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NZ Herald
15-07-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Napier City Rovers aim for top four as Island Bay fight relegation
'At the bottom of the table, it's really tight,' Napier City Rovers coach Bill Robertson said. Napier City Rovers players celebrate during their 6-1 win over Island Bay in Wellington earlier in the 2025 Central League. Photo / Neil Reid 'Any of those five teams in the bottom half could still get relegated. 'Obviously, Island Bay have moved quite aggressively and changed their coaches and have got a little bounce with their result against Waterside Karori. I'm sure they'll come to Bluewater Stadium with confidence. 'It won't be an easy game and they're all obviously fighting for their lives down there. 'It will be another difficult game, but we're confident of getting a result and if we perform well again.' Napier City Rovers earlier toppled Island Bay 6-1 on the road in Wellington in round five of the Central League in April. The side's win over Upper Hutt last Saturday was one of their best in front of goal all season. It came six days after Napier City Rovers' 2025 Chatham Cup campaign was halted by a gutting 3-2 loss to 2024 champions Wellington Olympic. Goalscorers against Upper Hutt included Sam Lack, slotting home his 11th goal of the season. Sam Lack was amongst the goals again for Napier City Rovers in their win over Upper Hutt City Football last weekend. Photo / Neil Reid Just as importantly as Napier City Rovers' attack, the side's defence also held firm, with goalkeeper Harry Townsend keeping a clean sheet. 'I was pleased with the performance, the result and it was great to score a few goals,' Robertson said. 'I said to the players beforehand that someone at some stage is going to get a battering really, in terms of goals scored against them ... we've been threatening to do that all season. 'We've been dominant in most games without ... scoring the goals, but on the weekend ... we were good. We were clinical, we finished our opportunities. 'Now we need to repeat that.' Wins are what are needed from Robertson's team as they chase their pre-season goal of qualifying for the National League for a fourth successive season. To qualify, they need a top-four finish. They are currently in fifth place, two points behind fourth-placed Western Suburbs. The run home includes clashes against the second-placed Miramar Rangers and the league leaders, Wellington Olympic. Both of those clashes will entail road trips to Wellington. The final stretch of the Central League campaign will also require some juggling from Robertson, selection-wise. Both midfielder Cameron Emerson and striker Eric Kostandini Ziu have received four yellow cards. A fifth will lead to a one-match suspension. Emerson has consistently been one of Napier City Rovers' best players throughout 2025. Cameron Emerson – who bought up his 100th first-team appearance for Napier City Rovers earlier this year – has been a consistent standout for his side all year. Photo / Neil Reid Ziu has impressed up front since coming into the squad in June after a stint playing in Australia. Three further players are set to miss some of the remaining matches because of overseas travel, including inspirational captain Jim Hoyle, who is heading to Europe for his honeymoon. Another factor to juggle is just who Robertson selects for the four foreign import spots he is allowed in match-day squads; he currently has five English players, meaning one must miss out each week. Some selections in the 2025 Central League run home will be a balancing act for Napier City Rovers head coach Bill Robertson. Photo / Neil Reid Finally, like all other clubs in the Northern, Central and Southern leagues, he has to ensure a minimum of 10% of playing time is given to under-20 players (aged under 20 on January 1 of that season) on the roster. 'Balancing the selection of the squad is tricky at the moment,' Robertson said. 'There are a few players that are going to be unavailable through life basically: personal trips away and family stuff. 'That's just the nature of balancing the squad throughout the season. 'Making sure we're our strongest each game to pick up wins is important and something that I'm considering each game.' Inside the Rovers video series: Episode 1: Match Fit Episode 2: Teen's Dream Episode 3: New Beginnings Episode 4: For Keeps Episode 5: Kiwi Steve Episode 6: Capital Punishment Episode 7: Bouncing Back Episode 8: The Centurion Episode 9: The Running Man Episode 10: Family Pride Episode 11: On Target Episode 12: Road Trip Blues Episode 13: A-League Bound Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 33 years of newsroom experience. Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
04-06-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
On The Up: Inside the provincial football team taking on and beating cashed-up big city clubs
And they certainly don't have a playing roster featuring some players who are paid enough by their respective football clubs to coach junior players so they can forget about having to do a day job. Napier City Rovers' playing stocks include two painters, two ice truck drivers, a plumber, a builder, an outdoor pursuits trainer, and several teacher aides. What they also have is a record of making the most of what they have and defying the odds in taking on their big-city rivals. Since 2022 – when they ended a 20-year absence from New Zealand Football's (NZF) National League – they have been the only provincial-based club to make the top-tier domestic football competition. From 2022-24, the Jim Hoyle-captained team is one of only five clubs to have made the 10-team league over the three successive seasons. Napier City Rovers head coach Bill Robertson, (left), and the side's goalkeeping coach Kyle Baxter. Photo / Neil Reid The National League during that period has been made up of: the top four finishers in the Northern League; the Wellington Phoenix Reserves and the top three from the Central League; and the Southern League's top two sides. To make Napier City Rovers' achievement even more profound, one of the five other clubs – the Wellington Phoenix Reserves – are guaranteed a National League spot regardless of where they finish in the Central League via their participation agreement with NZF. Napier City Rovers captain Jim Hoyle has had another strong year with the football club he's called home since 2015. Photo / Neil Reid As Napier City Rovers hunt a hoped-for fourth successive qualification to the competition, coach Bill Robertson has opened up on how his side has bucked the otherwise big-city domination of the league spots. 'There's a lot of hard work that goes into our success,' he said. 