Wellington SHOULD be the next NRL team.

[GAZF]

^ Either way, the NRL would require a contrasting jersey to the red, leaving white or gold. Black would either be the primary or an alt.

 

[GAZF]

To add to my point about colours it would give the following distribution (with 24 teams).

Primary colour weighted at 0.5, secondary 0.3, tertiary 0.15 and other as 0.05.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

This years warriors black, red and white is the best looking jersey in the NRL IMO.

The white away one, at a distance, looks like the Roosters.

With soooo many jerseys, I never really know who the f*** they are.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Also, is there really, really a clamour to get a 2nd NZ team on board?

Yes, there's proactivity, but...

With all this chatter about expansion in NZ, I'd like to see the Warriors hit Top 8 more often than not, considering they have a WHOLE country to forage players from.

And finally, in regards to the name, easy. VODAFONE Warriors (as I believe they are correctly named by the NRL and the Warriors) and NEW NZ WHOEVERS.

 

[flippikat]

I think NZ expansion teams should be roughly based from their provincial colours, with the addition of a 3rd colour to add a little to the colour scheme.

Gazf has the right idea on his website:

- Auckland Warriors in mostly blue & white with a little green added. Blue & white being traditional Auckland colours, with a little green added to distinguish from the Bulldogs.

- Wellington NRL team in graphite grey & gold, with white added. Traditional Wellington colours are black & white, but shifting to a dark grey would work well.. and white adds to the mix. Another option could be Black, grey & gold.. or two tones of grey with gold.


If we look to a South Island team - something not looked-at on Gazf's site - The logical base colours would be the red & black of the Canterbury province. The region surrounding Christchurch is the most populated stronghold for the game in the south.

However this runs into a potential clash with the Bears (if they're admitted) - so a third colour would be handy.. not sure WHAT colour though.

Another tack to go on the South Island team is to use the alpine parrot, the Kea as a mascot and go for a green/brown/orange colour scheme. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kea

Southern Keas anyone??

 

[docbrown]

Can't see your colour scheme doc.

You sure? Comes up on my comp. Here it is again.

If the Warriors weren't to wear blue I could see it working like this. The silver is a compromise but I dont mind it. Would add something different to the league if they wore silver as the primary. NZ2 would be generally marketed as a NZ team based in Wellington and a third NZ team based in the South Island in the longer term. Green/black has a NZ feel to it without favouring the traditional colours of either C'Church or Wellington.

I don't mind the Green/Black idea instead of Red/Yellow/Black for NZ2 but isn't that too similar to Green/Silver for the Jagera/Sth Qld team?

I'd rather see the Warriors stick with the Black/Silver simply because they've had it for over a decade now and played in it in grand finals. I'd hate to see them end up like Panthers-of-many-colours.

When this second New Zealand team comes in its going to have to cover both Wellington & South Island so its best if it's not something that favours one area over the other. I'm obviously suggesting merging the traditional regional colours together but I'd have no problem with a new neutral solution as long as it wasn't derivative of any existing jersey.

I think when you look at that chart I posted above there's enough variance to distinguish all the red teams apart but of course that's just my opinion.

 

[siv]

Auckland Warriors should drop out of the OZ comp and the Kiwi's should focus on making teh National Comp stronger

 

[GAZF]

I think NZ expansion teams should be roughly based from their provincial colours, with the addition of a 3rd colour to add a little to the colour scheme.

Gazf has the right idea on his website:

- Auckland Warriors in mostly blue & white with a little green added. Blue & white being traditional Auckland colours, with a little green added to distinguish from the Bulldogs.

- Wellington NRL team in graphite grey & gold, with white added. Traditional Wellington colours are black & white, but shifting to a dark grey would work well.. and white adds to the mix. Another option could be Black, grey & gold.. or two tones of grey with gold.


If we look to a South Island team - something not looked-at on Gazf's site - The logical base colours would be the red & black of the Canterbury province. The region surrounding Christchurch is the most populated stronghold for the game in the south.

However this runs into a potential clash with the Bears (if they're admitted) - so a third colour would be handy.. not sure WHAT colour though.

