Discussion How Will Jumpers Evolve In The Future?

[____]

I think back of shorts sponsors will be next. Can't see a different first and second half sponsor being a thing.

 

[jumperfan]

Gotta be honest I've been pretty disappointed in the direction that guernsey designs have been moving over the past few years or so. Feels like there's been a real stagnation in terms of fresh design ideas. I really dislike that some clubs have been moving more towards increased usage of their logos on their guernseys - just feels super lazy and uninspired. Adelaide have been a very frustrating team to watch from a guernsey design perspective in my opinion - I like their new logo a lot but I don't understand why they have to have it slapped across the middle of their clash jumper and "stealth" kit. Just looks very cheap and sticker-ish to me. I hated West Coast's WA Day guernsey, I've never been a fan of the Never Surrender guernsey and I don't understand why some clubs (Hawthorn, Bulldogs) are bringing back the horrible "white with mascot" guernseys of the early 2010s.

Gold Coast's rebrand was a massive bomb and just reeked of arrogance to me - seemed to me like they felt they were above "traditional' guernsey designs but they aren't bringing anything that hasn't been done before to the table and the whole rebrand feels like a bizarre combination of stuff that was out of date 5 years ago and stuff that will be out of date in 5 years' time, the pink notwithstanding.

Personally not been a fan of the "stealth" kits that have been put out recently - they just feel lazy to me. Freo's wasn't terrible but could've been executed better - a "purple-out" would've looked better and felt more "Freo". Adelaide's was just awful - literally just the club logo on a navy background. I'm a bit of a local footy nerd and seeing an AFL team wear a jumper with the exact design of the worst local footy jumper (Ellenbrook) was something I never thought would happen.

That's not to say that there haven't been good guernseys released recently - not to toot my club's own horn too much but I I love what St Kilda have been doing recently. A great mix of fan-favourite throwbacks and really nice fresh new designs, the 2025 ANZAC Day guernsey and yellow Indigenous guernseys in particular are both fantastic. I'm very glad Essendon finally bit the bullet on the red with black sash guernsey and I do think Geelong's new clash jumper is a very sleek and elegant design. But on the whole, it just feels like there's a lack of any designs from the last 10 years or so that will be iconic enough to stand the test of time and be fan favourites in 15-20 years time the way the SBS jumper, ochre and Crusader guernsey are now.