Joffa’s Fiji trek puts his passion for the Pies to the test
Collingwood’s most passionate supporter, Joffa Corfe was forced to go to great lengths to keep up with news of his beloved team after he moved to a village in Fiji with no TV or radio.
Fiona Byrne
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Collingwood’s most passionate supporter,Joffa Corfe, has taken his devotion to his beloved Magpies to new heights, trekking hours through remote hills in northern Fiji just to get news of his club.
Corfe moved from Melbourne to a village in Fiji’s Namuavoivoi area in March where there is no TV or radio.
To keep abreast of Collingwood news during the COVID-19 interrupted 2020 season, he has had to trek 3km to a peak to get mobile phone/Wi-Fi reception or take a two-hour truck ride into the Labasa township.
The rigours of his new life have seen him drop 29kg but have not dimmed his love for the Pies.
“I have never felt better,” he said during a two-week sojourn in Suva. While he won’t be watching the Magpies take on Richmond in the first match of the restarted AFL season on Thursday, he will be across the result.
“There is very little news of AFL here in Fiji, I’m afraid, (but) I’ll be keeping tabs on the AFL website for scores,” he said. “It’s going to be a nervous evening. I’m always excited when I know the Pies are destined for another flag.”
Corfe is planning to return to Australia in July to take up a job supervising fruit pickers in Cairns before heading back to Fiji later in the year.
“It’s been life changing and an eye opener to extreme poverty,” Corfe said of his Fiji experience.
“The lifestyle is tough in the village — no TV, no radio, no mobile reception, the nearest hospital some two hours away — but they are happy people who would give you their last bowl of rice.
“It’s been a pleasure living with them; so much to learn and experience.”