Jake Williams says he and his Napier City Rovers teammates won’t be found lacking in motivation in their final two 2025 Central League clashes.
The run home continues on Sunday as they host Petone FC at Bluewater Stadium, before next Saturday’s final round clash against league leaders Wellington Olympic in the capital.
Realistically, the fourth placed side’s hopes of securing a top three finish and qualifying for the National League for a fourth successive season are slim.
They need to win both their final games, while the side five competition points ahead of them – Western Suburbs – has to lose their remaining two matches against league strugglers Upper Hutt City Football and Island Bay FC.
Williams – who joined the club mid-season after returning from studying and playing in America – said “personal pride” should ensure Napier City Rovers played the best they could regardless of their now-slim National League chances.
“The focus should always be whenever you play that you give your absolute everything,” he said.
“And I think with these last two games, that’s critical. For me, I want to make sure that from a team perspective we just give it our all.
“That’s what we owe the fans, what we owe to the staff. So, we’ll try and get the maximum amount of points we can in these last two games and see where we end up.”
Williams said there was a “hunger” throughout the squad to finish the 2025 Central League strongly.
“When you step on the field every Saturday or Sunday, you just want to do the best you can for the region,” he said.
“With one more home game, we want to put on a real performance and a real display for not only ourselves, but also for the supporters.”
Williams arrived at Napier City Rovers in June after a four-year stint studying at playing football at the College of the Holy Cross, a highly regarded Massachusetts-based college.
A scholarship student, he later graduated from his studies with honours: a major in English and minor in Business, Ethics, and Society. In the sporting arena, he captained Holy Cross’ football team for two of the seasons he played for them.
He described his time in the US as being a “really good experience”, adding he was available to talk to young Kiwi footballers considering the US scholarship route.
The 24-year-old juggled whether to chase a potential professional football pathway, before ultimately returning to New Zealand and linking with the Bill Robertson-coached team.
“I hadn’t been back in New Zealand for quite some time and the New Zealand lifestyle is pretty hard to pass up,” Williams said.
Despite spending four years studying in the US, Williams was already no stranger to Bluewater Stadium when he signed with Napier City Rovers.
He had previously played there against his new club for both the Wellington Phoenix Reserves and Miramar Rangers.
Williams said it was now nice to play at one of New Zealand’s best football grounds as a home player.
“It was a big event, and you felt the butterflies ... you knew how much it means to the supporters,” he said of playing there as a visiting player.
“For them to welcome me like the way they have [since signing] is pretty special.
“The way that the people have looked after me, welcomed me into the club - from the players, staff and supporters – has been unbelievable.
“And I want to keep supporting and keep helping out as much as I can on the field.”
Williams’ footballing pedigree also includes being a former age-group New Zealand rep, being a member of the New Zealand under-17 team that won Fifa’s 2016-17 Oceania Under-17 Championship.
Teammates include Napier City Rovers defender Matt Jones, another player who arrived at the club after completing his studies in America and who has been a standout over the past two seasons.
The midfielder said representing his country was something he looked back on with “immense pride” and was a “special time” for his family.
“When you stand out there and listen to the anthem, singing it before a match, there’s something incredibly special about that. That’s something I will never take that for granted.”
Williams has been impressive since making his Napier City Rovers debut.
With fellow mid-season recruit Eric Kostandini Ziu, he joined a squad that has been training together since June.
Williams took the pitch for his new club for the first time seven months after his last game for Holy Cross but wasted little time in displaying his power and skill on the ball.
“I’ve been happy with how I’ve developed, happy with how I’ve improved and started to show my quality of what I can offer for the side,” Williams said two and a half months from his debut.
“I just want to make sure that you know you’re getting the full 120% of me.”
Williams isn’t just contributing to Napier City Rovers on the pitch.
Off the pitch he is helping lead Napier City Rovers’ Bluewater Stadium enhancement via his job as a junior project manager with PGC Constructors.
The project will lead to an improvement to facilities for players and supporters alike. From the playing side, that includes expanding and upgrading the changing rooms.
While in America, Williams worked on several multimillion-dollar projects involving power plant builds.
“It’s something for supporters and players to be excited about,” Williams said of the Bluewater Stadium project.
“It will give Bluewater Stadium some nice little touch-ups which will make it even more special to play at.”
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.