I just can't keep this one short...
I really don't mind the new design at all, and am of the opinion that a shift in this direction will appeal to a wider market. As cherised as the classic design is, a new fan is less likely to buy a plain jersey (solely consisting of bright colours) to wear casually. The new design at the very least is inoffensive visually and a solid base than can be re-designed iteratively to keep the identity fresh.
Due to the club having had a "jobs for the boys" mentality for decades, all of our success happening in a narrow timeframe, and two ill-advised departures in the late 90's-early 00's, the classic design has never really evolved outside of the changing of the direction of the stripes in 2003-05. The (generally) most rusted-on of fans exist in the age range of 35-60, who have great memories of the green machine era in this design and aren't young enough to be as open to change. Changing the visual direction of the club is certainly easier than telling the Dragons to get rid of the red V, but there is still a huge amount of equity in the look, that fans of other clubs (in this age range) even have a reverence for. But these fans aren't the target audience the club is out to capture, and solely catering to a demographic that is ageing (and will eventually die out) at the expense of the growing newer demographics is bad business for a club that was established in the age of expansion.
Yes, the transition could have been a bit smoother by gradually introducing navy. With the shorts included, the look is very navy-dominant from front-on while the balance looking from the back is about right. A thick green stripe on the shorts would have balanced the colours out a bit better. Navy is absolutely everywhere in the league, and adopting a more desaturated and slightly lighter colour (more slate-ish) would have provided a better differentiator. The contrast between the green and silver is pretty weak, but since it's tied to the new logo they are unlikely to change them; in this case, a thin navy keyline where the two colours meet may have worked. The away design is way too light on green, and perhaps the navy/green could have been swapped while keeping silver as the base.
I would like to think that some of my badgering to the club over the years has influenced this new direction a bit. There are some noticable similarities with a rebrand submitted to the club in 2013/14, right down to the colours and logo font, along with the jersey design submitted for the contest in 2016. This is also just as likely to be parallel thinking, and me being a pompous fool.
I hope the club sticks with their guns on this shift, and doesn't give in to the most vocal fan faction as RL generally does. As much as I love the classic design, it has stronger appeal to the already converted than it does to a new generation of fans. The last thing you can accuse the club of in the last 15-20 years is forcing change for change's sake in this department. Popularity comes in waves for small market teams like the Raiders, and the club should be capitalising on it's current resurgence to maximise the generation of new fans to supplement the one that waned in the late 90's. Just as importantly, the club needs to maintain a balance with the exisiting older generation of fans, like me and most others here. Using the heritage design a lot in the coming years and keeping the traditional blue/gold stripes will also help a new design like this gain acceptance.
