When the 2023 Central League kicked off, midfielder Cameron Emerson couldn’t crack Napier City Rovers’ starting 11.

But with just two rounds remaining in the league, the 27-year-old has become a key starting player, with his upwards trajectory mirroring that of his side as they firmly close in on hoped-for National League qualification.

With the league having a break this weekend, Napier City Rovers are in third spot, just one point off overtaking the second-placed Wellington Phoenix Reserves, who they battered 4-1 in Wellington on Saturday.

The win over the Phoenix Reserves is a fourth straight on the road in a series of matches - also including Miramar Rangers, Waterside Karori and Western Suburbs - which Emerson labelled “redemption games” after earlier slip-ups against the same teams at home.

Emerson has also performed a stunning personal turnaround and nailed a midfield spot as his own, putting behind him two seasons where things haven’t always gone his way on or off the pitch.

That includes a 2021 season where he was sidelined with a concussion and a broken wrist after on-field incidents, and then a mini-stroke which he suffered during an after-match function.

Then last year he endured a season where he concedes his “consistency was lacking... my personal standards weren’t as high as what I set out for this year”.

As well as the standards he had set himself this season, Emerson said he had also adopted a different outlook on how he approached his football.

“I obviously didn’t start the first games of this season, but I know my level and where I want to be playing,” he said.

“My determination was to push through and get those consistent performances together, solidify my spot, and then try and be one of the standouts in the league.

“This year I have tried to put it more together on and off the pitch, just trying to get the right balance in life. You want to enjoy your football as well; there is the competitive aspect of it, but there is the social aspect as well.”

The latest impressive Napier City Rovers effort on the road came minus the key trio of Emerson (via suspension), Jim Hoyle (groin injury), and Fergus Neil (unavailable as the match was played on artificial grass).

Emerson said it wasn’t just him enjoying 2023, saying a “very good culture” had the club’s first team “buzzing”.

“And off the pitch is reflecting what we are doing on the pitch,” he said.

That strong form has seen the team build an eight-game unbeaten streak in the Central League; a run which includes the succession of wins on the road against Western Suburbs, Miramar Rangers, Waterside Karori and now the Wellington Phoenix Reserves.

Despite Napier City Rovers’ dominance in the previous home games against all those teams, the clashes at Bluewater Stadium had resulted in Central League losses to Miramar Rangers and Wellington Phoenix Reserves, a league draw against Western Suburbs and a Chatham Cup fourth-round loss to Waterside Karori.

“It was more like redemption games,” Emerson said of the quartet of road games.

Emerson’s full-time switch to midfield has seen him form an impressive combination with Ta Eh Doe.

After getting to know each other’s play over the first couple of games together, Emerson said the pair “understand where each of us will be on the field. The link-up play is getting quite good now”.

Doe said he loved working in tandem with Emerson.

He said if Napier City Rovers gave out an award this year for the player who had improved the most over the past season, then it should go to Emerson.

“He has been given a chance in the middle and he’s been awesome,” Doe, the club’s 2022 MVP, said.

“I’m impressed by him and proud of him.”

Emerson’s outstanding 2023 includes winning New Zealand Football’s goal of the week across Central, Southern and National League action after a cracking strike against Stop Out on June 11.

But the goal of the week gong hasn’t been the only significant milestone Emerson has achieved this season.

Last month he notched up his 50th first-team appearance for Napier City Rovers in the side’s 3-0 win over Waterside Karori, again impressing in the match.

That includes in added time when Emerson won the ball off an opponent inside Rovers’ own half and then set off on a long-range run.

His speed was too much for the opposition defence, and after beating the keeper he clipped a ball goal bound. Teammate Jonny McNamara helped the ball over the line for the final goal of the match.

Emerson said he didn’t realise until after the game that the match was his 50th.

“It is a good milestone to be a part of,” he said.

Emerson said another key part of Napier City Rovers’ strong record on the road in 2023 had been the policy of the team travelling to Wellington on the eve of matches.

Previously the side faced 11-hour return road trips on the day of games, something an internal review of the 2022 season highlighted as a negative factor for performance.

Coach Bill Robertson then put a plan in place - which was backed financially by the club’s board - for his team to travel on the eve of games, so they didn’t face five hours on a bus prior to kickoff.

And on the back of four successive, and crucial, wins in Wellington the initiative could prove to be a masterstroke should Napier City Rovers secure National League qualification.

“Travelling early has definitely helped a lot... the atmosphere starts when we leave Napier on Friday night,” Emerson said.

“It’s great to be able to wake up in the city where we are playing. A few of us will go and get coffee at the local cafes. A few of the boys prefer to have sleep-ins.

“Big ups to the club for putting that plan together and allowing us to go down earlier.”

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.