It’s a good suggestion for others, but personally I don’t like the phone setup. It’s silly little user interface things like having to charge it regularly, having to wake up the phone and/or unlock the the screen to use it, not being tactile and worst of all - a house with young children just play with phones!
The RF receiver however is a great idea! I’d be able to keep the wife-approved controllers but sort of upgrade them to work with HA. Will defo investigate this option further. Thanks.