Our home crowd are now much more invested in the game rather than the event - Evans

The expectations from the home crowd and fans now are higher and they are sort of more invested in the game rather than the event, which is good.

This was revealed by Swire Shipping Fijian Drua CEO Mark Evans during fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan.

Evans says it is no secret that the Drua are tough to beat at home and he believes the crowd has changed a bit.

He says the crowd is now reacting more to the events on the pitch and there are quiet patches, whereas last year, there were no quiet patches at all.

He adds he got the impression early last year that they were still, almost happy to be there despite the result.

Evans further says he feels this year’s win over the Crusaders was a much more conclusive one than last year.

Meanwhile, Drua Head of Commercial and Marketing, Shane Hussein says the win over the Crusaders at home two weeks ago was very helpful as the partners were happy with the results especially beating the defending champions back-to-back on our home ground.

Hussein says they received calls and messages from their sponsors after that game expressing their delight.

He says if the team instills that sense of pride, then the partnership withstands the test of results.

He says he believes the Drua is doing that quite well.

Meanwhile, the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua will take on the Waratahs at 1.05pm this Saturday in a double header event where the Rooster Chicken Fijian Drua Women will also play the Waratahs Women at 3.35pm Saturday, and both games will be held at Churchill Park, Lautoka.