Hull Live spoke exclusively to CEO Paul Lakin
Hull Kingston Rovers’ head coach Willie Peters lifts the trophy with CEO Paul Lakin.
Paul Lakin admits Hull KR haven’t started the process of recruiting for 2027 just yet and they’re in no rush to, either.
The Robins have added to their squad with the signing of Tevita Pangai Jr recently but they haven’t made any new signings for next season and they haven’t been linked with any either.
That’s because finding a new head coach is their priority at present as the club prepare to part ways with Willie Peters at the end of the season. The club are moving towards a conclusion on that front and the likelihood is that an appointment will be made in the next few weeks.
However, only when a head coach is secure will they turn their attention to the recruitment market, with the new man needing to assess the current squad before shopping lists can be drawn up and targets approached.
Rovers don’t have too much work to do in the market at all, but the process of filling any gaps that may exist is very much on hold.
“Not really,” Lakin told Hull Live when asked if he had identified any potential targets. “There’ll be very few and the coach has to assess the squad for himself.
“While you might think there’s an obvious gap in the squad, he might see it differently and he might think we need some movement in the squad to get a signing in a different position that we haven’t thought of.
“It’s been a bit weird in that respect, I’ve seen a lot of names thrown around in the transfer market in general and I’m thinking none of them are through us because we’re just not in the hub of it at the moment, but I must stress that’s because nor do we need to be.
“I don’t think we can identify players to a great extent because any conversation with a player, the first question would be ‘who’s the head coach?’ and it’s a very short conversation then.
“I’ve stayed out of those conversations at the moment but because we’re in the place that we’re in, we’re able to do that.”
Fresh faces for next season might not be at the top of KR’s list of priorities, but they have moved to add to their squad this year with the addition of Tevita Pangai Jr on a short-term deal.
The prop isn’t likely to stick around beyond the end of the current campaign, but Lakin believes he could make a real impact as he pushes to earn himself a deal down under.
“We’ve known of Tevita for quite some time, he’s been very much on Willie’s radar playing out in France and we knew his season finished in April,” Lakin added. “He’s come in until the end of the season to offer us something a little bit different, some punch, and that’s something Willie thought could give us an added dimension, whether that’s off the bench or starting.
“As a prop and possibly back-row, he adds size and it was relatively risk free from our point of view. He’s keen to come and he’s good friends with Tyrone. He wants a contract in the NRL going forwards and for him to be able to do that he needs to play well for us.
“From Tevita’s point of view and our point of view, it’s very much until the end of the season.”
On the notion of someone leaving to make way for Pangai Jr, Lakin added: “Through salary cap restraints we need to have some movement and we’d look to have some movement out in our squad in the next seven days.”