So the article that was promised for AFL has had me go down a rabbit hole was going to turn it into a two parter but it might be three as I've gone into historic context and the board, recruiting and coaching. Any chance of part one being out this week went by the wayside with positive recent life events. Most home guernseys rarely change and it becomes a discussion of sponsor integration so I'm not focusing on those or designs from the earliest days. Indigenous round guernseys won't be considered either as that can be another article.
Adelaide Crows
Home: Much like the Victorian clubs, the home kit has not significantly changed from the start bar templates, making the hoops stop from going all around and being skinnier
Clash: There are two choices between red kits, mainly with a swooping crow and white. I chose the red without the crow lines in the hoop colours slanted at an angle. It works as a clash and is exciting compared to the modern gold and white kits with hoops.
Unique: I love the gather-round kit from last season made by O'neill's. Taking inspiration from kits, I didn't think they were as great as the gold and red were clashing; instead, the all-blue with red and gold, collars and piping work.
Worst: The white kit with the raptor head. Don't like the logo, and the fact it's featured prominently makes it worse. The paint explosion and claw marks follow-ups were the same in not hitting the mark.
Logo: The original, or it without the shield, is far better than the current, and we are surely due a modern version of it.
Brisbane Lions
Home: If we count the Bears (Brisbane started as the Bears and then merged with the Fitzroy Lions). The original is pretty bad. The maroon with a gold v decent, but the Fitzroy kit changed to maroon from red is best. Any variation with the original Fitzroy lion is an easy win. In contrast, with the paddle pop lion, the club changed to make them worse.
Clash: Fitzroy home kits are pretty hard to beat, some terrible options besides these. The current clash with gold and a maroon top works fine, and some white kits with maroon v's work okay, too; some others are howlers (too many to list, in my opinion).
Unique: Dark throwback with the Fitzroy monogram or the Bears kits with the V deserves a run.
Worst: White clash in 08 with fade claw marks and a lion. Too many ideas are going on here, and none of them good.
Logo: Easily the late nineties logos with, you guessed it, the Fitzroy Lion. A shoutout to the mean Koala head and the oval logo during the threepeat, although it was hardly memorable as it still featured the Fitzroy Lion. The less said about the current one, the better ( Lions are tough to get a good representation of in logos, I get it, so stick to the original).
Carlton Blues
Home: These will be small nitpicks; rub out the early ones where the monogram is too scribbly. Any from 1927 to 1997 are good options, depending on materials and sponsors with a thick monogram. Then, while not bad, the logo becomes skinny and almost ashamed to be on the kit. The modern Puma kits meant a return to the original logo, and the best material with a deep navy blue put it together the best.
Away: Most are decent white kits with okay sky blue and grey kits as one-season wonders. The current with the white monogram outlined in blue is a cool idea, so I'll go with that.
Unique: The members kit was a modern make of the early days' monogram kit, which works better than it should.
Worst: The Livestrong all-yellow kit (understandable reasons doesn't work) is probably the winner. The M&M kit wasn't great, and when the white clash began to have navy blue around the neck and on the bottom of the kit (just a bit weird rather than bad), it was pretty good, all things considered.
Logo: The original is a weird design, while later attempts to add a box or the words Carlton fell flat; the current version with the best monogram wins for me.
Collingwood Magpies
Best: Do you prefer the majority black or white with the opposite having fewer stripes. In the early nineties, the predominant white was spot on, and the mainly black from the 00's onwards are mostly as good.
Clash: The opposite of what you chose in the first option is a fair pick, but the swooping magpie was perfect, besides being a terrible clash solution.
Unique: Swooping magpie fits in here as well.
Worst: The weird, different stripes shaped and weird magpie on the front kit from the 1996 pre-season are just wrong; no notes.
Logo: None of them; really, they always seem way too cluttered when just the magpie of the current logo would be the best. The 90s one with the Australian flag is where the magpie is least lost in the badge, so let's go for that one.
