joins the Rewa first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Peni Goundar is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Squad

James Pillay 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.

In brief

19 Edition

The Rewa Herald

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Epeli Valevou out for 91 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Tevita Waranaivalu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rewa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Delon Shankar signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Delon Shankar and Rewa agree another 3 years.

Squad

A row about effort at Rewa

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jolame Domonikibau was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Asivorosi Rabo gets picked when it counts

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 Asivorosi Rabo is on it.

The dugout

Ratu Matai gets it from the manager

“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.

In brief

18 Edition

The Rewa Herald

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Epeli Valevou breaks a bone — 98 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 98 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Jitoko Vulava hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rewa can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

A falling-out at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Tevita Waranaivalu gets picked when it counts

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 Tevita Waranaivalu is on it.

Squad

Jolame Domonikibau 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.

Market

The Isikeli Sevanaia question follows Rewa around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Isikeli Sevanaia’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

17 Edition

The Rewa Herald

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Epeli Valevou out for 105 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Delon Shankar is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rewa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Squad

James Pillay 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 dugout

Josaia Sela gets picked when it counts

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 Josaia Sela is on it.

Market

The Gabriele Matanisiga story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gabriele Matanisiga signs something — a contract at Rewa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

16 Edition

The Rewa Herald

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Boardroom

Rewa lift the trophy

The season a town measures the next twenty against. The trophy comes home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.

Squad

112 days out for Epeli Valevou after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rewa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

Cup progress for Rewa

A 4‑3 win over Lautoka, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Match

Cruel end for Lautoka as Rewa pounce

There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Rewa scored in the 97th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.

Player ratings

Nickel Qaraniqio, 14, steals the show — 9.48

Marked 9.48 at 14, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Squad

3 goals for Nickel Qaraniqio

The match ball belongs to Nickel Qaraniqio, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Isikeli Sevanaia

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.

Market

Ratu Matai hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rewa can pretend not to have heard.

Match

Rewa cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

In brief

15 Edition

The Rewa Herald

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Epeli Valevou out for 119 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Tevita Waranaivalu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rewa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Laisenia Tuyaga steps up from the Rewa academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Laisenia 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.

Market

One of our own: Samuela Lal joins the Rewa first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Samuela Lal is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Squad

Words at Rewa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jolame Domonikibau 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 dugout

When it matters, Madhwan Goundar plays

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.

In brief

14 Edition

The Rewa Herald

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Epeli Valevou breaks a bone — 126 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 126 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Jitoko Vulava asks to leave Rewa

“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.

Squad

A falling-out at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Tevita Waranaivalu gets picked when it counts

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 Tevita Waranaivalu is on it.

Squad

A row about effort at Rewa

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and James Pillay was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

The Isikeli Sevanaia question follows Rewa around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Isikeli Sevanaia’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

13 Edition

The Rewa Herald

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Epeli Valevou out for 134 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rewa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Delon Shankar is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rewa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Squad

Samuela Swamy stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Samuela Swamy and Rewa agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A row about effort at Rewa

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jolame Domonikibau was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Asivorosi Rabo gets picked when it counts

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 Asivorosi Rabo is on it.

In brief

12 Edition

The Rewa Herald

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Epeli Valevou breaks a bone — 141 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 141 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Tempers go at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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 dugout

No hiding place for Asivorosi Rabo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Asivorosi Rabo, and the manager let it.

Squad

Jolame Domonikibau 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 dugout

Josaia Sela gets picked when it counts

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 Josaia Sela is on it.

Market

Gabriele Matanisiga linked with a move away

The name of Gabriele Matanisiga keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Rewa say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

11 Edition

The Rewa Herald

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Tuimasi Verevou out for 17 days

17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Rewa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

Tevita Waranaivalu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rewa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Samuela Swamy steps up from the Rewa academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Samuela Swamy has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

One of our own: Malakai Tiko joins the Rewa first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Malakai Tiko is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Squad

A row about effort at Rewa

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and James Pillay was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Madhwan Goundar gets picked when it counts

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 Madhwan Goundar is on it.

In brief

10 Edition

The Rewa Herald

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Tuimasi Verevou out for 24 days

24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Rewa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Jitoko Vulava hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rewa can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tuimasi Verevou signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tuimasi Verevou commits to Rewa for another 3 years.

Squad

A falling-out at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Tuimasi Verevou

“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.

Boardroom

87% of the income goes out in wages at Rewa

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.

In brief

9 Edition

The Rewa Herald

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Tuimasi Verevou damages knee ligaments — 32 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 32 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.

Market

Delon Shankar is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rewa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Squad

Words at Rewa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jolame Domonikibau 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 dugout

Asivorosi Rabo has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Rewa 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.

Market

The Josaia Sela story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Josaia Sela signs something — a contract at Rewa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

8 Edition

The Rewa Herald

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Tuimasi Verevou damages knee ligaments — 39 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 39 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Boardroom

Rewa beat the market to Zainal Ali from Navua

Navua will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Zainal Ali has pre-agreed a move to Rewa, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

Squad

Words at Rewa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. James Pillay 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 dugout

When it matters, Josaia Sela plays

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.

