By day, Cameron Emerson packs ice and delivers it by truck around Hawke’s Bay. On the weekends, he’s cool under pressure for Napier City Rovers. Video / Neil Reid
Ahead of football’s National League, Napier City Rovers rock Cameron Emerson talks to Neil Reid.
The Jim Hoyle-captained side are preparing for their third successive appearance in the 10-team competition.
The 2022 season was the club’s first in the league in 20 years, with a change of formats during the previous two decades meaning National League spots were based on regional franchises – such as the now-defunct Hawke’s Bay United – and not clubs.
And as a Hawke’s Bay born and bred player, who had a stint playing and studying in America, he said it was massive for the club and the region that Napier City Rovers had qualified after finishing third in the recent Central League.
“Doing it three times in a row, something that we’re very proud of as a club,” Emerson said.
“People come and go from the club, people get older and start playing different levels with different parts of the country and stuff like that.
“But to do my stint away and then come back and then get the club to where they are now, back in the National League, is a very proud moment for me.”
Napier City Rovers midfielder Cameron Emerson getting prepared to go into battle in his side's changing rooms at Bluewater Stadium. Photo / Neil Reid
After 18 rounds, Napier City Rovers were denied second place in the Central League by the slimmest of margins.
Wellington side Western Suburbs, who the Bill Robertson-coached team are set to play in a National League warm-up on Saturday, nabbed second by virtue of a one-goal differential in the goals-for-and-against metric.
Napier City Rovers beat Western Suburbs 2-1 in the final match of the Central League, the weekend after nailing their third successive National League spot with a 6-1 win over North Wellington.
Emerson said it was great the five-goal win that secured their place in New Zealand Football’s top domestic league had been in front of home fans at Bluewater Stadium.
Napier City Rovers midfielder Cameron Emerson, pictured here playing against Wellington Olympic in round one of the 2024 National League, has been a rock for his side this year. Photo / Neil Reid
The 28-year-old has been a mainstay in Napier City Rovers’ starting 11 during both their path to National League qualification and their earlier run to the quarter-finals of the 2024 Chatham Cup.
In previous seasons he’s played as an attacking midfielder and on the flanks, pushing up-field.
But this season Robertson has employed him more in a defensive midfield role; something he has excelled at in using his strength and speed to make an impression.
Ahead of the National League, Emerson, who has still been making an impact on attack, said it was a role he was enjoying.
Napier City Rovers teammates and Party Ice Supplies workmates Sam Lack (left) and Cameron Emerson talk tactics ahead of an attacking free kick. Photo / Neil Reid
“Robbo has given me a chance to play there this year and I’ve done what I could to prove that’s where I belong and that should be my position,” he said.
“I’m happy with how I’ve played. I can be a bit of a harsh critic on myself at times, go home and think, ‘I should have done this, I should have done that’. But I’m just doing what I can to help the team in any way possible.”
The role has put Emerson in the firing line as he’s tried to contest for the ball, cut down opposition attacks and also spark moves for his own side.
Napier City Rovers midfielder Cameron Emerson has put his body on the line in 2024 for his club, including this split eye-lid during the side's 2-1 Chatham Cup quarter-final loss to Birkenhead United. Photo / Neil Reid
This season that has seen him take kicks to the head, come out of clashes with a badly split eye-lid, and received countless rakes down his shins.
With Napier City Rovers home games played on Sunday, Emerson said it wasn’t normally until a Tuesday – the day his side has the first of its three night-time training sessions for the week – that his body told him how physical the weekend’s match had been.
“But it’s always a nice feeling, being able to go out on the grass at the end of the day and kind of just get the pain out and run it off,” he said.
“Then the rest of the week’s kind of smooth sailing.”
“It’s quite a physical and active job; in and out of the truck all day, loading trucks, moving stuff around the factory,” he said.
“I enjoy it. I work with really good people, and I get to be out and about. I don’t think I’d be good at a desk job.”
Napier City Rovers players Ethan Richards (left), Benjamin Stanley, Cameron Emerson and Matt Jones during a training session at Park Island. Photo / Neil Reid
While the 28-year-old has been a regular since returning to Hawke’s Bay in 2021, he’s been joined by several new teammates this season.
Recruits this season Stephen Hoyle, William Tonning, Benjamin Stanley, Matt Jones, Adam Hewson, Oscar Tonning, Max Chretien and brothers Ethan and Kieran Richards all started the season with the aim of playing National League football.
That included photos he had posed for previously appearing on giant billboards around Napier and Hastings in late 2023.
“One of my friends at the time worked for Unison and asked me to come down [and get some photos],” Emerson recalled with a smile.
“I thought it was just one of his little projects.
Napier City Rovers midfielder Cameron Emerson and one of the larger-than-life billboards he appears on around Hawke's Bay. Photo / Neil Reid
“And next thing I know, I’m on the back of buses and billboards and stuff like that.
“It’s not something I really want to keep going into. I’ve been knocked around a bit this season, picked up a few more scars. So, I don’t think I’ve got much of a future in that.”
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.
