Much has been written about rugby league’s chequered history when it comes to expanding the top-level competition with news of the coming ascension of the Redcliffe Dolphins to the National Rugby League.
Wait, what? It’s just the Dolphins. No place name. Didn’t Cronulla already try that and decide it was a silly idea?
Oh well, these things are usually trial and error. No more so than when it comes to branding and, especially, image.
I posit that this chequered recent history of expansion has much to do with a largely regrettable history of expansion team jerseys.
It’s taken North Queensland 25 years to come up with something even half-decent. Just a tip: ditch the yellow. It doesn’t work. I’m sure they’ll ruin it with something else, though. Plus ça change.
The Cowboys’ lone premiership triumph came against the equally uninspired Brisbane Broncos.
Despite having pretty good colours to work with, the Broncos have almost never done anything interesting with them. There was that period in the mid-1990s when they experimented with Croatian football-style diamonds. Since then, banality.
Sure, Brisbane’s a very successful expansion team, but how much more successful could they have been if their players were inspired by a snazzy kit? It’s a now a 15-year premiership drought for the Broncos. Coincidence?
We’re still waiting for the Gold Coast Titans to stop looking (and often playing) like tourists wandering around one of the local resorts. The yellow thing applies to you too, Gold Coast.
The little lamented South Queensland Crushers inexplicably chose a jersey predominantly the colour of warm vomit.
The Western Reds forgot to design half of their jersey, with a potentially interesting colour combination terminated half-way down.
The Auckland Warriors started off on a great note, with their unlikely combination of blue and green immediately pleasing on the eye. For some reason, they abandoned that for solid black and have only recently seen the light. Perhaps better times are ahead.
Penrith didn’t win anything until they stopped wearing mission brown.
Newcastle’s period of success, not surprisingly, coincided with them wearing simple vertical stripes, rather than mucking about with asymmetrical half-and-half designs. Surely there’s a better way of showing you’re proud of your working-class supporters than those inexcusable high-vis jerseys.
The Super League expansion franchises were stymied by the league’s weird stipulation that every team had to wear their colours in the same design. I’m not sure what that was about. Adelaide and Hunter never had a chance.
Wests Tigers are not, strictly speaking, an expansion team. But surely part of their much talked about journey to find a coherent identity must include finding a consistent colour composition.
Don’t try to be a hybrid of Wests and Balmain.
Decide on a dominant colour and find a good way of working with it. This might be a novel idea, but how about asking your supporters for their ideas?
There are many exceptions to this general rule.
Brisbane and Newcastle, of course. Canberra’s done alright.
And going further back, Manly and Parramatta have had periods of both success and sartorial style.
Melbourne has somehow overcome its hideous purple garb to become a modern powerhouse.
On the flip-side, not even a series of classic jerseys could save the Gold Coast Giants/Seagulls. Neutral tones work on football jerseys but are no guarantees of success on the field.
What will the (Redcliffe) Dolphins do? Red and white is a good combination to start with. Alarm bells did start going off when it was announced they intent to add an additional colour.
Stick with neutrals, Dolphins. Try red and white with some black trim. Something along the lines of the very stylish Feyenoord Rotterdam football shirt.
And for the sake of good taste, resist the insidious temptation of yellow.
Redcap
Roar Guru
Hi Tim, I do have a complicated relationship with yellow. :) A full-bodied shade of yellow, like the one you see on the Tour de France leaders jersey is fine. I actually think that with yellow, if you're going to use it, go all in. The Broncos have a good shade of yellow - they should use it more. It goes well with maroon. I prefer Parramatta when they wear predominately yellow. The washed out shade used by the Titans and Cowboys - yuck!
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
I think they decided whether or not to hate one another based on if their jerseys matched that game or not.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
with the way Spud & Chief hated each other back then, neither probably wanted to speak to the other to change jerseys. Ah the RL was tougher & more simpler back then
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
Someone who probably earns more in a year than the rest of us earn in a lifetime. On a side note, in that series, Paul Harragon wore the 8 jersey with Mark Carroll in the 10. Spud is meant to wear the 8 and Chief the 10. I don't know why that bothers me, but it does.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
Tim that '97 NSW SOO was a Barry Crocker! who from the NSWRL looked at that jersey and thought "Looks good, that's the origin strip for this year!"
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
1. My first game was the 1964 grand final between St.George and Balmain. St.George’s strip was impressive but Balmain’s was spectactular. It was orange and black but they were described as black and gold. 2. I don’t understand your phobia with yellow but try thinking of it as gold. It is common for Aussies to refer to it as gold to help them live with yellow. You are not alone in your dislike of yellow and that is why we have so much navy blue and black with white areas for advertising and dark shoulders. The Brumbies rugby jerseys are familiar. 3. I like the description ‘hideous purple garb’. That’s gold AMD. They could add white, yellow, puce or lavender and it would look better. 4. Penrith should’ve been black from the start but couldn’t because Wests were nearly all black.
andrew
Roar Rookie
There's been so many bad designs from a lot of clubs.
Tony
Roar Guru
Yes Kent. Quite often simplest is the best. Dragons, Wests, Souths, Newtown, Norths. All classics.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
white alternate jerseys – once again copying Seppo sports where one team wears their coloured strip & the opposition in white. If Parra are Blue & Gold – they wear their Blue jersey & a Gold version only when there is a clash of jersey colours – why need a 3rd / white (apart from merchandise sales) – much like how years ago black became the must have alternate strip in many sports
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
Can't beat Black with that white V with Victa on it
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
Tony can't beat the classic big V on the jerseys - St George, Wests, see someone even on the other side of the globe wearing one of those shirts & straight away you recognise them.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
how about this for the West Tigers Home and Away jerseys? Home – the 1989 Balmain Tigers jersey, Away – the 1978 Wests Magpie’s jersey. This way both strips will get a roughly equal run with the home / away series, plus the Maggies aren’t forgotten about in the merger.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
how about the Bronco's aqua strip?
Redcap
Roar Guru
Yes, yes they do. They've got white and black to work with. How do they keep getting it so wrong?
Birdy
Roar Rookie
My taste is so bad I don't even know what colour shirt to wear with black pants. Even so , I'm still capable of picking an over designed eyesore if a footy jumper. My merged club Tigers are a classic example of yuk. 2 simple and great jumpers to work with , wests and Balmain and they go for over designed horrors everytime.
Birdy
Roar Rookie
I've got a horrible thought, Two Brisbane clubs, Broncos maroon and gold, Dolphins Red and gold and both called Brisbane.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
A bit like Liquorice allsorts. They look a mess and taste even worse! Like the confusion of the Panthers colours... are they brown and white or black and white or black, rust red, teal green and white or are they pink? Do they even know? A leopard can't change it's spots and a Panther clearly can't pick it's colours! :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
My favourite all time jersey (assuming I take South Sydney out of the equation)... the Cronulla Sharks circa mid-70's. Watching them play at Redfern oval the sky blue was mesmerising. Sky Blue is my favourite colour after all. Go the Blues, Nat! :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
Carl - another advantage of a retro jersey - 3/4 sleeve so u can wear it in winter, thicker material (winter once again) AND not skin tight. Considering the build of the average rugby supporter, it's one thing for players to wear skin tight jerseys, do we really wanna see spectators in skin tight replica jerseys?
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
carl - you sound like my old man. Whenever I bought a new Rip Curl / Billabong shirt he'd say "How much u pay for that? you paid half a weeks wages for a shirt?" (was an apprentice back then), followed with "hope they're paying you for advertising to walk around in that"