A flickering golden age of sporting kit, peaking at last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup with cool gear from Jamaica, Japan and Nigeria, has been brought to an unflattering end by the Tasmania Devils, the AFL’s newest club.

The long-awaited team’s guernsey, featuring a childlike primrose yellow map of Tasmania with a rose-red “T” on a myrtle green backdrop, recalls a bygone era when Australians were happy sourcing colours from well-thumbed English gardening guides and “sheila” was a popular pronoun.

The unveiling of the Tasmanian Devils jersey and club logo in Devonport on Monday.Credit: Getty Images

The restraint in not placing an apple beside the “T” should be admired, but Tasmania deserves better.

There’s a naivete to the design reminiscent of the photo editing skills of Catherine, Princess of Wales, but hold the Tasmanian guernsey up against those from mainland teams and in words familiar to viewers of the ABC drama Rosehaven, it “couldn’t hack it”.

Collingwood’s black and white stripes reflect the dogged determination of its supporters. The Sydney Swans’ guernsey plays with the familiar lines of the Sydney Opera House, while the West Coast Eagles’ bird head has the brash spirit of entrepreneur Alan Bond.

The retro Tasmanian design, a nod to the island’s historical state of origin guernsey, has a fighting chance against the Gold Coast Suns jumper, which looks like a car decal. But the Queensland side’s kit is unlikely to be mistaken for an Aldi-like interpretation of a Victoria Bitter can.

Weaving the spirit of an entire state in a jumper is a challenge, but this design ignores the present and fears the future.

Anyone who has woken up in the pristine surrounds of Pumphouse Point, dined at Stillwater in Launceston or been left speechless by the vagina wall at the Museum of Old and New Art can feel the thrumming excitement behind Tasmania’s approach to hospitality and culture.

QOSHE - Tasmania deserves better than the AFL jumper equivalent of a mullet - Damien Woolnough
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Tasmania deserves better than the AFL jumper equivalent of a mullet

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19.03.2024

A flickering golden age of sporting kit, peaking at last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup with cool gear from Jamaica, Japan and Nigeria, has been brought to an unflattering end by the Tasmania Devils, the AFL’s newest club.

The long-awaited team’s guernsey, featuring a childlike primrose yellow map of Tasmania with a rose-red “T” on a myrtle green backdrop, recalls a bygone era when Australians were happy sourcing colours from well-thumbed English gardening guides and........

© The Sydney Morning Herald


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