It’s been around a month since all 12 Super League teams released their kits ahead of the Super Leauge season, and it has given us the opportunity to really feast our eyes on this year’s strips.
With 23 days to go until the season, now is the ideal time to decide the most important thing for the whole season, the defining factor in every team’s year – revealing which team has the best attire.
After a long, extensive debate between the (fashionable) office staff, the results have finally been calculated so that we can now categorically expose which club shines the most in the fashion department.
Without further ado, here are our rankings in alphabetical order.
Castleford Tigers
They like to be known as Classy Cas, and their kit certainly fits the bill for 2016.
The orange on both kits is eye-catching, but not so much that it gives you a headache. The away kit is particularly impressive, with the orange vee a great combination with the black and white.
It’s a solid performance from the Tigers, and we can already picture Denny Solomona lighting up a damp night at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle in his bright orange shirt.
GRADE – A-
Catalans Dragons
Don’t think perfection exists? Think again.
The Dragons have produced, in our eyes anyway, the best set of kit in the Super League era.
Not only have they delivered one sensational kit, but three unbelievably beautiful numbers that will be the envy of most Super League fans.
Their away kit in particular is to die for, to the point that we’d be happy to cuddle up to it in bed.
Top work by the Dragons!
GRADE – A*
Huddersfield Giants
The Giants continuously produce a solid home jersey alongside a wacky away strip that in the past has looked like it has been designed during a paintballing session.
Their alternative gear hasn’t been revealed yet, but their home jersey has.
We do like this strip, but the Giants lose marks because, well, it’s just very similar to a lot of those before it.
It’s not a bad kit, but their lack of variation means they suffer.
GRADE – C-
Hull FC
It’s very difficult to produce anything overly exciting with black and white, but the Airlie Birds have delivered the goods with thier home kit, with the vee and smart trim on the arms making for a very crisp looking shirt.
But it is their away kit that stands out as one of the best kits in the competition this year. Blue with blue isn’t always a wise move, but FC have proved us all wrong with a tinge of gold making for a very snazzy yet classy kit. Their away form best be good this year, because losing in that kit would be an injustice.
GRADE – A
Hull KR
They’ve billed their kit as ‘Classic KR’, and on this evidence, classic is very, very good.
Their home kit is a thing of beauty, a simple yet elegant shirt that would not look out of place on the high street. Well, not as much as most rugby league attire.
Meanwhile, the slim gold trims on the away strip look top notch.
In truth, their kit is too good to play Rugby League in, because who on earth would want to get any mud on it?
Our only criticism is that there is too much on the kit, especially the home jersey, which would look far better without the branding on the collarbones.
But that’s modern day sport for you.
GRADING – A-
Leeds Rhinos
The Rhinos have stuck to their roots with the traditional blue and amber for their home attire.
The body looks great, but we’re not a fan of the collar, which could have done with being something a little different to mix it up, and for us ridiculously picky dressers out there, the fact that the lines aren’t aligned on the front and the sleeves will be an issue.
Yet, the away strip is a top, top rugby league jersey. The lime green and grey compliments one another, making for a rather crisp looking strip.
Not their best work, but pretty good all the same.
GRADE – B-
Salford Red Devils
It’s a new look for the Red Devils this year, and overall, they’ve pulled it off.
The home jersey has a lovely shade of red to go with the dashing white vee, while the slim black stripe adds a bit of variety, although we’d have been much happier if the bigger vee had been left out, along with the strip of red at the side.
The away kit has the same strengths and weaknesses, just with different colours, but generally, it’s a kit to be proud of.
GRADE – B
St Helens
These kits caused the most debate in our office.
Some said they were fantastic while others, well, we’d rather not say. They aren’t Wigan fans before you ask.
The home strip is a different take on their traditional vee, but the bright colours definitely make for an eye-catching kit.
As for the away kit, it’s going to split opinion. The design is fine, but even the most ardent followers of Saints know that teal and orange is a combination most would raise their eyebrows towards.
Yet, somehow, like that annoying friend who could wear a beret with pink short shorts, they’ve managed to pull it off. We can’t explain why it works, it just does.
Given the fact their kit has derived more feelings of love-hate than marmite, we’re going with a safe grade.
GRADE – B
Wakefield Wildcats
We expect Wakefield to be a lot stronger in 2016 on the field, but sadly, their kit wouldn’t do a good season justice.
Perhaps the fact that so many other clubs have delivered sensational kits have done them an injustice, but both of their kits just don’t hit the right notes this year.
The home jersey has the design of the old PE shorts you’d get in the 90s. As for the away kit, which we do admit looks better in the flesh, it is just a bit bland and lacks the class their rivals have produced.
The positive is that the away strip is a timeless classic, the sort of kit that will sell heavily in the retro section in 20 years time.
GRADE – C-
Warrington Wolves
Rival fans mock them by saying it’s always their year, but in terms of their ability to win awards for their kit, it normally is.
2016 is no different, with the Wolves once again producing two snazzy kits that will most certainly have fans running to the stores.
The subtle primrose and white vees compliment the deep blue perfectly on the home kit, while the red and black hoops with a tinge of gold on the sleeve make for another classy away kit. We’d wear them out and about, but we’d rather save them for our more important social gatherings instead.
GRADE – A+
Widnes Vikings
For starters, the Vikings get plus marks for their brilliant concept of captain’s choice, meaning Kevin Brown will choose which kit they wear match to match.
As for the kits themselves, they are solid but unspectacular. Most people love a classy white kit, and Widnes have given it a good go in delivering another. It’s not the best we’ve seen, but it’s a respectable effort.
The black kit has a foreign looking pattern on it, which is pretty cool to look at, certainly until March anyway.
It’s a decent offering, and importantly for fans, they are timeless.
GRADE – B-
Wigan Warriors
Wigan have gone back to tradition while also paying testament to their peers Wigan Athletic with their two alternative strips, and it’s caused a bit of debate.
What doesn’t help is the fact that both jerseys don’t do the Warriors justice. The blue and white hoops look, unsurprisingly, too much like a football kit while the less said about the strip potentially designed for high vis vest enthusiasts the better. For us, that is easily the worst kit in the league this year.
Thankfully for the Warriors they have delivered with their main strip, which is their best in a number of years. Sticking to tradition with the cherry and white hoops, the slim white stripes at the top of the design add a bit of variation and an element of class. Ultimately, their home strip has salvaged them some credibitily in the fasion department.
GRADE – C
OVERALL RATING – A-
A very worthy offering from our Super League teams this season, with even the lower marked kits not disastrous. Overall, we’re really excited to see all the teams don their new jerseys, other than Catalans, because their kit is too nice to get muddy.
