I know this is a little late in the game given that the new rugby league rep jerseys were announced a lot earlier, but today’s Sydney Morning Herald was the first time I’d seen what the new shirt would look like
Ok, let’s start with the good.
The Kangaroos jersey is effectively unchanged from its basic form. It has the double golden chevrons and the horrible and ugly VB sponsorship is gone.
It’s produced by a good kit maker in Canterbury.
Yes, the collar is gone, but I think most of us have now moved on from thinking this silly anachronism is actually worth mourning.
On the basic design then, I wouldn’t really change much, as it’s still the basic Kangaroo iconic design, just with a slightly lighter green.
So what am I bothering to write about if the basic ingredients are right?
Well, to be blunt it’s the logos. We all love our chevrons in League, but putting one on both the Kangaroos badge and the coat of arms, in exactly the same style as the jersey, all just looks kinda stupid.
Talk about chevron overload!
Now that the shirt is covered in chevrons, it’s become clear that scarcity and context are what lend symbols their value.
So having six sets of them (yes, I count six – the main chevron on the jersey, two sets for each Kangaroos logo on the jersey and on the shorts, two on each side of the shorts, and one in the middle of the coat of arms) on the Kangaroos kit makes them look like a particularly offensive bright orange that your neighbour has decided to paint on everything thing he owns.
What annoys me about this is that it has done two things: it firstly trashed two perfectly good logos in the previous and impeccable Kangaroos logo and the normal coat of arms, and then trashed the iconic Kangaroos jersey itself by effectively turning it into a tacky mosaic of chevrons.
Why ARC, why?
I know it’s a superficial issue, but why did you go out of your way to coat the jersey with this hideous tone of bright orange?
You had done well in getting rid of the eyesore that was the massive VB logo, so why undo that good work by taking two aspects of the jersey that worked fine and replacing them with something so devaluing?
If the jersey had any more sets of angled lines it’ll start to look like a green and gold zebra.
So for the world cup, do us all a favour and give us back our old Kangaroos logo (first used in 2008) and coat of arms.
Then, the jersey only would have only three sets of chevrons, which is just about enough.
Graeme
Guest
Less is more. they should just have it as the main feature of the jersey, otherwise your just flogging it to death. Definitely get it off the shorts and socks.
Dan
Guest
Interesting info allblacksfan. I'd always wondered what the psych research had to say on the all blacks, as I'd read the stuff on the supposed statistical likelihood of success for teams wearing red. You have to wonder then though, what does yellow do for you in light of brazil in soccer and for the wallabies when they've had eir golden runs? Red certainly hasn't help Wales agains our green and gold boys lately. And what of the dark green of the kangaroos? Their dark green perhaps has its own menacing effects in the same vein as the springboks.
allblackfan
Guest
hear ya, kasey, but I think there has been research done that shows black is not only the most popular colour but also the most significant psychology-wise. The pyschology of colours (so I read) is that pink is feminine, blue is tranquil, red is empowering but black is menacing. Also, black appears to attract the ire of refs more than any other coloured jersey. Think of all the soccer teams that have red in their colours; why?? The All Black jersey, even with its second sponsor (gasp!! horror!!), is still a menacing sight. Put 15 players in, say, red (Wales) and they look fearsome but that ferocious appearance seems to disappear into the menacing void of 15 men (or women) in black. Good knows the non-rugby conscious Italian public appreciates seeing a team play in black (with silver highlights)!!
Australian Rules
Guest
Ask kids in Brisbane to draw - accurately - the Broncos jersey. If they can't, then the Broncos have a problem.
Australian Rules
Guest
Well there you go...my source was wrong. Cheers
Epiquin
Roar Guru
To be honest, I would never have noticed any of those extra 'chevrons' if you hadn't pointed them out. Jersey's in the NRL though are one of my pet hates. Here's a puzzler for you all: What are the Panthers' team colours? Brown? White? Black? Blue? Pink? I'm certain I saw some yellow and green in there too. Or what about the warriors for that matter? I don't know that they've ever used the same jersey twice. The administration under-values the importance of jerseys and image. I'm glad Brisbane got rid of that silly black and white away strip they had been using.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
To be fair though FIFA have the money and the influence to pull that stuff off. If pretty much any other sprot tried to pull that off they'd be scrambling for cash in no time!