Another tack to go on the South Island team is to use the alpine parrot, the Kea as a mascot and go for a green/brown/orange colour scheme. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kea

Southern Keas anyone??

The current work on my site is based on branding teams to cities (eg. Wellington Dukes) rather than regions. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages, the regional prespective seems to have taken precedence in this thread. For Christchurch I had Southern Moa (plural) in mind with them wearing red/silver or red/white/brown, its a pretty flexible brand that would work for the city or the whole south island. The NZ2 (Wellington) brand would need to be more flexible by embracing anything not Auckland initially and then retreating to Wellington when NZ3 comes in.

You sure? Comes up on my comp. Here it is again.

Doesn't show up in your post but I checked the URL. Must be a chrome extension blocking it. I agree with all the colours bar the Rams, Panthers and Pirates.

I don't mind the Green/Black idea instead of Red/Yellow/Black for NZ2 but isn't that too similar to Green/Silver for the Jagera/Sth Qld team?

If you check this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Shades_of_green
I'm thinking that Jagera could use a darker green, like Dartmouth green. NZ2 could use a lighter, hazier shade like mantis or Paris green, I might even have them wearing predominantly white with black/green. I can't wait to get off uni to work these ideas over.

I'd rather see the Warriors stick with the Black/Silver simply because they've had it for over a decade now and played in it in grand finals. I'd hate to see them end up like Panthers-of-many-colours.

Warriors never played a GF in silver but still a very valid point. Returning to blue is my preference but silver/black is also fine.

When this second New Zealand team comes in its going to have to cover both Wellington & South Island so its best if it's not something that favours one area over the other. I'm obviously suggesting merging the traditional regional colours together but I'd have no problem with a new neutral solution as long as it wasn't derivative of any existing jersey.

Which is why I selected green/black for NZ2. It has no linkages with C'Church or Wellington, suits NZ as a whole (based on NZ based branding outside of sports) and links in with the proposed Orcas branding. Once a south island team is established, NZ2 becomes permanently based in Wellington.

I think when you look at that chart I posted above there's enough variance to distinguish all the red teams apart but of course that's just my opinion.

Going by your conferences, which I assume is the basis for building rivalries, you have two expansion teams with near identical colours in the Rams and Pirates. The Pirates wont go with red/gold/white for fear of looking like Ronald McDonald so you'd have them (and the Rams) in red/gold/black. Best to work away from these colours, especially if NZ3 (Christchurch based) ever comes in.

 

[GAZF]

Auckland Warriors should drop out of the OZ comp and the Kiwi's should focus on making teh National Comp stronger

While making the national side far weaker.

 

[Quidgybo]

Auckland Warriors should drop out of the OZ comp and the Kiwi's should focus on making teh National Comp stronger

While making the national side far weaker.

Yep, guaranteed way to damage the competitiveness of international football (which is already struggling to provide strong competition for the Kangaroos) and to reduce the game's income from the New Zealand market. NZ is a country of around 4m people where League is a not the dominant code. As such it can probably sustain somewhere between two and maybe four NRL standard teams, not the six to eight it would take to create their own comp to the same level.

Leigh.

 

[flippikat]

The current work on my site is based on branding teams to cities (eg. Wellington Dukes) rather than regions. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages, the regional prespective seems to have taken precedence in this thread. For Christchurch I had Southern Moa (plural) in mind with them wearing red/silver or red/white/brown, its a pretty flexible brand that would work for the city or the whole south island. The NZ2 (Wellington) brand would need to be more flexible by embracing anything not Auckland initially and then retreating to Wellington when NZ3 comes in.

Fair enough - if we're looking at regional teams I'll admit there's scope there to go away from the traditional red & black & black & gold for teams based in Christchurch & Wellington.

However in Super Rugby it varies - the Crusaders don't incorporate any of their minor-union colours into their Red & Black gear, yet the Hurricanes have a little blue in the trim (supposedly representing Wanganui?).

As for logos, for regional teams I'd have something nautical for one and a native bird for another.

Although Orcas is being used for the current Wellington team, I think it has potential for a regional team ala the Hurricanes

As for a native bird, I'm not sure how many teams are names after extinct animals so I'm not sure on Moa (although our extinct Haast's Eagle would be cool if it didn't clash with Manly's Sea-Eagle).. The Kea is cheeky, smart, and pretty fierce with it's sharp beak - perfect for a mascot.

