“WE owe it to our fans.”
These were the sentiments of Naitasiri Rugby Union coaching director Dr Ilaitia Tuisese in regard to tomorrow’s Farebrother Trophy challenge being moved to Naluwai ground.
Naitasiri has one of the largest and loyal fan-base in provincial rugby and as seen in recent years, would follow the team in numbers wherever they play, even in the Western Division.
Since 2022, their fans in the villages of Naitasiri were starved off a match at their official home ground in Naluwai but tomorrow, they get to witness a blockbuster double-header between their home team and the FMF-sponsored Suva rugby side.
Dr Tuisese said their fans deserve this.
“It’s for one game only, take it to the village, to be fair on them. They foot the bill which includes their fare, meal money, admission fees and they follow us everywhere we go but for this one, they don’t have to travel far, they can just walk to the ground.
“We owe it to our fans too. Majority of them are farmers, they sell their produce, they come down and follow us to the western side, Suva to Nausori and I think it is high time that for once, we take the game up to the village. Our fans don’t have to travel far. Travel logistics is very costly so at least for this one, we take it to them and say thank you for being loyal to us,” he said.
Naluwai, under the Fiji Rugby Union regulation, is listed as the official home ground of the Naitasiri Rugby Union. Logistical challenges forced the union to take their games to Ratu Cakobau Park in Nausori.
“Due to logistics and we had people coming from the western side, we had to move our games to Ratu Cakobau Park. Right now, RCP has some OHS issues, a notice was given to close down the venue because it cannot hold our games given our huge following. The stadium cannot accommodate our fans, movement up and down the structure can break the beams.
“Because of that we had to play at the HFC Bank Stadium, but Naluwai has always been our ground. It was the case before and I remember in 2022, we were playing there, it is our home ground registered under the FRU regulation.”
The Farebrother Trophy challenge will kick off at 3pm.