The Pivotonian
Guest
Actually Geelong first wore hoops in 1876: http://www.bomberblitz.com/~rmered/geelongall.htm
Dan
Guest
Not really... Both the blues and maroons have changed way more than the kangaroos, st George, the roosters and souths over the years
B.A Sports
Hey woh woh woh! I never said the Yankees was the gold standard in sports uniforms - Go Sox ;) But seriously, the Americans recognise the value of the brand much better than we do with our constant jersey changes to pick up a quick buck because marketers think everyone is going to buy a new jersey everytime you change the stripes. The one advantage they have in the US (apart from the no sponsorship on the jerseys), is they are not constricted to positional numbers like league and union, so people will buy multiple jerseys representing their fav basketball, football or baseball players. I'd like to know the difference in the numbers of jerseys sold between the AFL and NRL with one who has minimal changes to jerseys and the other where clubs change their jerseys every three years.
B.A Sports
Not getting defensive mate, but it was just a blog with some dude mucking around with jerseys, i just didn't see the relevance or that because 1 guy was playing around on his website that it represented any sort of trend. But whatever, no biggy.
Storm Boy
Guest
NSW Blues & QLD Maroons have the longest traditional jerseys in league.
Dan
Guest
In terms of modernising whilst remaining true to its roots, I have to say the All Blacks jersey is definitely one of the best in terms of its consistency over time. Shame about the AIG ad they put on it last year though
Kasey
Guest
B.A. Its more to do with my thought that even 10 years ago, a baseball fan might have thought to re-imagine the MLB teams as gridiron teams or Ice hockey teams rather than soccer teams. Either way its just a fun bit of folly – no need to get defensive about it. If I was any sort of creative type I might explore the wonder of how our AFL/NRL teams might look if they were football teams. I would love for football in this country to become so well off that it was able to forgo a shirt sponsor in favour of the name of the city that team represents. Rumours abound that the NBA is considering allowing jersey sponsorship in the near future and the howls of discontent should be audible this side of the Pacific.
Bernie Gurr
Guest
The Roosters home strip is more true to its long term look than any other club's strip. Very similar to the strip they have worn since the 1960's. I may be biased but it is a great looking Rugby League strip. Souths have added black side strips and the colours look slightly different to the strips worn by their famous teams of the 1960's & 1970's, which also featured a distinctive white collar. St. George Illawarra have added a red banded collar to a jersey that was traditionally all white except for the great red "V". Also the shorts were also traditionally all white back in their great days, with no red stripes plus their socks are not their famous red & white hoops.
Kasey
Guest
The best in sport?? Now there's an article waiting to be written, sure to bring out the passions. You've already got me agreeing with B.A. Sports that the Yankees is a Gold Standard for sports Uniforms. Being Australians we are bound to be biased towards the colour combination of Green and gold. My personal favourite G&G Aussie sports jersey was the old WSC tops of the era when NZ wore beige and Brown :) But then we here in SA were never really exposed to either the Wallabies or the Kangaroos in our formative years.
Renegade
Guest
The Kangaroos jersey is the best jersey in sport....Just Gold! Green and Gold ;)
oikee
Guest
Golden V for Victory. Green and Gold, Kangaroos, VB and Holden. In a ever changing world, hanging on to our traditional symbols, colours and Icons is something we should never lose. Anyone who thinks otherwise are invited to Paul Kent's house where modern sterilisation and knocking down old buildings and traditions are the norm. Hold onto it lads, for all its worth. Look no further than how fast traditional Chinese culture has been lost.
B.A Sports
I don't think that article has anything to do with football in regard to its visibility. Just a bored dude who likes both baseball and soccer and is into design putting 1 and 1 together. Baseball, and MLB of all the US sports, would never change their jersey styles. I'm sitting hear watching the Red Sox, their traditional away "Boston" jersey and I can't imagine anyone every going away from that brand to a different design - nor can I imagine the control freaks that are MLB allowing it.
Von Neumann
Roar Guru
I do agree with keeping things the same. while above I said "times change", and they do, I much prefer things staying the same. BUT I have accepted that in this sport things change. I do not like sponsors much on jerseys but put up with them. I am all for at most one sponsor on the front and/or back. I never saw a reason ever for a club to change its jersey too much. The first two broncos jerseys will always be my favourites. Too bad if they go out of style. Jerseys are more than style. __ Otherwise I have come to grips with what they have done with the jerseys. Its not really a massive deal - but I am not pretending staying the same and clean with jerseys is not superior, it is.