New Wallabies jersey, kind of …
Roar Guru By Bay35Pablo, 26 Jan 2010 Bay35Pablo is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- KooGa, Rugby Union, wallabies, wallabies jersey
Adam Ashley-Cooper models the new Wallabies jersey designed by Kooga - Image from Rugby.com.au
The new Wallabies jersey by Kooga was announced with all the usual fanfare of a well drilled media unit yesterday. Indestructible, increases performance by 4%, chamois on the shorts to allow wiping your hands, padded socks, ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound, and more gadgets than Rodney Dangerfield’s golf bag in Caddyshack.
But the important question for fans is – how does it look? With every new jersey announcement there is the fear amongst fans that it will be a repeat of “that” jersey. The 1997 Reebok technicolour yawn, which is generally agreed to be one of the worst, if not the worst, Australian sporting jersey ever to be seen.
The new Wallabies jersey is very … gold (much like the new Queensland Reds jersey is very … red). With a little green piping. And no collar (although these have been disappearing in recent years as a tackle grab point).
So apart from the collar, there is very little bottle green amongst all that canary yellow, sorry, Australian gold my friends. The shorts and socks provide the real green.
So ultimately, when I look at the new jersey I feel like I am looking at the Socceroos jersey (the sponsor on the front is even the same!).
Now I love the Socceroos jersey, but on the Socceroos. The Wallabies have always been the same colours, but their own identity via the jersey.
It may just be that technology means all the sports kit is starting to look the same, but I feel something is lacking. Perhaps it will grow on me like the piped green sleeves circa 2003 did (but never the Waratahs version!).
It is worth noting that when I looked at the new season jerseys for the NSW Waratahs, which are supplied by Canterbury, the lightweight playing jersey is very similar in having little to no collar. However, they are still stocking a heavy cotton collared jersey in the more traditional look.
The tendency has been that fans wear the shirt of their team, but the way things are heading are the fans of tomorrow going to prefer to wear the jerseys of their heroes from the past rather than the present? Anyone got a 1984 Adidas “Classic” Wallabies jersey I can buy? XXL?
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- KooGa, Rugby Union, wallabies, wallabies jersey
January 26th 2010 @ 12:17pm
MV Dave said | January 26th 2010 @ 12:17pm | Report comment
” If anything the socceroos jersey has morphed into a wallabied style jumper.” keh? l dont think so. Socceroos have always had lightweight tops without collars that l can recall. The styling of the color scheme is all thats changed.
January 26th 2010 @ 2:48pm
ren said | January 26th 2010 @ 2:48pm | Report comment
which is my point. remember the fluro yellow with tyre marks, the black shorts with fluro gold and green wisps. the green witha gold bar ala ajax. sure the collarless ugby jumper resembles a soccer top but the design is far more wallabies than socceroos.
January 27th 2010 @ 8:23am
Maddog said | January 27th 2010 @ 8:23am | Report comment
And let’s not forget the special Socceroos ‘Spew’ jersey!
Love the new Wallabies jersey, it’s all a bit back to the future. I have every Wallabies jersey since that Reebok one and it looks like this could be the new favourite (but I will always have a soft spot for my three stipes version for when I am in a retro mood).
What I don’t like are the socks…way too much green in there for my liking. After all, it is the gold that seperates us from South Africa and locally from the Kangaroos. I would love to see a return to the gold predominately with green hooped socks. I can’t think of any other country, who play in two colours, that have mismatching jersey and socks.
More gold, less green for me.
January 26th 2010 @ 12:57pm
MattRusty said | January 26th 2010 @ 12:57pm | Report comment
They might as well paint themselves in yellow paint and have temporary tattoos for sponsors. Surely merchandise sales must have gone down with the introduction of these spandex suits….although I guess you could ride it cycling…
January 26th 2010 @ 2:49pm
ren said | January 26th 2010 @ 2:49pm | Report comment
i may be wrong but many jerseys are reproduced as either playing replicas or as fan style- ie traditional collar and material. well at least the force have in the past.
January 26th 2010 @ 1:13pm
Jay said | January 26th 2010 @ 1:13pm | Report comment
Miss the collar and prefer the senitment of ccc.
January 26th 2010 @ 5:03pm
Sam el Perro said | January 26th 2010 @ 5:03pm | Report comment
I am glad that they have veered from CCC. One thing that I have found irritating in recent seasons is the fact that so many of the international teams now look the same. While the colours change, the template (that dreaded bra design that I mentioned above) is the same, regardless of whether it is the Wallabies, Springboks, Ireland whoever. Vive la difference!
And besides, Kooga are a Gold Coast company aren’t they? It’s my patriotic duty on Australia Day to prefer them to Canterbury!
January 26th 2010 @ 2:08pm
Rabbitz said | January 26th 2010 @ 2:08pm | Report comment
Geez it looks like a shin-grabbers guernsey. Sheesh. And exactly how does a flaming shirt give you a 4% performance advantage and exactly how do you measure it? Pure wank, but I guess fort fumbles’ marketeers are just that.
January 26th 2010 @ 3:08pm
simon said | January 26th 2010 @ 3:08pm | Report comment
I liked the old dark ‘egg-yolk’ gold of 91, when we first won the world cup. That was also the biggest step forward by ruggby in AUS. Even if they change the design, at least keep the same gold.
January 26th 2010 @ 3:14pm
Brian said | January 26th 2010 @ 3:14pm | Report comment
It is not a jersey, it is a t-shirt.
January 26th 2010 @ 3:21pm
Travis said | January 26th 2010 @ 3:21pm | Report comment
I feel badly for Matt Dunning, having to play in the Hydrosteel jerseys era. It’s just not fair on a generously proportioned man.
January 26th 2010 @ 3:29pm
mudskipper said | January 26th 2010 @ 3:29pm | Report comment
I think fans are beginning to wear general supporter apparel and not the team jersey… Jerseys are cool but mostly for kiddies…
January 26th 2010 @ 3:32pm
mudskipper said | January 26th 2010 @ 3:32pm | Report comment
However the new Wallabies strip is an improvement for player and supporter…. well done KooGa and the ARU…
January 26th 2010 @ 6:47pm
sheek said | January 26th 2010 @ 6:47pm | Report comment
Bay,
Hooray for you….. beat me to the punch. I’m all for progress, providing it’s an improvement.
The venerable Vinay Verma, an Indian/Australian cricket tragic who nevertheless dispenses wisdom on The Roar across a variety of sports, said this recently, “Change for the sake of change can be counter-productive. However, change that enhances the product should be embraced”.
Simple, full of practical common sense, yet so intrinsically accurate.
We bag the Americans for their gross crassness, yet their baseball & football uniforms would not look out of place if taken back 100 years. Sure, they possess the latest technology, but the ‘style & appearance’ remains true to tradition.
The traditional rugby jersey has a collar. Am I being a dinosaur by insisting it be retained?????
Sure, put in place all the latest techno improvements, but the last time I looked, rugby is played by rugby players, not pedal bike riders!!!!!
January 26th 2010 @ 7:20pm
mcxd said | January 26th 2010 @ 7:20pm | Report comment
i dont know, im still confused at why they continue to call it “gold”..its yellow. i agree with those above in saying that the “gold” from the farr-jones era was the best…swap the yellow to that gold and ill be happy.