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On field is poor quality. Maybe different for off field but imo it’s very bland, plain shirts with a famous logo slapped on. Nothing special.

I think they need to stay away from the AFL space.
Why? Literally Nike provides for nba / soccer

You kind of want big brands in AFL
 
Nike stuff is pretty average, even their cotton material feels a bit plastic.

It's not just them using thinner materials, but there's way less consideration given to fit and detailing. there's so few cuts and seams involved and things wear way quicker.

Adidas are currently pumping out incredibly nice stuff, interesting non-generic materials, thought given to how they'll fit on the average body, wash well, just feel properly constructed. you don't get an errant stitch coming apart on their gear. they're one of the very very few brands who have upticked their actual product in the last 15 years.
 
Why? Literally Nike provides for nba / soccer

You kind of want big brands in AFL
Big brands only go so far.

Let's use the A-League as an example. Bigger brands trot out template style jerseys with little character. Compare that to the smaller brands like Ucan who have continually produced excellent gear for Adelaide United. Also Brisbane Roar's recent Cikers kits are another example of that.

Nike is a global brand, the AFL is not. While for smaller manufacturers, the AFL means more for their profile.

Arguably the only big brand that has been kind to AFL clubs and received widespread praise in recent years has been Puma. The same cannot be said for Nike.
 

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Big brands only go so far.

Let's use the A-League as an example. Bigger brands trot out template style jerseys with little character. Compare that to the smaller brands like Ucan who have continually produced excellent gear for Adelaide United. Also Brisbane Roar's recent Cikers kits are another example of that.

Nike is a global brand, the AFL is not. While for smaller manufacturers, the AFL means more for their profile.

Arguably the only big brand that has been kind to AFL clubs and received widespread praise in recent years has been Puma. The same cannot be said for Nike.
There's also a "relativity" gulf with the AFL and other sports.

The material needs to be strong like a rugby garment, light like a soccer/football garment, and close cut like a tight fitting basketball garment. That's a lot to ask for a company whose main on-field gear is NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, etc. centric, none of which are close to what the Aussie rules jumper are.

Then you look at items like shorts and socks, as well as boots. For the shorts, none of the American sports use "footy shorts" or anything close, so you have to look to bike shorts and that style of "fitness" shorts. For the socks, they slightly resemble those worn in those sports, so it's not too far off. For boots, "soccer" boots can work for AFL and I'd assume many players wear them regardless.
 
There's also a "relativity" gulf with the AFL and other sports.

The material needs to be strong like a rugby garment, light like a soccer/football garment, and close cut like a tight fitting basketball garment. That's a lot to ask for a company whose main on-field gear is NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, etc. centric, none of which are close to what the Aussie rules jumper are.

Then you look at items like shorts and socks, as well as boots. For the shorts, none of the American sports use "footy shorts" or anything close, so you have to look to bike shorts and that style of "fitness" shorts. For the socks, they slightly resemble those worn in those sports, so it's not too far off. For boots, "soccer" boots can work for AFL and I'd assume many players wear them regardless.
Honestly Nike should be able to supply the AFL a full rugby style kit with no sleeves. I don't see any other differences between rugby and afl kits.
 
People here will know about it all, but it's really death of on-shore departments that have killed the big brands here.

Adidas kit always had a 'made in Australia' tag on it. you had relevant textiles and garments designed with a dedicated team who had multinational resourcing.

Now, I wonder who is clicking the colour box for a Sydney Swans polo? must be a pretty small design department. the jumpers and shorts must surely be being made by a local supplier, though apparently Collingwood's Star Athletic manufacturer is still chopping stuff out on alibaba...

Interesting though, the three big companies all have similar sizes: Adidas have 500 staff across the country and Puma have 639 but it's concentrated in Moorabbin so maybe that's why they have a higher interest in Aussie Rules (still find it wild they licence their stuff for local clubs). Nike don't list their employees but I used to work near the old athlete outlet in Moorabbin and apparently Nike's staff were having to pre-covid wfh/in other offices because it wasn't big enough (and that was a very big building).

