Kit Clashes

[Hull Kingston Bronco]

23 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

That Keighley’s two kits are predominantly white (according to poster above), then that must be a terrible mistake of the RFL and the club in reality.

An away club turning up with a similar kit to the home team is an example of a broken process. That it happens as regularly as is being demonstrated on this forum is frankly unacceptable.

Yup, it’s ridiculous. Happens all the time. 

[MZH]

2 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

A Halifax game comes to mind.

I can't quite remember the details, but are you thinking about a sky game that was delayed because one of the teams forgot their kit and had to wear Halifax shirts instead? IIRC it was being played at Halifax as a neutral venue for some reason (were Huddersfield maybe having the pitch relayed or something?). Hopefully someone can remember this incident better than me and jog my hazy memory of it.

[The Electric Gentleman]

1 hour ago, MZH said:

I can't quite remember the details, but are you thinking about a sky game that was delayed because one of the teams forgot their kit and had to wear Halifax shirts instead? IIRC it was being played at Halifax as a neutral venue for some reason (were Huddersfield maybe having the pitch relayed or something?). Hopefully someone can remember this incident better than me and jog my hazy memory of it.

It was a Huddersfield home match against Castleford i think played at Halifax due to pitch work somebody had to get the Halifax kitman to the ground because both teams came onto pitch in very similar shirts and the ref insisted one side had to change

[Hull Kingston Bronco]

It's a long-standing issue, all clubs are guilty of it. I remember a year when Rovers had a mainly white home kit, and a dark navy away kit, and we unnecessarily wore the latter to Huddersfield when they were in a 99% dark maroon. Just no need for it. 

Seems obvious that the RFL don't currently regulate specific match-by-match kit pairings, when they clearly need to. As someone else said, all it needs is a single spreadsheet at the start of the season showing which "away" kits are barred against a particular home side. All teams have at least 3 options, so they've still plenty of opportunity to rotate if selling shirts is the reason for this stuff. 

[Number 16]

3 hours ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

The laws say that it's the referee's responsibility to avoid a kit clash on the day:

The colours of the jerseys worn by competing teams shall be easily distinguishable and, if, in the opinion of the Referee similarity between the jerseys might affect the proper conduct of the game he may, at his discretion, order either team to change jerseys in accordance with the rules governing the competition in which the game is played.

So the referee may be comfortable with his ability to control a game between two teams in similar kits, but no importance is given to the paying customers experience and enjoyment of the game.

[LeeF]

5 hours ago, Spidey said:

Last week as Keighley's kits are both white, Widnes ended up playing in their black away strip at home - didn't look planned at the time, but the match officials insisted.

If you can't have your home kit play against your away kit it shouldn't be allowed

In regards to Hull v Cas, there used to be directives from RFL which shirt/shorts/socks each team had to wear based on clashes - not sure if this is still in place

That’s the solution

[LeeF]

4 hours ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

People have said before that there's an RFL process, but there just can't be. Nobody responsible for governance is that blind. At most they I reckon they approve all the kits before the season, but not the match-by-match combinations? But they should, seeing as the clubs concerned can't use their brains apparently. It's not hard though is it?

There 100% definitely used to be a spreadsheet produced including which kit the Match Officials should wear for each & every match which was issued to all clubs and MOs and uploaded onto the RFL site 

[LeeF]

29 minutes ago, Number 16 said:

So the referee may be comfortable with his ability to control a game between two teams in similar kits, but no importance is given to the paying customers experience and enjoyment of the game.

The law is written so that someone has the final decision. Sometimes it is easier to distinguish when you are 10 metres away compared to someone sat in Row Z behind the sticks. It should never get that far at the professional level but it just shows how unprofessional some clubs are

[Just Browny]

4 minutes ago, LeeF said:

That’s the solution

It is the solution 95% of the time. There are problems when teams choose an away kit that is also a 'core' colour (black, white, yellow, blue, red).

E.g. If Widnes had a white home shirt and a black away shirt, still a clash risk with Hull.

E.g.2. Warrington had a primarily blue home and primarily yellow away a few years back - likely clash with Leeds.

When clubs choose a slightly more offbeat colour like pink or purple for their away it is fine. But that sets off a new flavour of moaning.

[Hull Kingston Bronco]

1 hour ago, LeeF said:

There 100% definitely used to be a spreadsheet produced including which kit the Match Officials should wear for each & every match which was issued to all clubs and MOs and uploaded onto the RFL site 

In which case, whoever does it is a total muppet. 

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

The National Hockey League's approach has merit in its fail-safe simplicity.

You wear your full club colours at home, and away, your shirt is white, edged with the club colours.  So, take new York Rangers as an example.  At home, they play in blue, edged with red and white, and away, in white edged with blue and red. 

It means that, whenever you watch an NHL game, you know the away team is in white.

