It’s all about pride in the jersey
Roar Rookie By christopher, 11 Aug 2009 christopher is a Roar Rookie
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I can only imagine the pride rugby players must feel in representing their country. My heart stirs when they sing the national anthem.
But then I wonder: what would I really feel if I had to pull our current national jersey over my head? Pride? Embarrassment?
Seriously, this jersey looks like it’s been nicked from the costume department of a B-grade superhero movie.
What on earth is that bra strap?
I’m of fading memory, but it seems to me the current Wallaby doldrums started when this pathetic fashion statement turned up. How can we seriously expect our national players to play with confidence and ‘mongrel’ when they’re forced to run around the field looking like a bunch of nancy boys?
Sure, even the All Blacks and the ‘Boks have changed from cotton to the synthetic wet look – but their outfits still look like rugby jerseys.
It doesn’t matter who is in the Wallabies or who is coaching it, while our current jersey remains, we’re behind the eight ball and likely to stay there.
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August 11th 2009 @ 9:05am
Yikes said | August 11th 2009 @ 9:05am | Report comment
Don’t worry, it’s gone next year when the Wallabies move from Canterbury.
August 11th 2009 @ 10:42am
Nick P-G said | August 11th 2009 @ 10:42am | Report comment
It is practically the same as the boks jersey except their “grippy-stuff” is the same colour as the rest of it.
Also, I think there is no correlation between the jerseys and national team preformance at all.
This being said yes, it looks stuipd. Theyd go a long way by changing the “grippy-stuff” to the same yellow as the jersey and maybe some green stripes on the sleeves like back in the day.
Sadly, I dont predict a redesign till 2011.
August 11th 2009 @ 10:43am
Nick P-G said | August 11th 2009 @ 10:43am | Report comment
Haha! Well I eat my worlds about a redesign in 2011.
Yikes, who did they give the contract too?
August 11th 2009 @ 10:48am
Teo said | August 11th 2009 @ 10:48am | Report comment
As I understand it, the contract has gone to Kooga (based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. They also do the Fijian national jersey, as well as many NRL and AFL teams’ jerseys, to name a few). I thought I heard they will be wearing this new kit from this year’s End of Year tour onwards. Anyone else heard this?
August 11th 2009 @ 11:00am
Hammer said | August 11th 2009 @ 11:00am | Report comment
the wallaby jersey has been crap for years … there’s been some god awful permutations – those horrible stars, the one where it looked like someone had been sick on it …
unfortunately (apart from the ABs and SA) the rest of the world have had no problems following Austs lead and buggered around with their tradition … if there was I iota of pride lurking in the ARU they’d insist that Aust go back to a proper vibrant gold with green strips on the arms …
August 11th 2009 @ 12:47pm
CraigB said | August 11th 2009 @ 12:47pm | Report comment
Hammer – The SA jersey has certainly changed and is the same as ours. The only one that has had no significant change is the AB jumper and that only because adidas pay them a truckload to keep everything else off it. Don’t worry, if someone same up with more money it would change too!
August 11th 2009 @ 1:07pm
Unconditional said | August 11th 2009 @ 1:07pm | Report comment
Yes the canary yellow with the green strip on the sleeves looked the best.
August 11th 2009 @ 1:26pm
Brett McKay said | August 11th 2009 @ 1:26pm | Report comment
Correct Teo, KooGa look to have won the gig for the Wallabies from most reports, and I think for the Reds and Brumbies as well. The Tahs and Force will have new suppliers too, as ISC has gone into administration (voluntary or otherwise).
KooGa currently supply Newcastle and Melbourne in the NRL, while ISC have/had 5/6 NRL teams, 2/3 AFL teams, all four S14 teams, and several NBL teams as well. All are being heavily discounted in shops now…
And Nick, if you look at the Aust Seven’s jersey, it’s basically the same as the Wallabies, but with green sleeves – makes an enormous difference. I’ve often said the same thing about the grippy stuff on the Canterbury jumpers – how is it that South Africa’s and Ireland’s is virtually invisible, but on Australia’s and Scotland’s it sticks out like the dog’s proverbials?? And then you see the Warriors NRL strip, Gordon RUFC and several NPC teams (same design), and they don’t have the grip strips at all??
August 11th 2009 @ 1:34pm
Timmypig said | August 11th 2009 @ 1:34pm | Report comment
While we’re at it, would the ARU reinstate the standard rendition of the national anthem? Something without the weirdo introduction and the drawn out last bar?
Someone posted yesterday (can’t remember the thread) his surprise at the level of despondency of Australian rugby fans. I think I must be amongst that group. Just seems to be nothing right with a game I’ve loved for years, and played for school, uni and regiment. I suspect open professionalism, or at least its implementation, is at the root of the problems.
ELVs, kick-a-thons, lack of good week-in-week-out rugger after May, lurid jerseys, meaningless nicknames in the S14 circus, pedantic refs, awful performances by the Wallabies, leaving the field at half time, fireworks, exclusively night games, that dreadful Sydney Olympic Stadium.
To top it all off – my old club dropped down to 2nd div subbies this year. Humiliating.
I want my rugby back.
August 11th 2009 @ 1:42pm
Bay35Pablo said | August 11th 2009 @ 1:42pm | Report comment
It could be worse. Remember the horrid Reebok vomitarium from the late 1990s? Now that was the worst kit in history.
I’ve got the RWC2003 kit with the green stripes on the arms, and I’ll keep wearing that until it gets so worn my wife yells at me. hopefully that year we will have a good kit to buy. this year isn’t it.
And what’s with the move to this dirty gold? I want some circa 1991 bright gold!!!!
Similarly with the tahs. My current jersey is about 2002 vintage, which as far as I am concerned was the last decent one. While the stripes worked on the Wallabies kit, I didn’t like them on the tahs. the current one is the wrong tone of blue. Looks like a white that ended up with the colours wash. I want some sky blue!!!
Timmypig, the current depression is because we aren’t winning. Fix that and we wouldn’t care if we were playing like England, Winners are grinners. When the S14 and Wallabies teams aren’t playing well, we have to fall back on watching an exciting game as a booby prize, and we don’t even have that at the moment.