Essendon Bombers
Best: The black one with the red sash.
Clash: The black one with the wide red sash.
Unique: The TAC one where the sash is a seatbelt, the country one where it's wheat or the ANZAC one where it's poppies.
Worst: The grey and red clash kits. If the red had a black sash, it's the best going; grey was cool when it came out, but it still had a weird look.
Logo: Partial to their current, but the previous with a more realistic bomber in a shield with a sash is also pretty good. Due an upgrade.
Fremantle Dockers
Best: Always predominantly purple, deciding between red, green, white, or white. Well, most of their merch suggests the old version is the most popular ( I've been dying on this hill for a long time, and their song before the edit was brilliant and needs more buy-in).
Clash: a couple of options: a full white in both eras, all three colours with an anchor on the front or the original mainly green kit. I picked 98/99 because if you remove the anchor, that design is excellent. Something more subtle, like rope cuffs instead of an anchor, would be brilliant. It still wins because it's not dull, and it's Freo they should push the limits a bit. They're not a traditional club.
Worst: White away current hasn't got the prominent purple to stand out. It's pretty generic. I like the 90s graphic design on the kits, too, aged like milk, even if they are endearing.
Unique: Full purple with the anchor best of both worlds.
Logo: Like all of this list, the original is not boring it wins.
Geelong Cats
Home: the blue and white striped one.
Clash: The early 2000s with the shield is a cool slight change; it's the cat head one, though, in a time where heads on guernseys were being done poorly across the league, this is at least alright.
Unique: The white G-shirt for preseason, both for short sleeves and the design most home and clashes are in the same ballpark.
Worst: early 00s clashes with dark blue and a lighter blue didn't work for clashes. Not ugly, just useless and sameish.
Logo: '80s and 90's cat in a shield is the best, current is alright, GFC is boring, but okay. Cat with tail up pointed to us and paws behind back whats doin' there?
Gold Coast Suns
Best: Very average red with yellow sides; we have yet to see their best.
Clash: The ones with the waves, but of course, that was too interesting, and now they are generic white or blue.
Unique: The waves are as good as it gets.
Worst: Pick the years where they do the bare minimum with an already basic design.
Logo: Both look like corporate logos. The first with the rays wins the shit fight.
GWS Giants
Best: A basic design (but some design compared to the suns) has evolved into a decent kit, but the Never Surrender kit could easily be their home because of the groundwork done. The Less is more approach works.
Clash: The white kits are all pretty ordinary, not quite working with charcoal and orange parts. The orange kit is, again, perfect, like the Never Surrender kit.
Unique: The Canberra logo on the home or the two GWS kits that never happened, the blue team GWS or the Saints style GWS kit, none really any good but undoubtedly unique.
Worst: White with orange G clash is not terrible but falls on the wrong side of too simple.
Logo: Only one option. It's okay, but the use of the G everywhere else is worth its weight in gold (GC would kill for that kind of identity.
Hawthorn Hawks
Best: Mainly gold with brown stripes bar some early day v experiments it's pretty much this, most look good to all things considered.
Clash: This is where it gets wild but unlike some teams they have had some decent ones to make up for the attrocities. Original simple hawk on kit that they brought back last year and the mainly brown ones with gold stripes do enough to be a decent clash and look alright.
Unique: The pre season kit with the brown stipes diagonally across and hawks written on it not bad and somewhat creative.
Worst: The power ranger kit a test to see if the club at the time could do any wrong, yep they sure could.
Logo: I'm partial to the swooping hawk and the hawk head the original and current are pretty average even with the hawks head having the kit on it's neck.
Melbourne Demons
Best: Mostly, a red v on a blue shirt. They are best with the darker blue over the light one for the home.
Clash: It's one of the few where the white kits work reasonably well, but the reds with the m on them are my favourite.
Unique: The red demon's head in a blue v on a white kit was good at the wrong time. If used earlier or later, it would be popular.
