- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Fellow league fans, am I alone in moaning every year about the embarrassing state of NRL jerseys? Here’s a list of my complaints and possible solutions.
1. They change too often
It seems like it happens at least every two or three years.
Imagine if we gave 20 kids some crayons and paper and asked them to draw the uniforms of Essendon, the Broncos, the Titans, Melbourne Heart, Wests Tigers and St George. Which ones would they get right?
I suggest they would get St George, Essendon and Melbourne Heart right – but they would fail on the Tigers, Broncos and Titans.
It’s disrespectful to your team and its history to change the jersey every two or three years. It shows zero pride.
So thumbs up to, for example, St George for sticking with the red “V” on white. This is what fans want – colours and jerseys that mean something. NRL clubs should stick with a jersey for at least 10 years. It seems like the Tigers, the Titans and the Broncos wear a different jersey every four weeks and it’s a joke!
2. They are covered in ads
Usually these ads don’t even match the team colours. My team, the Raiders, has this huge red flower logo on the front of the jersey – it’s disgusting. I won’t buy nor wear that, I feel embarrassed to wear a logo.
Sponsorship on jerseys says that the team needs handouts and that they are poor. I am not poor and I won’t walk around with nine ads on my top, it’s a joke.
I look at NFL jerseys and I marvel at their fairly simple designs, which are ad-free. Those guys have pride in their uniforms and their fans love them.
I long for the 1980s when NSW rugby league teams had one sponsor on the front and the words were in the team’s colours. Now that I can stomach.
And let’s not forget the Bulldogs and the Tigers, who themed whole jerseys to advertise Avatar on Blu-ray or the James Bond film a year or two ago. Why oh why?!
3. Unnecessary ‘away’ uniforms
They don’t achieve what they are meant to – ensuring a visual distinction between the teams.
Earlier this year the Titans played at the Sharks and both teams wore fairly ‘busy’ designs. They both wore dark shorts and their shirts had lots of blue, white and black. You could tell the teams apart, but it wasn’t easy.
And why do the Raiders need an away uniform at all? Our lime jersey doesn’t blend with any other team. We have adopted a Canterbury outfit – blue socks, blue shorts and white jerseys with blue numbers. It’s depressing and I don’t get it.
Teams should certainly have an alternate uniform, e.g. if Penrith visits the Warriors the Panthers should revert to their original medium-brown uniform. Instead they have an embarrassing pink outfit with a huge red “OAK” on it.
I could write another page on this matter but why are NRL jersey designs so busy? You don’t need a stripe on every part of the jersey. Look at the Carlton Blues or the Chicago Bears, simple designs and their fans lap them up!
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.