All 16 NRL team jerseys ranked

By njm2902 / Roar Rookie

It’s the analysis no-one asked for, but I’m here to deliver it anyway.

I always have strong opinions on what teams wear, so I have ranked the home jerseys of all 16 NRL squads.

16. Brisbane Broncos
The jersey seems to be designed exclusively by NRMA so their logo visually attacks anyone in sight. Even if you imagine it without the waist-to-waist sponsorship, the design is awful. Why is having a huge yellow hoop with a white trim a good idea? Why is a gross, slightly off-yellow a reasonable colour to have as the focal point? Why is the jersey brand just as big as the Broncos logo? And the worst part about this? I’m a Broncos fan.

15. Gold Coast Titans
The Titans colour scheme is awful, so getting any kind of decent jersey is a challenge. Once again they’ve disappointed, even with the change to navy. The weird broken chevron is kind of hard to look at and the huge orange sponsor just makes everything worse. They have tried way too hard.

14. Parramatta Eels
It’s a nice idea, but it’s simply not Parramatta. They really should be wearing the classic blue top, yellow bottom with alternating hoops around the midriff. The white collar also makes no sense.

13. Wests Tigers
Again, a nice idea that’s been poorly executed. The black trim inside the chevron takes away any possible impact that may come from the orange, and the white, which I assume is there to represent the Magpies side, looks totally out of place.

12. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
Sky blue, black and white is another colour combination that is difficult to master, simply because it has no guts. It also looks like it should have a V but the design guy misplaced it way too low and then stretched it.

11. Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
Boring.

10. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Boring but in blue.

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9. South Sydney Rabbitohs
This is actually one of Souths’ better jerseys from the last few years. Unfortunately the red line down the arm with the black trim is not good and makes a pretty good jersey look not that great.

8. Sydney Roosters
Another old-time classic blue jersey with the red and white chevron. It would be a whole lot stronger if it was worn with blue shorts, but that’s not the Rooster’s way.

Angus Crichton of the Roosters (Ashley Feder/Getty Images)

7. Canberra Raiders
In 2019 the Raiders have reverted to the darker green with the coloured sleeves they wore in the 1980s and 1990s. They have kept it simple and it has paid off. Like the Roosters, it would be great if they wore green shorts too, but that’s also not the Raiders way.

6. North Queensland Cowboys
I am really glad they ditched the immensely complicated designs of the 2000s to come up with something that is simple but also incorporates the bull horns into the jersey. The colour palette is great, it’s not too fancy and the sponsor blends relatively well.

5. St George Illawarra Dragons
A classic that has stood the test of time. Red and white is a combination that can’t really be messed up, and with the white shorts and a sponsor that blends seamlessly into the design, it’s a quality jersey. It also gets bonus points for ditching the V that extended over the shoulders and reverting to ending it at the top of the chest.

4. Newcastle Knights
This is the reason I’m writing this article. I saw another article that ranked this jersey last and it made me genuinely mad, so I’m here to rectify that. The jersey is an all-time classic with good colour combinations and a pattern that is very easy on the eye. I would have had it first, but unfortunately the giant green nib sponsor sticks out like a sore thumb and brings the whole thing down.

David Klemmer of the Newcastle Knights. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

3. Penrith Panthers
Everyone looks good in black, and this jersey is way better than last year’s weird black-to-white fade. The coloured hoops on the chest provide both a good contrast as well as a nod to years gone by.

2. Melbourne Storm
Many hate this jersey, but for me it’s wonderful. The yellow trim makes the purple pop, the sponsors do not get in the way of anything, and for a short-sighted person like me at the Raiders game on Friday, the yellow numbers are way easier to read.

1. New Zealand Warriors
I love a good throwback jersey, and that they’ve made it their main home kit makes it even better. It’s a near-exact replica of their 1995 foundation jersey – blue with the red, green and white pattern at the top. It’s easy to look at and may even inspire the perpetually underachieving Warriors to a better season.

