The VB era was a dark era in NSW Origin history and just so happened to coincide with bleak fortunes on the field as well. I actually loved the 2018/19 chevron jerseys and while I was initially against the reverse jersey, it looked great on the field under lights...
Which is why I don't get why they changed this years' jerseys- why bring back a shit design from the Superleague war that was (rightfully) scrapped after a single series? Why ad yet another, completely redundant badge to the jersey?
Mate I couldn't agree more with you on this, especially your last paragraph. 9 times out of 10 - the simplest design is the best. It blows my mind how much crap gets approved as a playing strip. I suppose they are trying to be innovative but...
Why do clubs have jersey changes so often.
Yes - possible contractual commitments. But why are commitments there in the first place?
Yes - like manufacturing a car, they change/upgrade the model every few years to keep "Modern".
And Yes - to hope people keep buying merch that's "unique" is part of it. But further to this point....
I have a theory..
There is a huge trade market in retro jerseys and kits (which I get involved in too, scored some cracking stuff over the last 12 months). I reckon clubs - and states - have thought that the more jersey designs they have - the more people will buy kits to keep in a collection. Some to keep, and some to invest in with the hope it'll appreciate in value.
There's designs that people generally don't like and don't purchase, which then become rare as time passes, and so collectors will buy them - and it becomes a "circular" market - people don't but them, then people buy them because people don't buy them... Might sound odd but trust you get the drift.. Basically a Jersey will still sell ok enough even if it isn't "popular".
Some of the most "ugly" jerseys of the day are now the highest sought after by collectors. For example - The Gold Coast Giants, Seagulls, and Chargers Jerseys. In their day - they were some of the most maligned jersey designs - in what has since become a classic era for Jerseys. Roll forward to now - you can almost name your price on a top quality one of these - I've seen bids over $1000. Even aged/average quality ones can fetch a kings ransom... I've just used this as an example as they are the most wanted, but there are numerous others club kits similar. So - on the point of this post - it doesn't matter if the kit is judged as "bad" - people will still buy them...
For collectors - to ensure they keep "the full set".. I know plenty of people who are like this. Some Knights collectors in particular who I've bought other league kits from. Some are missing a few rare jerseys from the old 7's tournaments, and will pay a fortune for them - for something that hardly anyone bought at the time. So the more jersey's a club has - the more people will buy to keep the collections..
Like a star wars collector - everyone hated Jar-Jar Binks but in order to keep your collection up to date you had to buy the Jar-Jar Binks figurine.
And that Blues Jersey they've brought back is the Jar-Jar Binks of jerseys. George Lucas knew people disliked it after release and so scaled Jar-Jar out of subsequent movie releases. But unlike George, the NRL have brought Jar-Jar back... And people still hate it...... but it'll still likely sell as you need the new Jar-Jar to keep your collection going.
