Hull KR CEO Paul Lakin joined Jenna Brooks and Jon Wilkin on this week's episode of The Bench podcast; watch the Robins take on Wigan Warriors in a huge Betfred Super League top-of-the-table clash on Friday, exclusively live on Sky Sports+ from 7.30pm; 8pm kick-off
Tuesday 3 September 2024 12:30, UK
Paul Lakin has one simple philosophy which has served Hull KR well: get the recruitment right and the rest will follow.
Since returning to the club as chief executive in late 2020 following roles with football clubs Wolverhampton Wanderers and Stoke City, Lakin has overseen the Robins' rise from struggling near the foot of the Betfred Super League table to being in contention for major honours.
Hull KR now travel to Wigan Warriors on Friday for a match that will likely go a long way to deciding the destination of the League Leaders' Shield and No 1 seeding for the play-offs, and Lakin told Sky Sports how Willie Peters' side have emerged as a force in Super League.
"When I left both football clubs, they gave me the same message which was there is nothing more important than recruitment," Lakin said in his appearance on The Bench podcast.
"No 1 is be obsessed with recruitment, because if you get that right everything else becomes that little bit easier - retail, corporate, attendances.
"It's all relative to my role, which is income, so I am obsessed with recruitment - or I thought I was until I met Willie."
Last week's confirmation of goal-kicking second row Rhyse Martin joining from Leeds Rhinos marked the latest eye-catching signing for 2025 from Hull KR, with New Zealand great Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, and Catalans Dragons duo Micky McIlorum and Tom Davies moving to Sewell Group Craven Park as well.
Such is the obsession with recruitment that Lakin and head coach Peters have, they are already looking at shaping the squad for 2026, with an eye on retention of key members of the Robins squad as much as the positions they would like to strengthen.
Lakin is full of praise for Peters, the former Gateshead Thunder and Wigan half-back who began his off-field career selling sponsorship at NRL club South Sydney Rabbitohs prior to moving into coaching, and admires the dedication he puts into the job - which includes regular 5am starts.
"He lives and breathes the job," Lakin said. "I actually think there's no other way of doing it for success.
"He thinks about here and now, he thinks about today, he talks about 2026 to me in the same breath and everything in between.
No 1 is be obsessed with recruitment because if you get that right, everything else becomes that little bit easier.
"I'd be lying if I didn't say it was exhausting sometimes, but the results are there and you wouldn't want in any other way.
"I feed off him and he feeds off me, and I test him quite a lot too in terms of what's next. Not just on the pitch, but in terms of the academy and the players coming through the academy, or in terms of looking ahead to 2026 and player development."
Peters' first year in charge of Hull KR after succeeding Tony Smith saw them reach the Betfred Challenge Cup final, losing to Leigh Leopards in golden point, and the Super League play-off semi-finals where they were heavily beaten by eventual Grand Final winners Wigan.
Friday's showdown at The Brick Community Stadium, live on Sky Sports, sees both teams go into it sitting top of the table on 38 points with three rounds of the regular season to go, but with the Robins ahead of the Warriors on points difference.
It is small wonder so many in East Hull are dreaming of the club lifting the top-division title for the first time since winning the old Slalom Lager Championship in 1985, and Lakin is in no doubt the players now have the belief they can go on to lift a major honour.
"We're absolutely in the mix, aren't we?" Lakin said. "What's potentially been missing in years before is the belief and I've no doubt the belief is there now.
"You listen to people say, 'It's one game at a time', and think it's a boring answer, but it really is.
"You have to take one game at a time, but is the belief there? One hundred percent."
Watch the top-of-the-table Betfred Super League clash between Wigan Warriors and Hull KR exclusively live on Sky Sports+ from 7.30pm on Friday September 6; 8pm kick-off. Also stream with NOW.
