Commins Menapi

Commins Menapi (18 September 1977 – 18 November 2017) was a Solomon Islands football player and manager who played as a striker. As manager of Western United, he guided the club to their first and only Telekom S league title in the 2014–15 season.

Club career

Menapi played for YoungHeart Manawatu in New Zealand, Sydney United of the old National Soccer League in Australia and for Marist FC, a club from the Solomon Islands.

In the 2006–2007 season, he became the first player to be sent off in a New Zealand Football Championship Grand Final with a nasty studs up kick on Auckland City defender Riki van Steeden. Van Steeden's leg was broken in the incident and Waitakere United lost the final 3–2 however, he would not be suspended for the OFC Champions League final against Ba F.C. because of the OFC and New Zealand Football being two separate organisations. Commins rejoined Solomon Islands team Marist FC after a period spent as a free agent.

International career

Menapi represented the Solomon Islands national team on 37 occasions, scoring a record 34 goals (including 7 against non-FIFA members). Menapi was arguably the most famous Solomon Islands footballer, after scoring twice for his country against Australia in a sensational 2–2 draw in the Oceania Nations Cup group match in 2004. The result was the only game in the competition that Australia did not win, and the result also ensured Solomon Islands' progression to the next phase at the expense of New Zealand. In that tournament, Menapi scored four goals in six games. Since Australia's exit from the Oceania Football Confederation in 2006 to join Asian Football Confederation, he became the all-time leading goal scorer for the OFC until Chris Wood of New Zealand reached his record of 34 goals on the 13 October 2023 and until Roy Krishna of Fiji surpassed both of them to break the record on the 18 November 2023.

Death

Menapi died in Honiara in November 2017 at the age of 40, in the early hours of the day, of undisclosed cause.

Career statistics

Scores and results list Solomon Islands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Menapi goal.

List of international goals scored by Commins Menapi

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	Template:Dts	Stade Pater, Papeete, Tahiti	Cook Islands	2–0	5–1	2000 OFC Nations Cup
2	Template:Dts	Stade Pater, Papeete, Tahiti	Vanuatu	1–1	2–1	2000 OFC Nations Cup
3	Template:Dts	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	Cook Islands	2–1	9–1	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
4				5–1
5				6–1
6	Template:Dts	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	Vanuatu	2–1	7–2	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
7				6–2
8	Template:Dts	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	Tahiti	2–1	2–3	2002 OFC Nations Cup
9	Template:Dts	Sir John Guise Stadium, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea	Papua New Guinea	5–3	5–3	Friendly
10				5–3
11	Template:Dts	ANZ National Stadium, Suva, Fiji	Vanuatu	1–2	2–2	2003 South Pacific Games
12				2–2
13	Template:Dts	ANZ National Stadium, Suva, Fiji	Kiribati	2–0	7–0	2003 South Pacific Games
14				3–0
15				4–0
16				5–0
17				6–0
18	Template:Dts	Ratu Cakobau Park, Nausori, Fiji	Tuvalu	2–0	4–0	2003 South Pacific Games
19				4–0
20	Template:Dts	Churchill Park, Lautoka, Fiji	Fiji	1–2	1–2	2003 South Pacific Games
21	Template:Dts	Korman Stadium, Port Vila, Vanuatu	Vanuatu	1–1	2–1	Friendly
22				2–1
23	Template:Dts	Korman Stadium, Port Vila, Vanuatu	Vanuatu	2–1	2–1	Friendly
24	Template:Dts	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia	Tahiti	2–0	4–0	2004 OFC Nations Cup
25				4–0
26	Template:Dts	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia	Australia	1–0	2–2	2004 OFC Nations Cup
27				2–2
28	Template:Dts	National Soccer Stadium, Apia, Samoa	American Samoa	3–0	12–1	2007 South Pacific Games
29				4–0
30				8–1
31				9–1
32	Template:Dts	National Soccer Stadium, Apia, Samoa	Tonga	1–0	4–0	2007 South Pacific Games
33				2–0
34	Template:Dts	National Soccer Stadium, Apia, Samoa	New Caledonia	2–1	2–3	2007 South Pacific Games

External links

• Template:PAGENAMEBASE at National-Football-Teams.com
• Player profile – Waitakere club website