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          Ranking the NBL's City Jerseys

          • Jesse Robinson
          Nov 6, 2019, 05:45 AM

          The NBL and First Ever have delivered the first of the shakeups to each team's uniform with "City Jerseys" designed by each team to represent their respective cities and cultures. The jerseys will be worn across Rounds 8 and 9, and will debut in the Brisbane and Adelaide clash on November 22nd.

          There were some swings and misses in this seasons edition, here are our rankings.

          9. South East Melbourne Phoenix

          The Phoenix have kept things very safe in their first edition of the City jersey, keeping it to one shade with a strip of colour on the side. The Phoenix had an opportunity to go deeper on their "Heartland" connection here and might just erred a little much on the side of caution. We'll give them a pass given that it's their first attempt at varying their design but they've left plenty of room for improvement.

          8. Adelaide 36ers

          There's really not much going on in these plain white jerseys. While they've pointed to the "City of Churches" moniker in text, surely there was room in that big blank space on the front for some illustration or design. Adelaide went hard at the clean, simple theme but missed on representing the City.

          7. Melbourne United

          This jersey is simple, if nothing else. United look to have attempted to borrow from the Brooklyn Nets City jersey but have not quite hit the mark. Sticking with black and white, with a splash of colour on the side makes for a clean jersey but apart from the minor Melbourne hints on the sides and collar, it doesn't really meet the brief.

          6. Illawarra Hawks

          The sights of Illawarra and the Sea Cliff bridge are shown off on the Hawks City jersey, but there is a bit too much going on for a uniform that is lacking the cleanliness and cut through of those higher on this list. The Hawks are saved by the strong representation of the city itself splashed across the front.

          5. Perth Wildcats

          The Wildcats have dialed their design right back from last year, while keeping the same concept to much better effect. The "Sunset City" with a reflection is clever and they have clearly borrowed from the Utah Jazz's attempt in the NBA to come up with a design that represents Perth well ... yet it somehow still looks like a Gold Coast Suns jumper. But if the Red Army get behind this design, it will look good in the stands at RAC Arena.

          4. New Zealand Breakers

          The Breakers are in a similar position to Cairns, in trying to represent a whole region and culture with their city jersey. While the colours are bold and unconventional, they've used the traditional Maori name for New Zealand "Aotearoa" as well as a hei matau (stylised fishing hook) which is a nice touch and a great way to represent your city, or in this case, country.

          3. Cairns Taipans

          The Snakes showed they know their market, and that they represent all of Far North Queensland and its culture, not just the city of Cairns. The tropical theme on the side and the cool navy blue is very, very Queensland and somehow, they even made that font work. Jawai and Machado are going to look slick in these.

          2. Brisbane Bullets

          The Bullets got the "City Edition" brief down and have done a good job hitting on what a City Jersey means. While borrowing from the Melbourne United colour scheme and leaning away from their blue and gold, the Bullets clean cut design shows off the River City skyline and represents the city nicely. This is another win for the Bullets after last year's impressive effort.

          1. Sydney Kings

          The Kings nailed the brief and did their best to rep their city, while missing the chance to be a little more creative, they've perfected what these designs are looking for. Everything from the cleanliness of the jersey, with the highlighted bridge and the "HARBOUR CITY" across the chest is everything a City Jersey is meant to be. Sydney have pretty much nailed the concept.