‘Give it everything’: Napier City Rovers out to impress in football’s National League

Stefan Karajovanovic, third from right, will be missing for the start of Napier City Rovers' National League campaign after being forced to return to Canada. Photo / Neil Reid

Napier City Rovers are on a mission to fly the provincial flag in football’s upcoming National League – but they will have to do it for at least part of the competition without one of the key players who helped get them there.

The Bill Robertson-coached team launches their campaign against Petone at Bluewater Stadium on Sunday, September 24.

But missing from the line-up – and for at least the opening few National League rounds – will be outstanding Canadian import Stefan Karajovanovic who has had to return home due to university commitments.

The 24-year-old joined Napier City Rovers ahead of the seventh round of the recent-finished Central League and went on to score more than 10 goals in league and Chatham Cup clashes. He also helped lay on others for teammates.

“He’s obviously made a fantastic contribution for us,” Robertson said.

“I think he’s got 10 plus goals. And he’s not even played the full season. So, we’ll need to replace those goals.

“We’ll just have to adjust. If there’s a player that we can bring in that might help us with that, then, then we may look to do that.”

Since arriving in Napier, Karajovanovic has been completing his Canadian varsity studies in criminology and criminal justice online.

But the university has now said he has to return to Canada for a period of on-site study.

“He’s hoping he can return, but we’re just not sure on the length of time for that,” Robertson said.

Napier City Rovers coach Bill Robertson is looking forward to the upcoming challenge of the team lining up in their second successive National League campaign. Photo / Neil Reid

Under National League regulations, clubs are unable to make major changes to their sides which earned them qualification via their respective Northern, Central and Southern leagues.

But they can recruit up to two under-20 players from other clubs.

The 2023 National League kicks off on September 23 and will feature the country’s 10 best clubs; four each from the Northern and Central Leagues, and two from the Southern League.

Over the next two months, Napier City Rovers will line up against Auckland City FC, Eastern Suburbs, Auckland United, Manurewa AFC, Wellington Olympic, Wellington Phoenix, Petone FC, Christchurch United and Cashmere Technical.

Four of those games will be home games for the Jim Hoyle-captained team.

For the second season running, Napier City Rovers will be the only club from a provincial-based centre in the National League.

Stefan Karajovanovic, right, was part of a Napier City Rovers attack which was the second highest-scoring team in the recently finished Central League. Photo / Neil Reid

Last year they finished eighth.

That was a fact which Robertson said all involved in the club could be proud of.

“I think people sometimes underestimate how challenging that is,” he said.

“There’s a reason why the rest of the teams that have qualified last year, and again this year, are from the major centres.

“We’re pleased we continue to fly the flag for Napier City Rovers, and the Hawkes Bay region, in the National League.”

Napier City Rovers sealed their place in the top 10 club competition by beating North Wellington 3-1 in the final round of the Central League earlier this month. The win also secured the team third place in the Central League.

Robertson gave his team a week off training, returning to the pitch on Tuesday night.

It was a well-earned break for the entire first-team squad who overcame a slow start result-wise to the season – where they either lost or drew several matches despite being the dominant team to qualify for the National League.

Those lost points had put pressure on the team to excel in the final two-thirds of the season; something they did, including only losing one of their final nine games.

“Our results early on, I thought we dropped a number of points where we potentially could have won,” Robertson said.

“But from there, over that middle part of the season and then towards the end of the season, we hit some really good form and some consistency in our performance levels. We went long stretches unbeaten and won a number of games on the road, while the pressure was on all the way through.”

Former Manchester City youth team player Deri Corfe has been in hot goal-scoring form for Napier City Rovers. Photo / Neil Reid

The majority of the squad who featured in last year’s National League campaign will again feature for Napier City Rovers in the upcoming league.

Their attack will be spearheaded by outstanding English recruit Deri Corfe – who spent six seasons with the Manchester City youth academy – who finished second top-scorer in the Central League.

The side was under no illusion about the step-up competitiveness they are set to face in the National League.

But Robertson said: “We just need to be ready for that and our goal is to represent the club well and represent the region well.

“The players are really keen to do that. We will give it everything we’ve got and hopefully, we can bring back some positive results.”

Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 30 years of newsroom experience.