Visit by Fijian Chief Sailosi Qalobulailakeba

[Nick]

Fijian Chief Sailosi Qalobulailakeba made a special visit to the Collingwood Football Club yesterday. He met with Tony Shaw and some of the players out on the ground at Victoria Park before being presented with an honorary membership.

Chief Qalobulailakeba has made the special trip from Fiji to bring Collingwood good luck for the 1999 season. The last visit he made to Collingwood to bring the team luck was in 1990.

[Pie no sauce]

Nick, On a parallel note, I was in the Solomon Islands a few years ago and saw a lightening premiership being played in a remote township. I was amazed at the athleticism and skill of those blokes. Even though they were playing soccer, it was a truly exciting spectacle with the best teams from all the Islands participating. It was about 44 in the shade with humidity of 90+ percent and approx 3000 people yelled and screamed in true Vic Park style. They played barefoot and ran like the wind. Contact was made occasionally and they shrugged off ground shaking collisions. Most were Cwood six footers with a few talls, but all were lithe, (not like the Fijians) sinewy-muscular and unbelievably tough. Whenever I see Mal Michael I think of that game because he is a good example of the typical player in it. The Sols are very close to Papua New Guinea so hence the similarity. Maybe Mr. Judkins and Co will go and recruit one or two, at least have a look them, after all it's a lot closer than Ireland.