Plus brown/green/deep orange would be very unique on the jerseys.

 

[docbrown]

I'm thinking that Jagera could use a darker green, like Dartmouth green. NZ2 could use a lighter, hazier shade like mantis or Paris green, I might even have them wearing predominantly white with black/green. I can't wait to get off uni to work these ideas over.

I'd only say have to make sure that the light shade of green & white doesn't look too similar to the Raiders or the Green/Silver of the Queensland side.

and links in with the proposed Orcas branding.

I'm really not sold on that brand.

Going by your conferences, which I assume is the basis for building rivalries, you have two expansion teams with near identical colours

We have the same problem now with existing rivalry games. It's just what happens when you use up the best colours - look at the NFL with red,white&blue rivalry games... but that said you've already sold me on the green/black idea, I'd like to see your mock up when you've got the time.

 

[GAZF]

Fair enough - if we're looking at regional teams I'll admit there's scope there to go away from the traditional red & black & black & gold for teams based in Christchurch & Wellington.

However in Super Rugby it varies - the Crusaders don't incorporate any of their minor-union colours into their Red & Black gear, yet the Hurricanes have a little blue in the trim (supposedly representing Wanganui?).

It could work that way but if a third NZ team comes into Christchurch, a Wellington team would either be stuck with red or would have to rebrand down the track.

As for logos, for regional teams I'd have something nautical for one and a native bird for another.

Although Orcas is being used for the current Wellington team, I think it has potential for a regional team ala the Hurricanes

As for a native bird, I'm not sure how many teams are names after extinct animals so I'm not sure on Moa (although our extinct Haast's Eagle would be cool if it didn't clash with Manly's Sea-Eagle).. The Kea is cheeky, smart, and pretty fierce with it's sharp beak - perfect for a mascot.

Orcas would work, not with the current logo though.

Toronto Raptors are an example of an extinct mascot. There really isn't much in terms of large land fauna in NZ and modern trends don't favour the unintimidating.

I'd only say have to make sure that the light shade of green & white doesn't look too similar to the Raiders or the Green/Silver of the Queensland side.

Hows this?

We have the same problem now with existing rivalry games. It's just what happens when you use up the best colours - look at the NFL with red,white&blue rivalry games... but that said you've already sold me on the green/black idea, I'd like to see your mock up when you've got the time.

The NFL also has a strong history of colour vs white clashes. Its a bit different here where teams want to wear their colours as much as possible. Colour choices were also generally more conservative when traditional teams were formed. Thats not to say that there are some excellent traditional colour combos in the NFL:

• Lions - Honolulu Blue/Silver
• Redskins - Burgundy/gold/white
• Eagles - Kelly green/silver
• Oakland Raiders - Black/silver
• Steelers - Black/gold
• Broncos - Blue/orange

And so on...

 

[siv]

If NZ can only sustain 4 teams then they should get 2 from PNG, 1 from tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Cook Islands and form a Pacific regional club competition

Australia has already arrived at a point where it cannot entertain more teams from outside of Australia. And they haven't even expanded into Perth, Adealide, Central Coast, 2nd Brisbane, C Qld, Sunshine Coast, Darwin. Tasmania yet

A different solution is needed

 

[GAZF]

Why can't the NRL have more teams outside of Australia? You'd rather have the league's expansion efforts pigeon-holed to smaller non rugby markets such as Adelaide/Darwin/Tassie than establish themselves as the dominant rugby comp in the world? Keeping the two comps separate would only hurt the quality of players coming through.

I also can't see NZ getting more than 3 sides.

 

[Expansion]

To be honest New Zealand will only ever have 2 teams as a max.

 

[Dogs Of War]

I think one of the critical things is getting the naming right. Rather than Wellington, something like southern, or a traditional Maori name would be better allowing the team to tap intI a wider market.

 

[WayneBennett]

Wellington mariners

 

[GAZF]

Wellington mariners

You're a big fan of sea men aren't you?

 

[WayneBennett]

Wellington Mariners would blow in the face of every other team. A powerhouse