Hull Kingston Rovers v Castleford Tigers: Robins undergo image overhaul as the look to bright future

It will not be visible on their shirts just yet – that comes next season – but, around Hull College Craven Park at least, the first signs of the club’s new crest will be there for fans to observe.

Unveiled online last night, they have revealed the smart, new-look badge in readiness for their 140th anniversary.

Under the banner of “rise again” – something the Robins are clearly doing both on and off the field – it is a slick, impressive emblem which marries both the club’s tradition and its need to evolve.

Perhaps controversially, ‘Kingston’ has been dropped from its previous incarnation.

However, the design does retain the three crowns representing Kingston Upon Hull and now incorporates a robin with a nod to their famous nickname.

The robin, too, is also a far easier marketable asset for the digital world which will play such a major role in taking the business forward, something both Rovers and Super League, in general, know will be crucial.

Hull KR have already launched their impressive Craven Streat fans village earlier this summer, bringing added atmosphere to their home games with its live music and beer marquees.

That will certainly be bouncing again if the squad can defeat Castleford Tigers this evening and enhance their hopes of claiming a top-six spot in next Friday’s final round at another play-off rival Leeds Rhinos.

However, as Paul Lakin, their chief executive who has helped make such progress in his first year in charge, explains, things have to keep moving.

“To truly move a club forward you have to move all departments forward in one,” he told The Yorkshire Post.

“It’s a rugby league club so you have to really concentrate on the product on the pitch. But you can’t neglect the product off it and your crest is a very, very emotive subject.

“While we’ve worked hard on the team, with all the retentions of players for the next few years and new signings like Lachlan Coote, as well as showing some innovation with Craven Streat which is completely different, this is bringing the club brand right bang up to date.

“This has put us in a really good place.”

Driven by the club’s head of marketing Craig Franklin, and developed by marketing agency Nomad who were behind the FA Premier League rebrand, it has been an extensive process.

Lakin realises there may be criticism for losing ‘Kingston’.

“As a company and a club we’re Hull Kingston Rovers overall but this is our brand,” he added.

“The vast majority of people call us Hull KR so it’s not like we’re changing what most people say anyway. We’re just focusing the mind. It keeps it lean and clean.

“We know we have a long way to go. But if we have genuine ambitions to establish ourselves as an even stronger force in the sport, we have to evolve and modernise everything we do.

“Whilst we all love the old crest we have grown up with, it is a monologue brand in a digital world; no longer fit for purpose. “

Lakin is also one of six members of a new strategic working group, brought from Super League and the RFL, tasked with improving the sport and identifying a ‘strategic partner’ who could help facilitate that.

Having also worked in football at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Stoke City, he will bring his knowledge to those discussions but, at the same time, he hopes other Super League clubs will look to make similar changes.

He said: “Wigan rebranded earlier this year and there’s one or two strong crests in there already but I’d like to see some more clubs show some innovation and rebrand. That’s individual club choice. But as a Super League group, we are determined to move it forward. That’s not loose words; we are talking extensively about what the future of the game will look like and those conversations are taking place.”

Meanwhile, KR owner and lifetime fan Neil Hudgell is clearly a fan; he has lent his voice to the emotive video hailing the arrival of the club crest.