The Dragons and Kaiviti Silktails will be playing for the inaugural Apisai Toga Bowl when they meet in their Jersey Flegg Cup clash at Lautoka’s Churchill Park on Saturday.
Toga, who hailed from Saunaka – a small village outside of Nadi, played 65 games for the St George Dragons from 1968 and 1972 and, alongside brother Inisai, quickly grew into a beloved figure among the Dragons faithful.
Affectionately known as ‘Harpie’, Toga was amongst the first Fijian players to compete in the NSWRL and would go on to wear the Red V on 103 occasions across the club’s three grades.
The brothers would regularly play the guitar and showcase their singings talents at Carlton’s Royal Hotel after training sessions much to the delight of locals.
Toga tragically passed away prior to the start of the 1973 season after he had returned to Fiji during the off-season where he cut his foot on a combination of coral and barbed wire whilst diving.
He returned to Sydney to commence pre-season training soon after but collapsed during a session at Carss Park having unknowingly contracted tetanus poisoning.
He sadly passed away on January 27, 1973, with Rugby League Immortal and Dragons legend Graeme Langlands accompanying his teammate’s body back to Fiji for burial the following week.
Toga’s legacy lives on today in his village of Saunaka where the aptly named ‘Apisai Toga Oval’ – which was constructed in 2013 off the back of money collected by locals – lies.
