One of the highlights of the NRL off-season is the release of the new kits. Some clubs stick to the basics, some go retro, while some have forgettable designs. Who will be the best-looking team in 2022?
For the purposes of the article, we’ll consider home, away, and any alternative/Heritage/themed jerseys.
Seasons: 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
2022 NRL Club Jerseys
BRISBANE BRONCOS
The Broncos haven’t changed their home and away kits, aside from the redesigned KIA sponsors logo. The home jersey has a retro feel with a few modern touches.
VERDICT: aside from the KIA logo, there’s no change for the Broncos.
CANBERRA RAIDERS
While Canberra have been busy cleaning the decks in the off-season, there hasn’t been much change in their kits, keeping the three main designs from 2021. The only change is a sponsor swap, with Toyota Forklifts becoming the main sponsor and Canberra Milk moving to the sleeves. Will Raiders fans continue to use #upthemilk? Or will they switch it to #upthefork or #upthelifts? More importantly, the excellent (and extremely popular) Heritage jersey remains and will hopefully be the unofficial home jersey again.
VERDICT: a simple sponsor swap, but the main three jerseys remain, including the Heritage strip.
CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs have kept their 2020 strip, with the classic blue chevrons, blue neck/shoulders/arms, and blue on the nape of the neck. It’s simple and it works. Hopefully the Dogs will find more success in this jersey than they did in 2021.
VERDICT: no change, which is fine as it’s a classic and simple design.
CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKS
The Sharks have kept their retro home strip, which is as iconic as ET in his prime. The away jersey, with the black and blue swapped, is also quite striking. The red Aramex sponsors logo stand out among the light blue and white.
VERDICT: no change to the Sharks’ excellent home and away jerseys.
GOLD COAST TITANS
Along with a fancy new logo, the resurgent Titans have kept their striking home and away jersey for 2022, with a change in sponsor from Neds to MyPayNow. While the orange Neds logo stood out against the Titans’ beach-y blue and gold, the slightly quieter purple MyPayNow logo still looks good. The Titans’ majority white away strip is arguably one of their best away jerseys in their history.
VERDICT: aside from a sponsor change, the Titans have stayed the same.
MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
This contest is over, give Manly Warringah the $10,000! After jumping from the bottom four to a preliminary final, Manly’s success has continued with these OUTSTANDING retro jerseys. While past jerseys have had a retro theme with a few modern touches, the 2022 versions (both home and away) looks like they could’ve been worn by Fatty Vautin, Crusher Cleal, Dale Shearer, Cliffy Lyons, Michael O’Conner etc. Both the home and away jerseys are beautiful in their simplicity.
VERDICT: Like Turbo in full flight, these jerseys are perfect.
MELBOURNE STORM
Yet to be released
NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
The Knights are one of the few teams (so far) to change their designs for 2022. The retro Henny Penny kits are gone, replaced by the double chevrons (nearly every NRL club has used chevrons at some point). While it looks a little like a classic Eastern Suburbs Roosters design, the red chevrons and blue base means it’s still a Knights jersey, and the colour swap on the away strip is simple enough to work.
VERDICT: a decent upgrade that should be popular with fans, even though it looks a bit Rooster-y.
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
The Cowboys have kept their excellent Dynasty home and away jerseys. Cowboys’ jerseys can a) get a bit messy, and b) look similar to the ACT Brumbies’ Super Rugby jersey at times, but these Dynasty strips are first class.
VERDICT: no change for the Cowboys.
PARRAMATTA EELS
A nice throwback for the Eels’ late-90s strips here, with blue home strips and gold away strips. If anything, it’s a bit cleaner than the late-90s design (which had a LOT of small horizontal strips across the shoulders and torso).
VERDICT: a brilliant retro touch from the Eels, in both blue and yellow. The big question for Eels fans: should they buy just one or buy both?
PENRITH PANTHERS
No change for the premiership-winning Panthers, though it’s mildly disappointing there’s no acknowledgement of their 2021 title (at least based on the photos so far). At least they’ve kept the excellent ‘liquorice all-sorts’ early 90s retro jersey.
VERDICT: no change for the Panthers.
SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
South Sydney have stuck with their iconic cardinal and myrtle strip that has been a feature of their design for many years. The black trim around the neck is their home jersey and the white trim is their away jersey. MG’s new logo alternates between black and white (home) and red and white (away), which blends in well with Souths’ main colours.
VERDICT: No change.
ST GEORGE-ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
If the Dragons ever changed their iconic ‘Red V’ home jersey, they fans would probably fill Kogarah oval 10 times over to complain. The alternate jersey is still the strange almost all red design (with thin white stripes) and the big Red V. It’s a shame the Dragons can’t use the old Steelers jersey again as their alternate/away strip, as that was beautifully simple.
VERDICT: no change for the Dragons, but still no love for the Steelers in the messy alternate jersey.
SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Yet to be released
NZ WARRIORS
The Warriors’ new home jersey is like their Auckland Heritage strip, but with some updates. They have partnered with Puma to release their new jersey, replacing Canterbury (NZ). The new jersey has three thicker chevrons (two green and one red) and two smaller white chevrons, with a solid blue base. It’s enough of a change to make Warriors fans want to update their collection, but still stay faithful to the old Auckland brand.
VERDICT: a small update, but it still has the “Auckland” vibe.
WESTS TIGERS
While the Tigers’ minimalist new logo hasn’t had the best reception, their home and away jersey design remains the same. The home strip is majority black with a big white chevron on the chest and topped and tailed by smaller white chevrons. The away strip switches the black base with Balmain Tigers orange.
VERDICT: while there’s a new logo, the jerseys are unchanged.
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