New Zealand 2 will deal a massive blow to NZ rugby

[Matiunz]

While that's firmly in fantasy-land, it's a cool fantasy.

Some really solid brands in there - and I can see Chiefs/Blues/Warriors being a great triangular set of northern derbies.

Hurricanes is really strong branding for the region and would have been a great name for a league team- the Tornadoes bid was a little too on the nose

 

[flippikat]

Hurricanes is really strong branding for the region and would have been a great name for a league team- the Tornadoes bid was a little too on the nose

Another factor is that it'd hopefully make the ex-Super Rugby teams lift their game when it comes to jersey design.

Most of the Super Rugby kits we've seen over the years have been decidedly non-descript and UN-iconic... even though the colour palettes have a heap of potential.

 

[Matiunz]

Another factor is that it'd hopefully make the ex-Super Rugby teams lift their game when it comes to jersey design.

Most of the Super Rugby kits we've seen over the years have been decidedly non-descript and UN-iconic... even though the colour palettes have a heap of potential.

The 97 jerseys are amount my favourites the Hurricanes one is right up there, other than that the first adidas ones were pretty good but then they just became generic.
Interesting with classic taking over last year they brought a few league concepts over such as the heritage jerseys (awesome) and the upcoming kids jerseys (putrid)

 

[Wb1234]

Forsyth Barr is under quite a bit of financial difficulty at the moment- NZ2 would be welcome news about now.

Sadly looking like the sold out streak at Mt Smart will end this Fri with all but 2 sections having available seats and the stand behind the posts largely unsold.

Auckland fc having an impact ? Avg 17k

But the crowds seem mostly white from their socials

 

[flippikat]

The 97 jerseys are amount my favourites the Hurricanes one is right up there, other than that the first adidas ones were pretty good but then they just became generic.
Interesting with classic taking over last year they brought a few league concepts over such as the heritage jerseys (awesome) and the upcoming kids jerseys (putrid)

The motifs introduced in 1997 for the Blues (diamonds) Hurricanes (the "whirl"), Highlanders (checks/tartan) and even Crusaders (inventive use of stripes over the shoulders) were great, and deserved to be kept & developed further.

The shame is that Adidas took over & just went for generic template-y designs that said nothing of team's identities. Apart from adding Maori designs to the Chiefs - that was a great move.

 

[Matiunz]

Auckland fc having an impact ? Avg 17k

But the crowds seem mostly white from their socials

A lot of pissed off fans after Vegas might be voting with their feet?
Probably a decent amount of cross over supporters, NZ isn’t traditionally as insular with sports codes and many just like ‘sport’ in any form.
Have heard a few anecdotal accounts of Warriors fans liking the idea of some extra games to go to over the summer. This used to be the domain of cricket but crickets certainly lost its event feeling in NZ.
Might be the opposite with Auckland FC dropping crowds now Warriors are back on?

 

[Matiunz]

The motifs introduced in 1997 for the Blues (diamonds) Hurricanes (the "whirl"), Highlanders (checks/tartan) and even Crusaders (inventive use of stripes over the shoulders) were great, and deserved to be kept & developed further.

The shame is that Adidas took over & just went for generic template-y designs that said nothing of team's identities. Apart from adding Maori designs to the Chiefs - that was a great move.

Always took the crusaders shoulder stripes to be a medieval armour motif?. Chiefs tend to ignore the 97 ‘urban camo’ type design (actually liked this jersey) in favour of that weird one they had when Harbour joined them for a bit