Also saw this the other day, but adidas are doing the NSWRL (I assume this is Origin?) stuff now. it's really pretty nice.
 
Honestly Nike should be able to supply the AFL a full rugby style kit with no sleeves. I don't see any other differences between rugby and afl kits.
There are differences in cut - AFL guernseys seem to be cut much tighter than league/union (mainly because the AFL player is generally leaner and taller than many rugby players). The AFL jumper also tends to be nearer a "crew cut" rugby top than a raglan as is more common nowadays in rugby, so the shape of the top half around the neck and shoulders are considerably different, which also has an effect on the overall cut and shape.

Materials are fairly close though - replicas seem to be near identical but not sure about on-field stuff. The stuff we have at our rugby club feels almost like thin spandex or Speedo material - not sure beyond that though.
 
There are differences in cut - AFL guernseys seem to be cut much tighter than league/union (mainly because the AFL player is generally leaner and taller than many rugby players). The AFL jumper also tends to be nearer a "crew cut" rugby top than a raglan as is more common nowadays in rugby, so the shape of the top half around the neck and shoulders are considerably different, which also has an effect on the overall cut and shape.

Materials are fairly close though - replicas seem to be near identical but not sure about on-field stuff. The stuff we have at our rugby club feels almost like thin spandex or Speedo material - not sure beyond that though.
this guy raglans
 

What do we think of these? Saw them for the first time this morning.

Most of them are a bit anonymous, other than the obvious, Freo, Port, GWS etc. Quite like them though, bit different from the usual merch, bit more up to date, while still having some obvious callbacks. The Dogs one works really well.
 

What do we think of these? Saw them for the first time this morning.

Most of them are a bit anonymous, other than the obvious, Freo, Port, GWS etc. Quite like them though, bit different from the usual merch, bit more up to date, while still having some obvious callbacks. The Dogs one works really well.
$150 for something you can get at the op shop for $3
 

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People here will know about it all, but it's really death of on-shore departments that have killed the big brands here.

Adidas kit always had a 'made in Australia' tag on it. you had relevant textiles and garments designed with a dedicated team who had multinational resourcing.

Now, I wonder who is clicking the colour box for a Sydney Swans polo? must be a pretty small design department. the jumpers and shorts must surely be being made by a local supplier, though apparently Collingwood's Star Athletic manufacturer is still chopping stuff out on alibaba...

Interesting though, the three big companies all have similar sizes: Adidas have 500 staff across the country and Puma have 639 but it's concentrated in Moorabbin so maybe that's why they have a higher interest in Aussie Rules (still find it wild they licence their stuff for local clubs). Nike don't list their employees but I used to work near the old athlete outlet in Moorabbin and apparently Nike's staff were having to pre-covid wfh/in other offices because it wasn't big enough (and that was a very big building).

Also saw this the other day, but adidas are doing the NSWRL (I assume this is Origin?) stuff now. it's really pretty nice.
Wonder is Adidas will ever come back. Tgey dropped smaller sports like footy and cricket. They ended up signing the Indian cricket side but thats massive get but don’t not sure if they are around in any cricket circuit anymore
 
There's also a "relativity" gulf with the AFL and other sports.

The material needs to be strong like a rugby garment, light like a soccer/football garment, and close cut like a tight fitting basketball garment. That's a lot to ask for a company whose main on-field gear is NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, etc. centric, none of which are close to what the Aussie rules jumper are.

Then you look at items like shorts and socks, as well as boots. For the shorts, none of the American sports use "footy shorts" or anything close, so you have to look to bike shorts and that style of "fitness" shorts. For the socks, they slightly resemble those worn in those sports, so it's not too far off. For boots, "soccer" boots can work for AFL and I'd assume many players wear them regardless.
Nike (and the board at the time) should never be forgiven for changing our raised monogram. Whoever brings it back should get a 100 year contract
 

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