It is inconsistent to accommodate the sponsor without needing a billboard behind it. If they hadn't made the red middle section larger you'd be complaining that the sponsor interfered with the pattern. This chevroned-butcher's-stripes design is only the second Dragons alternate jersey I've ever bought The first was the old Steelers design that we used in 2011-2013.
Lets remind ourselves of just how crappy the alternate Dragons jerseys have been since the NRL made them mandatory in 2001-
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The 2001-2005 "Blood & Bandages" jersey from Classic was modeled on the original 1921 St George strip and just pissed off the Illawarra fans. It meant we now had two jerseys and they were
both traditional St George designs. It was the equivalent of the Wests Tigers playing in orange with a double black V at home and orange and black stripes away. Oh, and look at that ridiculous Nehru collar.
We dumped Classic for Adidas in 2006 and for the next two years our alternate was essentially just a copy of the Liverpool soccer team's jersey. The design had nothing to do with St George Illawarra and was essentially just an expression of Adidas' corporate identity. In 2008 Adidas inflicted a new monstrosity on us, which also managed to incorporate their precious triple-stripes but also included an unconvincing flame design on the sides.
In 2010 Reebok assaulted us with the "Wolverine" jersey, so-named because it featured claw marks. Mercifully, it only lasted one season. Thankfully, 2010 also saw Reebok produce a Steelers-based heritage jersey and the Dragons finally did the right thing in 2011 and adopted it as the alternate for the next three years.
But then in 2014 ISC replaced it with a red jersey featuring a single butcher's-stripe at chest level, diagonally defaced on the team badge side. It looked stupid, especially with a black collar and hemlines. 2016 saw a red jersey sublimated with a black Chinese dragon that didn't really fit in with the English mythological "St George and the Dragon" motif that is the club identity.
Compared with what has been inflicted on us by Classic, Adidas, Reebok and ISC over the years, I think X-blades first offering looks great. The angling of the butcher's stripes to turn them into shallow chevrons makes it look modern, sharp and strong, accentuating a player's broad shoulders. While I'll always think that the Steelers design should be our permanent alternate strip, I have to admit that X-blades have given us what is easily the best looking alternate jersey we've ever had.
