Recruitment is the key for Robins says chief executive Paul Lakin

He has just completed his first week back in charge at Super League’s bottom club after initially leaving them in 2008 to take up roles with Wolverhampton Wanderers and then Stoke City.

Assessing the job in hand, Lakin said: “The reason I’ve come back is I genuinely believe there’s potential.

“I know the city, I know the fans and I know the club.

“As a chief exec and in leadership, you look at a puzzle and the puzzle pieces and I think they’re all there.

“They just need joining together with a little bit of structure and leadership, and better comms.

“If you look at the on-field management team in Tony Smith, Danny McGuire and John Bastian, you’ve got one of the most respected names in the academy game alongside one of the greatest players of the Super League era and a vastly experienced coach.

“I’m already enjoying working with those three guys. A lot of it is just a little bit more joined-up thinking, a structure and a philosophy. ”

A hectic first few days saw Lakin involved in crucial Super League meetings plus witnessing the Robins’ season end prematurely and suffer more positive Covid tests.

But he knows what the priority is to end an annual battle with relegation.

“Recruitment,” said Lakin.

“There is nothing more important than the squad and getting that right. It is naive and somewhat stupid, in my view, not to concentrate on investing in the squad and that’s what we will do.”

On the ongoing bid to find new owners, he added: “We’re looking for investment in the right way through a private equity company that is doing all the work for us. It’s a long process but it’s a company I’ve worked with before in football and one I know well.”

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