The Crowd Says:

2019-03-25T19:29:12+00:00

Jay Wright

Roar Rookie


For me it’s not the design of the jersey that’s the problem for me, although I totally agree that the Broncos jersey looks terrible ( the South’s jersey is even worse IMHO) but it’s the volume of jerseys available. Home, away, heritage, marvel, Anzac, women’s and whatever other excuse the NRL can think of to make you punch out another 160 bucks for something your only going to wear for six months, is the real issue when it’s comes to jerseys. But for the record the best ever jersey was the Warriors 2015 Anzac jersey closely followed by the Panthers 2015 Anzac jersey. Cowboys indigenous 2018 ranks highly as well

2019-03-25T00:06:50+00:00

Albo

Roar Rookie


It's hard to get too excited about any of the current range of footy jerseys as they seem to change from week to week to satisfy the hungry merchandisers ! I still prefer a lot of the old traditional jerseys. I think the Balmain Tigers "black & gold" with the double black V on orange jumper, with Tiger logo, and with black shorts, is still the best jersey of all time . St George has maintained its traditional Red V jumper, but the rest these days are all over the place. The Panthers have gone from the chocolate soldiers ( with a good original jumper of brown with white saddle , to a changed jumper of brown on white vertical stripes) back to an 80's brown on white concoction, to the 90's Licorice All sorts that saw them win their first GF in 1991, to various concoctions of those 'all sorts" colours on black , white and teal coloured jerseys, to the regularly used "pink'' panther jumpers, to who knows what Black or White OAK sponsored jumper in 2019. It is a tragic joke played on us by the merchandisers. Give me the Balmain jumper any day !

2019-03-24T19:52:23+00:00

PGNEWC

Roar Rookie


Not a fan of the Newcastle Jumper -- it looks too much like when we first joined and we were unlucky in them days -- whats wrong with blue with a big red V --- it works well for Easts and Saints

2019-03-24T06:17:26+00:00

Dwanye

Roar Rookie


Hi all. I wish the Eels would just wear the ‘glory days’ jersey of the 80’s. I actually wish all the teams would go with one design.

2019-03-24T01:25:35+00:00

Stevo

Guest


You love a good throwback jersey but think the Eels should go back to their traditional jersey? Their current home jersey is their original of the 70's and before. Wests Tigers have access to the most striking colours ever in the league, the black and gold of Balmain, yet persist with poor imitations of Western Sydney Giants. Even using the sickly orange.

2019-03-23T23:52:15+00:00

aem

Guest


It's a 25th season celebratory thing, so should just be the one season. That said, they were just purchased by (in part) the Auckland Rugby League, so I wouldn't be shocked to see them keep the jersey at least as their first alternate instead of playing in those colours once a year in heritage round (and even that only happened recently).

2019-03-23T20:21:24+00:00

Duncan Smith

Roar Guru


I did put in a request to the Roar for this analysis back in 2007 so looks like they finally got it done. Manly and Canterbury jerseys are not 'boring' they are 'classic.' I wish Easts had worn their own classic jerseys last night. Souths though are boring. Storm jersey is the best.

2019-03-23T10:38:21+00:00

Rellum

Roar Guru


The traditional Broncs jerseys of 88 and 92 are what the club should stick too. This year's is not good. Are the Warriors going back to their original colours full time or is it a one off. They look a whole lot better in this strip.

2019-03-23T10:14:43+00:00

John C

Guest


I agree that the Broncos’ jersey is hard to like, but in my humble opinion it’s an improvement from last year and I think it’s a bit harsh to rank it last on this list. Too many of the jerseys are far too complicated for their own good, simplicity is the key. The jersey’s should be one of the following options / variations: - horizontal stripes; - vertical stripes; - single V; - double V; and - triple V. A home jersey should be in the dominant colour of the club with the stripes or V / V’s in the secondary colour. The shorts should also be in the secondary colour. The away or clash kit should be the reverse of this. Using the Broncos as an example, I am a Broncos fan after all, their home jersey would be primarily Maroon with the secondary colour being yellow/gold. Their shorts would be yellow/gold. Their away kit would be the reverse, so they wouldn’t clash with Manly for example. For both jersey’s the NRMA logo and the player’s number would be in white. I actually hate the Storm’s yellow collar and numbers, they clash with their navy blue and purple colour scheme. Personally, I’m a big fan of the classic Argentinian rugby strip. A Broncos version of that jersey is what I’d like see used by the Broncos. It may be boring to some, but I like it’s classic look. P.S. I agree that the Broncos’ ISC logo is far too big, it detracts from the NRL and Broncos logos. -

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