Market

Gabriele Matanisiga linked with a move away

The name of Gabriele Matanisiga keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Rewa say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

7 Edition

The Rewa Herald

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Uzayr Buksh’s move to Labasa falls through

The deal that would have taken Uzayr Buksh to Labasa has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Rewa with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Rewa walk away from Saula Waqa

$67.0K was the most the club would pay and Lautoka were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Boardroom

Rewa beat the market to Malakai Rere from Ba

Ba will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Malakai Rere has pre-agreed a move to Rewa, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

Market

Ratu Matai steps up from the Rewa academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ratu 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.

Transfer targets

The window shuts on the Malakai Qaraniqio deal

Rewa ran out of time with Ba. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.

Squad

Nickel Qaraniqio signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nickel Qaraniqio and Rewa agree another 3 years.

Squad

Jitoko Vulava is a square peg at Rewa

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

Squad

Jolame Domonikibau 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 dugout

Madhwan Goundar gets picked when it counts

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 Madhwan Goundar is on it.

In brief

6 Edition

The Rewa Herald

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

$27.0K — a new record at Rewa

No footballer has ever cost this club more, and the number will be read out every time he misplaces a pass for the next two years.

Market

Jitoko Vulava asks to leave Rewa

“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.

Boardroom

Rewa close the window on a squad of their own making

14 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.

Market

Rewa say no — this time

The offer from Nadi for Nickel Qaraniqio was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

A falling-out at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The terraces

Rewa spend $27.0K on the signing the town wanted

It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $27.0K for Jitoko Vulava, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.

Boardroom

Beniamino Lebatavatava will join Rewa for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Beniamino Lebatavatava has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Rewa have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

Transfer targets

Deadline beats Rewa to Ashneel Kumar

The clock did what Nadi would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.

The dugout

When it matters, Tevita Waranaivalu plays

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.

In brief

5 Edition

The Rewa Herald

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Cup progress for Rewa

A 2‑0 win over Ba, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Market

Uzayr Buksh has said yes to Labasa

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Rewa have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

Uzayr Buksh hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rewa can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Only the photograph left for Delon Shankar

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Delon Shankar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rewa the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Boardroom

Delon Shankar signs for Ba while still at Rewa

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Delon Shankar has agreed terms with Ba for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Transfer targets

An offer of $67.0K for Saula Waqa

Rewa have gone to Lautoka with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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 terraces

One of their own: Josaia Sela

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.

Player ratings

Josaia Sela in the eights

A performance of 8.46 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

4 Edition

The Rewa Herald

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Cup progress for Rewa

A 3‑1 win over Tailevu Naitasiri, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Market

Samuela Nabenia asks to leave Rewa

“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 targets

An offer of $61.0K for Saula Waqa

Rewa have gone to Lautoka with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Squad

Tempers go at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Squad

Setareki Waqa signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Setareki Waqa commits to Rewa for another 3 years.

The dugout

A satisfied Roy Baledrokadroka

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Roy Baledrokadroka could afford to be generous.

Squad

A row about effort at Rewa

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jolame Domonikibau was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near James Hoyt

Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

The pass was always on for Samuela Nabenia

Chances created: 9. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.

In brief

3 Edition

The Rewa Herald

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tevita Waranaivalu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rewa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Rewa baulk at the price for Saula Waqa

Lautoka wanted more than $63.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Boardroom

Rewa agree a free transfer for Raj Pillay

Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.

Transfer targets

Lautoka tell Rewa: Saula Waqa is not for sale

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.

Squad

Words at Rewa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jolame Domonikibau 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.

Market

The shop window has Samuela Nabenia in it

Rewa have let the market know Samuela Nabenia can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

The dugout

Setareki Waqa 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 Rewa, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

Delon Shankar runs his contract down

5 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Rewa money.

Market

Samuela Nabenia's agent talks up a move

“He is at an age where he has to be playing at the top level. We will listen to anybody.” The representative of Samuela Nabenia is not being subtle.

In brief

2 Edition

The Rewa Herald

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Rewa turn down Suva for Delon Shankar

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Transfer targets

Rewa make their move for Saula Waqa

$63.0K on the table at Lautoka. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu 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.

Transfer targets

No deal for Beniamino Lebatavatava at that price

Rewa offered $14.0K; Nadi said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Market

Tuimasi Verevou steps up from the Rewa academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Tuimasi Verevou 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.

Market

Rewa promote Dave Tuyaga from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dave 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.

In brief

1 Edition

The Rewa Herald

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Setareki Hughes signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Setareki Hughes commits to Rewa for another 3 years.

Squad

A falling-out at Rewa

Tevita Waranaivalu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

36 months and counting on Setareki Hughes

Still no offer on the table, and Setareki Hughes’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.

Market

Still no ink between Rewa and Peniame Drova

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Rewa, another week without a signature from Peniame Drova.

Squad

Words at Rewa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jolame Domonikibau 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.

Market

Samuela Nabenia told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Samuela Nabenia has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Rewa.

In brief