Last week, it was announced that Challenge Cup holders Hull KR would begin an exciting new partnership with NRL club North Queensland Cowboys, in a bid for both sides to “learn from each other.”
The two clubs will work closely with each other to discuss on and off-field developments, as both sides look to help the other progress.
Ahead of the Robins victory over Wakefield on Friday night, Hull KR CEO Paul Lakin spoke to Sky Sports on the partnership and what it hopes to achieve.
Lakin said: “It’s something that has been in the making for six or seven months now, by myself and Jeff Reibel, the CEO of the Cowboys.”
He added: “We wanted to get a partnership where we could learn from each other, for example from an employee point of view. Or our pathways at academy and scholarship level and how we can learn best practice for the first team S&C’s and medical team.”
The partnership will be more than just advisory, with both sides keen for staff to make moves across the world.
He said: “We are intent on both clubs doing some job swaps at various different levels, so we can really gain experience from each other’s club environment. The NRL is the best in the business, so we get a real insight into working with a club in the best league in the world.”
Could Hull KR sign NRL players as part of Cowboys partnership?
Looking to the future, there are opportunities for some of the young talents at Hull KR to travel and test out the Cowboys’ training facilities:
He said: “There is an opportunity for our academy to and play out there at the Cowboys. They’ve got an unbelievable state-of-the-art facility with a hotel.”
It is not just the players that will benefit either, with all parts of the club being involved in the partnership.
Lakin said: “The first team, the academy and the off-field team like marketing and communications are meeting every month on teams. Myself and Jeff will meet every two months and we will move forward from there. It’s well planned and it’s well structured.”
The Robins have had many ex-Cowboys players represent them and become fan favourites. Lachlan Coote and Kane Linnett both represented North Queensland in the 2010’s before making the switch to Super League. Lakin said this could happen more often should the NRL side want to send their players over to develop.
“It’s a very fluid partnership, but they clearly see Super League as a step up from Queensland Cup, and so they should, so if they’ve got a talented young player that they want to get a season’s worth of quality game time under their belt you may well see a cowboys player coming over here.”