[Barley Mow]

43 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

The National Hockey League's approach has merit in its fail-safe simplicity.

You wear your full club colours at home, and away, your shirt is white, edged with the club colours.  So, take new York Rangers as an example.  At home, they play in blue, edged with red and white, and away, in white edged with blue and red. 

It means that, whenever you watch an NHL game, you know the away team is in white.

If we were starting from scratch, that would be a good route to go down. Being a long running sport though, we have teams who's main colours include significant amounts of white (in some cases almost wholly white). I don't think it would be popular amongst Saints fans (for example) if they were told they couldn't wear white with a red V at home any more.

Castleford wearing a (more) white kit yesterday wouldn't really help.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

2 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

If we were starting from scratch, that would be a good route to go down. Being a long running sport though, we have teams who's main colours include significant amounts of white (in some cases almost wholly white). I don't think it would be popular amongst Saints fans (for example) if they were told they couldn't wear white with a red V at home any more.

Castleford wearing a (more) white kit yesterday wouldn't really help.

I agree.  I should have said it would cause RL problems now.

[LeeF]

1 hour ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

In which case, whoever does it is a total muppet. 

I would guess it isn’t being done now

[Chrispmartha]

All clubs have enough of a contrast betweenn there home/away/3rd strip for no. clashes to happen.

All Was needed to do was wear their home kit yesterday.

It's simply a marketing/sales thing, but Clubs shouldn't have away shirts, just alternate shirts, calling them away shirts seems daft.

All clubs should wear their principal kit unless it clashes IMO

I do think its a shame that some clubs have actually got a history of having the second strip in certain colours but few seem to stick to them.

Leeds away kit should be the classic white with the blue and amber stripes for example.

Wigan same as home but blue instead of red hoops

Is warington's green and red?

Saints Light blue and dark blue

Castleford White with black and amber stripe

Etc

 

[GUBRATS]

Not a problem for the Leopards

[Chrispmartha]

17 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Not a problem for the Leopards

No but being able to read Names and Numbers on the shirt is

[daz39]

8 hours ago, The Electric Gentleman said:

It was a Huddersfield home match against Castleford i think played at Halifax due to pitch work somebody had to get the Halifax kitman to the ground because both teams came onto pitch in very similar shirts and the ref insisted one side had to change

Kit lady - Hilda.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyleague/article-1394620/Castleford-Tigers-forced-change-kit-Huddersfield.html

[Superb Chops]

22 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

How the hell was this allowed today? Who's to blame?

Paraphrasing from an ‘85 classic.
”For the benefit of those watching in black and white, Hull are playing in hooped shirts, white shorts and socks.”

 

[Padge]

It is 100% the reponsibility that the away team has a kit that does not have similar colours as the home team. The ref should check the kits in his pre-match and make the away team change if the colours are not distinguishable.

He may think he is OK with it on the pitch, he is close up, he needs to thain of the audience.

[Tommygilf]

Kits are pre allocated by the RFL. https://www.instagram.com/p/CoraN8GopAC/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

As can be seen in the linked post they have been done for the opening 10 rounds of the Super League season.

It appears that there is, and has been for a decade at least, an insistence on wearing "away kits" as the first choice when away from home. In our case at Leeds for example that means the Rhinos and Castleford don't usually play eachother in their "home" colours in the regular season, despite there being usually no clash at all. This is the opposite to football for example, where you wear your home kit by default unless you can't, and even then, sometimes its just socks or shorts that are changed.

Totally agree with, and I believe I've commented on it before, that between your away kit(s) you should have an option that is so different it can be used against your home shirt. Add to that "The Hull FC conundrum", then every team should have a light shaded colour based jersey as an option, just in case.

I wouldn't mind the away kit insistence rule if the sport had a consistent set of away colours for clubs. These don't have to be your traditional reverse colours away kits or green and red wire colours for example, but Pink say for Leeds is a clear distinguishing colour that could be a standard away design that has only been used since 2011.

[Sports Prophet]

14 hours ago, Number 16 said:

So the referee may be comfortable with his ability to control a game between two teams in similar kits, but no importance is given to the paying customers experience and enjoyment of the game.

I don’t think laws of the game should ever be considering the experience of the fan experience. That is the role of the governing body and the clubs.

[Davo5]

9 hours ago, GUBRATS said:

Not a problem for the Leopards

Ever.

[Madrileño]

The Hull Castleford game was atrocious from a kit clash perspective. 

At one point, one of the Hull guys actually forcefully fended off his own teammate! 

Complete amateur stuff from the Super League. 

Edited February 21, 2023 by Madrileño

[Number 16]

1 hour ago, Sports Prophet said:

I don’t think laws of the game should ever be considering the experience of the fan experience. That is the role of the governing body and the clubs.

Agreed. I wasn't suggesting it should be the ref's responsibility. SL/RFL could rule on which kits where before the start of the season!!