The boys from the Brookvale Oval were sat pretty at the top of the table for most of 2014, until a slump at the business end of the season culminated in a trouncing at the hands of eventual premiers South Sydney. And they did it all while wearing their god-awful jerseys (apart from the one week they wore their AWESOME Wolverine shirt – Hugh Jackman’s a fan you know).
Our main complaint with their muddy, boring maroon jerseys, as with others by ISC, was the fact the tip of the chevron was cut off by the logo. Well we’re pleased to say that the tip has returned this year, jutting out from an even larger sponsor than its predecessor – they’ve now added ‘Internet Security’ for those who didn’t know what Kaspersky was all about.
In order to facilitate this the chevron is a lot deeper, starting on the shoulders and finishing up near the belly button, making the shirt look quite lanky. As we’ve seen with Canterbury, we love it when a traditional style shirt is done well, but with no additional patterns on the sleeves and nothing on the back, the addition of the point does little to elevate this dull jersey.
Which makes the away jersey a welcome surprise. Far from being a simple reverse, this white jersey allows a bit of vibrancy from the multicoloured Kaspersky logo and a good base for the green sponsors on the arms. The centrepiece are the multiple maroon chevrons that increase in thickness as they descend the torso, with the thin diagonal lines shaping the jersey and almost giving it a feel of a coat of armour.
There are a couple of quibbles, with the three different shades of green from various badges making it a bit messy, which stops it short of getting a ‘Good’ rating, but we applaud the effort, and next to the bland and dull home shirt, the away shirt is positively a triumph.
SHIT/GOOD RATING: Almost good but… no
Rugby Shirt Watch 