But luck has little to do with the sterling start for player/coach Bill Robertson, whose Blues have a shadow of ASB Premiership national league look about them.
However, tomorrow's game will be a decent test for the TSB bank-sponsored hosts before the other major threat, Western Suburbs, travel here on June 7.
The Paul Ifill-coached visitors have had one loss, 5-3 to Western Suburbs on April 20, from five matches and are on 12 points with Western Suburbs.
"Wairarapa spend a lot of money so it'll be a good test and Western Suburbs are coming up so after that I can tell you how strong we are," says Stephen, who believes it'll come down to a three-horse race.
He was part of the Grant Hastings-coached Blues in 2012 who won the crown and reckons they "overachieved" that season.
"We only had Miramar Rangers to beat that time."
The Blues also relied too heavily on former All White striker Jarrod Smith, now playing for Team Wellington, that season but in this squad several players are capable of finding the net.
"The best thing about this team is that we don't have one style of play whereas some teams pass the ball to death," he says, adding the Rovers won "ugly" 4-1 away against Wellington Olympic last Saturday.
He draws parallels with Manchester United and Chelsea, who he feels do the same and do well.
"We can win in different ways."
Stephen says former Wellington Phoenix linchpin Ifill has "pulling power" and knows how to attack.
"They have good players and a huge budget," he says referring to Magno Viera and Seule Soromon, who also scored in Wairarapa's 3-2 victory over Stop Out at Masterton last weekend.
Two more goals from former Vanuatu international Soromon were ruled offside, according to a media report, amid disbelief from parochial fans.
Stephen left here in 2012 for Canada where he played for Toronto Links, a feeder under-20 team, before plying his trade for South Adelaide in the Adelaide National League.
"I've played in Canada and Australia and at home but I don't know what it is about Napier City Rovers because I've enjoyed my time here," says Stephen, who lives with his brother at Fergus Neil's home in Napier.
So what brought him back and why his brother, too?
Stephen was at the christening of Danny Wilson and wife Lauren's first child in London. The pair talked shop and the South Yorkshireman's memorable time here and, to cut a long story short, a few email exchanges later with Robertson sealed the deal.
The selection of 19-year-old brother James wasn't a done deal, as he had broken his leg in December 2013 and was out of action for several months last year.
"James was on trial but he was wanting to see New Zealand anyway. If he hadn't made the Rovers then he would have gone to another club," Stephen says of his sibling, who has started twice and come off the bench on other occasions.
The former Doncaster player says James has played to a "good standard" in England.
"He's a useful player all along the back and midfield."
James has played in the youth championship for Rotherham Football Club in South Yorkshire.
"I had an ankle operation and had metal plates put in."
He prefers to play in a holding midfield position but appreciates the squad is teeming with talent so he's quite comfortable as defender or defensive midfielder.
"I'm only young and realise there are a lot of good players but once I'm fit then I'll cause a lot of selection headaches."
Like Stephen, James enjoys the relaxed lifestyle here and welcoming nature of the Rovers club, which have enabled him to settle in quickly.
While teams "play a lot more football here" James feels he brings more physicality to the squad and is "comfortable on the ball".
"I'm more physical than Stephen but I still pass the ball.
"They football the right way, keep possession and score goals."
James has always looked up to Stephen: "We're really good friends. If we're going out at home we go together and share the same friends and train together."
Stephen intends to bring fiancee Natasha Bartnik and James his girlfriend, Abigail Horsfield, from Barnsley next year once they have their visas sorted out.
So what's with the facial growths?
Stephen says they had made a pledge with Neil not to shave off their beards until they lose a game but it's likely to remain until the end of the campaign.
LEAGUE DETAILS
How they stack up before round 6 of the Lotto Central League this weekend:
WHO: Napier City Rovers v Wairarapa United.
WHEN: Tomorrow, 2pm kickoff.
WHERE: Bluewater Stadium, Park Island.
REFEREE: Antony Riley.
AR1/AR2: Gordon Harris/Brad Brunton.
ROVERS: Ruben Parker (GK), 4 Logan Bensemann, 5 Fin Milne, 6 Miles John, 7 Stephen Hoyle, 8 Ryan Tinsley, 9 Angus Kilkolly, 10 Saul Halpin, 11 Tom Biss, 14 Josh Stevenson, 15 James Hoyle, 16 Danny Wilson (c), 17 Fergus Neil, 18 Chris Greatholder, 20 Fane Morgan, Kyle Baxter (RGK).
Player/coach: Bill Robertson.
WAIRARAPA: Matt Borren (GK), 2 Fidell Richards, 3 Carl Shailer, 4 Nathan Cooksley, 5 Josh Margetts, 6 Sam O'Regan, 7 Magno Viera, 8 Paul Ifill, 9 Seule Soromon, 10 Sam Mason-Smith, 11 Cory Chettleburgh, 12 Ollie Rowland, 13 Thomas Hemi, 14 Aaron Spierling, 15 Adam Wallis, 16 Liam Hare, 17 Mark Hemi, 19 Adam Cowan (c), Scott Basalaj (RGK).
Player/coach: Paul Ifill.
Other games today:
2.30pm: Western Suburbs v Petone FC at Endeavour Park No 1.
2.30pm: Stop Out v Palmerston North Marist at Hutt Park No 1.
2.30pm: Tawa AFC v Miramar Rangers at Redwood Park.
Tomorrow, 1pm: Lower Hutt City AFC v Wellington Olympic at Fraser Park Turf.
Golden boot race:
7: Angus Kilkolly (Rovers).
6: Juan Chang (Suburbs).
5: Magno Viera (Wairarapa).
4: Saul Halpin (Rovers), Paul Ifill (Wairarapa), Tinashe Marowa (Suburbs).
3: Ahmad Mohammadi (Suburbs), Martin Packer (Stop Out), Luke Grindlay (Stop Out), Callum McCowatt (Suburbs).
Standings
P W D L F A GD Pts
Rovers 5 5 0 0 22 4 18 15
Suburbs 5 4 0 1 21 7 14 12
Wairarapa 5 4 0 1 14 7 7 12
Petone 5 2 1 2 10 7 3 7
Stop Out 5 2 0 3 9 8 1 6
Olympic 5 2 0 3 7 12 -5 6
Lower Hutt 5 2 0 3 5 10 -5 6
PN Marist 5 2 0 3 6 18 -12 6
Miramar 5 1 1 3 4 8 -4 4
Tawa 5 0 0 5 3 20 -17 0