Worst: During the tank years, the colours looked off, and that logo was terrible.
Logo: Never a fan of the original demon head; the script logo after was boring, Love the flame m head one, and it is my favourite. The V logo, banter years logo, and dull but improved current are pretty weird. The kits are solid across the board, but this is their weak spot.
North Melbourne Kangaroos
Best: another club where the stripe colours can be reversed, mainly white with blue stripes, is my preferred though.
Clash: Original or current bounding roo too easy.
Unique: the Argent-ina kits or the v are interesting changes to the colour or design of their typical design. Neither do much for me.
Worst: The orange or the super clash weird colours, but I understand the need for promotion or something different when even the change from the norm the bounding roo includes the regular design.
Logo: The 90s roo in a shield or the fierce current version. The rest have weird colours, shapes or poses.
Port Adelaide Power
Best: The current or the SBS; I prefer the SBS but understand the current offers more opportunity to tweak it for each new season.
Clash: The lightning bolt kit wins here. It's creative and interesting.
Unique: What's more unique than a prison bar kit? Who else does anything remotely similar. Otherwise, the three fan-created kits landed three unique bangers, including their current kit.
Worst: The teal kit with the weird lightning design from the Reebok years before they changed to the current structure was dated when it came out.
Logo: Current or a fist with lightning. Weirdly, I prefer the first even though I have no idea what it's trying to say or do, and frankly, I'm scared.
Richmond Tigers
Best: Yellow (sash) and Black (kit).
Clash: Yellow (kit) and Black (sash) perfect.
Unique: The original pre season with the claws is a winner.
Worst: Barring early years the pre season kits after the claws offered diminishing returns.
Logo: Not a fan of their shield logos. Love the one in a circle and the current modernised their image in all the right ways.
St. Kilda Saints
Best: should be the three stripes it is a great kit, but I think the crusader kits are just better and every bit as simple but effective as the traditional kit.
Clash: The white version of the cross could easily win again but instead the candy stripe kits really stand out and are identifiable as the saints.
Unique: Stickman logo kit was cool as well as a novelty.
Worst: The yellow cross kits they work as a clash but are a weird choice of colour with the design the white corrected them.Logo: Handball stickman beats marking stickman and the current is fine but not special.
Sydney Swans
Best: Opera House over the v pretty easily get the best of both worlds with that as well.
Clash: This is where the v does work on a mainly white guernsey.
Unique: The heritage inspired sash and rugby stripes always kill when they pull them out.
Worst: The opera house pre season kit with stripes too many ideas for one shirt again.
Logo: South Melbourne Swan was too detailed, personally love the mid 90s swan with it's wings as the opera house. Then the V is probably the most popular but I think it's a downgrade, current is fine.
West Coast Eagles
Best: Lighter blue with the eagle head on the front with yellow wings on the shoulders. Personally think the late nineties version of these was better with the dark blue, the return to the eagle head with the contenders colours was a decent option too.
Clash: The yellow version of the home (don't overcomplicate things).
Unique: The pre season kit with the weird eagle head they improved it when the design became a kit.
Worst: The ochre clash is popular these days as a cult kit but it's still not good the home version I think isn't so bad but they stand out.
Logo: All solid options but the current is a great update.
Western Bulldogs
Best: Easy choice of blue with a white and red middle just whether it's stripes or one hoop with robo dog and perhaps controversially I prefer the robo dog version. The original was good when they first brought it back but it is a bit boring.
Clash: White version of robo dog wins as well but the red versions of the current are a bit more interestng then the white.
Unique: The 96 pre season kit with a diamond around the dog was an attempt at something a bit more interesting than the regular kit.
Worst: The red origin kit I hope it paid the bills because it is awful.
Logo: Didn't like the original, the bulldog head after has some charm, robo dog is the best and the current is okay but in a weird pose and including the head and front of the body is an odd move.
Thanks for reading plenty more to come for both AFL & NRL, have any opinions on this list please let me know.
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