'There's no stone unturned in terms of how we train, how we prepare for oppositions, and how we travel. Don't forget the amount of travel we have to do. Impressive Napier City Rovers players Cameron Emerson and George Andrew shake hands after their side's Central League win over Miramar Rangers at Bluewater Stadium. Photo / Neil Reid 'We've looked at how we make sure we have the best preparation we can for the players so we're able to get the results on the road.' The travel factor is huge for Napier City Rovers. As the only non-Wellington-based team in the Central League, the side face almost 6000km of mini-van travel to and from away games in the capital every second weekend. Before the 2023 season, the team used to travel both ways on game day to Wellington. For the past two years, the side have driven south the night before game day. The club's investment in hotel accommodation has paid off with consistently strong results on the road. Napier City Rovers' hard work in getting ready for 2025 has included training sessions as dawn breaks in the city. Photo / Neil Reid Using precious dollars wisely is a must at Napier City Rovers. While the history of the club is rich – having previously won five Chatham Cups and four National League titles – financially some of the other teams they face in the Central and National leagues are in a different ballpark. Auckland City pull in around $1 million solely from gaming trusts; a figure further increased by sponsorship deals. Napier City Rovers' entire first-team season budget is less than 10% of the gaming trust sum received by the national champions. NZF regulations cap weekly player payments to $150 a game. But some sides offer their top players high six-figure contracts as youth coaches; some of those deals are also richer than the budget Napier City Rovers' entire side operates with. Napier City Rovers don't complain about the at-times uneven playing field they're faced with. In some ways, it has added to a strong resolve and culture that has grown in strength in recent seasons. That culture is paramount when it comes to Robertson recruiting players from outside the region. The camaraderie and positive culture that has been developed within Napier City Rovers' first team is infectious. Photo / Neil Reid 'We haven't got a huge budget like some other clubs have to sign any player I want. We have to be strategic with our recruitment,' he said. 'We've got a good track record of bringing in good players and, most importantly, good people that buy into what we're trying to achieve here. It's not an easy task, but we've got a model here that seems to be working well for us.' Napier City Rovers hope to take another step towards the hoped-for fourth successive National League qualification on Sunday when they host Wellington team Western Suburbs in round-10 Central League action. Robertson's team go into the match in fourth place, two competition points ahead of their weekend rivals. The coach is after his team to concentrate on their 'processes' rather than the points table; saying if they do that successfully, the results will follow. Napier City Rovers coach Bill Robertson wants his players to concentrate on their processes, not the Central League points table. Photo / Neil Reid But there's no mistaking the burning desire throughout the coaching, management, and playing group to again reach the National League. 'That would be an incredible achievement,' Robertson said. 'The consistency we've shown to perform at a high level and secure the results we need to qualify for the past three years is fantastic. We're obviously trying to do that again. 'We're in the hunt.' The side's achievements over the past three seasons have helped financially. Billboards of returning and new sponsors surround the playing arena at Bluewater Stadium. Crowds have also been dramatically on the up, especially over the past two seasons. Game day at Bluewater Stadium is now a 'must-do' day out on a Sunday for a growing number of families, including hundreds of kids decked out in Napier City Rovers replica kit. Mason Johnson signing autographs at Bluewater Stadium post-match. Photo / Neil Reid And the scenes that happen post-match at the venue are a throwback to the amateur era of sport in New Zealand, where crowds are welcome to flock on to the pitch and a line of autograph hunters stretching dozens of metres await the players before they can head to the changing rooms. 'We always speak about the players being role models in the region and trying to inspire the future generations of young players,' Robertson said. 'It's absolutely fantastic to see the crowds and the number of kids here that are at games watching. At the end of the game, when you see the kids lining up for autographs with their heroes, it is a really powerful sight.' It was another big crowd that flocked to Bluewater Stadium last Sunday to watch the side claim a deserved 3-1 win over the Wellington Phoenix Reserves in the second round of the knockout Chatham Cup. Sam Lack has been there every step of the way since Napier City Rovers' return to the National League in 2022 and has scored six goals in 10 games in 2025. Photo / Neil Reid The goals came via a double to Jordan Annear, while another from Sam Lack takes his 2025 tally to six from 10 games. Robertson took the chance to rotate his squad. The changes included captain Jim Hoyle, fellow defensive rock Matt Jones and impressive English import Mason Johnson starting the match from the substitutes bench. Striker Jordan Annear - pictured having a break after a training session - was outstanding in Napier City Rovers' Chatham Cup second round win over the Wellington Phoenix Reserves. Photo / Neil Reid In came Annear – later rightly judged man of the match after a storming performance – Kaeden Atkins, and Jack Albertini. Like Annear, Atkins and Albertini also took their chance to remind Robertson of just how well they can contribute. 'The boys that came in did well,' Robertson said. 'There's good depth in the squad and we need that. 'All the other games we've played, aside from the Central League loss to the Wellington Phoenix, we've been very competitive. 'And I think we can improve in the second half of the season which is a positive. There's definitely more to see from us in the second half of the season.' >> Inside the Rovers video series: Episode 1: Match Fit Episode 2: Teen's Dream Episode 3: New Beginnings Episode 4: For Keeps Episode 5: Kiwi Steve Episode 6: Capital Punishment Episode 7: Bouncing back Episode 8: The Centurion Episode 9: The Running Man Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 33 years of newsroom experience. Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
