Sure, the exuberant victors train every day and are a catchment unit to feed Wellington Phoenix in the A-League but what they showed is that investing in youth is a temporary detour, not a dead end.
The Blues, who are finding themselves in a position where many Wellington United players were several years ago, should see this season's failures as their tutor, not their undertaker.
Robertson stayed on his feet, alongside his assistant, Stu James, barking orders. He must yearn for the time when he'll enjoy the placid perch Hedge enjoyed, vacating his chair midway in the second half amid concern his player had come off worse for wear following a challenge.
For Rovers acting captain Josh Stevenson the shortcomings are delays, not defeat so they can seek intricate accounts to explain away losses or simply accept good things take time.
"We had a lack of energy, I think," said Stevenson when asked why the Blues had failed to "turn up at the park" in the first half as two-cap Phoenix midfielder Sarpreet Singh took control of the engine room to dictate play.
"There are no excuses, really," said the Hastings police officer after some pointed a finger at a mid-match downpour the previous Sunday here for depriving them of a possible victory in the 4-3 loss to Wairarapa United.
Stevenson said the perfect autumn's day on a billiard table-like surface was ideal for their possession-based, pass-and-move affair.
"I don't think that was about bossing us in terms of footy because we showed that in the second half."
It must be pointed out that the hosts employed a 3-3-3 formation with prolific goal scorer Angus Kilkolly holding the licence to forage at the coalface but, realistically, the pickings were lean and, for the best part, the striker was ambushed when any possession came his way.
Five goals down, Stevenson said Robertson had impressed 45-plus minutes of full press with more mongrel, which worked.
"It showed a bit more effort and aggression was going to pay dividends in this league."
However, he felt the Rovers had effectively adopted a similar first-half formation against Wairarapa.
Stevenson said Singh's presence in the midfield was prominent but he hadn't done anything exceptional that they couldn't encounter.
While it is true that Singh was prone to unforced errors it would have made more sense for talented teenage Blues counterpart Ross Willox to keep him on a leash because, as experienced as Chris McIvor and Stu Wilson are, the veterans' should be the first to endorse their legs wouldn't have kept up with the hectic pace with which the visitors were moving the ball to create gaping holes to launch waves of attack.
Singh said their start was desirable but the second spell was nothing to write home about.
"When you're 5-nil up, you know coming out you can be a bit more complacent. We didn't want that to happen but that's exactly what happened," said the 17-year-old whose set-piece play is already showing glimpses of jaw-dropping promise.
Singh said coach Hedge told them keep the momentum going because of a previous game where they were 4-0 up but finished 4-4 was still etched in their impressionable minds.
The teenager said working on his set-piece routines was an ongoing exercise but yearned for more consistency.
The Auckland-born player, who moved to Wellington when he was 14, thought the standard of play in the premier winter league was ideal to make the step up to A-League.
Singh did his utmost to inspire his teammates, mindful he feeds off in the same manner from the elite Phoenix players in the A-League.
"We're all fulltime and everything's done with the first team, plus the reserve team and the academy who are even younger than us.
"Everyone knows the way we want to play so everything we're doing in training is preparing us for the first team," said Singh.
The Rovers have a win, a draw and three losses.
Result: Rovers 2 (Angus Kilkolly 46th, 81st) Wellington United 6 (Sarpreet Singh 14th, 29th; own goal 27th; Tinashe Marowa 25th, 41st, 87th).
Halftime: 0-5.
