‘Nothing worse than a redundant name’: NRL world’s ruthless take down of proposed jersey change

It is a move that would shake up the jersey game in Australia forever, but many rugby league fans are hoping it never eventuates.

Bulldogs chief executive Aaron Warburton is leading the charge to have NRL players’ names on the back of jerseys in a bid to boost merchandise sales, but a lot of fans aren’t on-board.

While it is standard for a player’s name to appear above their number in various sports across the world, it has never been commonplace in the NRL.

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Origin stars have their name on the back of their respective NSW and Queensland kits and in Melbourne Storm’s inaugural season in 1998 and in the 1999 Grand Final, they too had their names on the back of jerseys.

So as other major leagues see jersey sales continue go through the roof for certain athletes solely due to their name, Warburton believes the time is now for the NRL to cash in.

Warburton revealed on Monday that the Bulldogs were close to finalising their Las Vegas submission, which includes a move for the surnames of Bulldogs players on the back of jerseys if the club is one of the four teams to open the 2026 season in America.

The Bulldogs are pushing for jersey names to be common place in the NRL. Image: Getty

“It’s about pushing the boundaries … it’s about us putting the Bulldogs on the map,” Warburton told SEN.

“We’re actually talking with the NRL at the moment because we think it’s the perfect moment to implement surnames on the back of jerseys.

“Something as simple as that we think will really engage the fans.”

While the NRL is understood to be open to the change, there are numerous headaches, such as commercial and sponsorship issues that would need to be addressed first.

It is also understood for the NRL to tick it off, it would need to be standard practice – so all clubs need to be on board.

And for that to be a realistic possibility clubs would need to potentially forgo a sponsor or at least reduce its size to accommodate the player name.

But do the fans even want it?

Melbourne Storm had player names on their jerseys in 1998 and in the 1999 grand final.

While the talk has so far been about how good it will be for the game and revenue, the proposal has been hit with a mixed reaction from fans.

Supporters can already add their own name or the name of their favourite player on the back of a jersey at an extra cost.

But many prefer leaving it blank, with players regularly changing positions or teams, which can make a jersey that is just months or a couple years old, completely outdated.

And therefore the suggestion a player’s name could be a regular addition to NRL jerseys sparked an intense debate online, with passionate arguments being made for and against the move.

Jersey sales overseas skyrocket when a notable player signs with the club, such as in the case of Lionel Messi signing with US football team Inter Miami (pictured). (Photo by Arturo Jimenez/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

“Given that player numbers change regularly this would lead to the end of positional-based numbering. Which I don’t care about either way but you can’t have both. I must be part of the 17 per cent, nothing worse than having a jersey with a redundant name on the back,” one Bulldogs fan wrote on X.

“It will just move jersey sales from the team one, to the individual one. How does Penrith cover the loss of OAK sponsorship money? It’s not like NFL, EPL, NBA … an Australian, who supports Collingwood / Rabbitohs, is not going to buy a Cleary jersey,” another added.

“Just leave it alone, it looks good as it is and we have never had names. We support teams not players and if you want a player’s name on the back you can already get it,” a third said.

While others noted that they would also run into a problem trying to fit names such as Asofa-Solomona and Nawaqanitawase on the back of a jersey.

But others don’t see why it shouldn’t happen, arguing it would make them buy more jerseys happily.

“The jersey sales argument has no merit to it, origin has names on the back now and how many people do we see walking around in origin jerseys with a name on the back?” one person wrote.

“It make me buy jerseys. I own 1 NRL Jersey and I’ll own it for as long as it fits. If they started putting names, I’d buy more (including other teams) because I’d want THAT players jersey,” another added.

“Would absolutely be buying the names on the jersey NRL so slow for this,” a third argued.

Originally published as ‘Nothing worse than a redundant name’: NRL world’s ruthless take down of proposed jersey change