NSW Blues unveil State of Origin playing strip for 2018 series
BLUES coach Brad Fittler and fullback James Tedesco modelled the new NSW jersey that will hopefully been seen celebrating a long overdue State of Origin series triumph next year.
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NEW coach, new sponsorship, now a new playing strip.
Blues coach Brad Fittler and fullback James Tedesco modelled the new NSW jersey that will hopefully been seen celebrating a long overdue State of Origin series triumph next year.
The Canterbury jerseys feature two navy blue chevrons on a sky blue base, which is a big change from recent years and similar to the design of the junior representative Blues jerseys already worn.
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The new three-year front-of-jersey sponsorship deal with Brydens Lawyers is understood to be worth more than $4 million, which dwarfs the embarrassing $80,000 the Maroons stand to collect for their own main sponsorship next year.
The Brydens deal reflects the level of optimism surrounding Fittler and NSW that Queensland’s dynasty is about to end.
Fittler labelled the jersey “fresh’’.
And in keeping with the simple, sleek design, Fittler plans to adopt a similar “less-is-more’’ approach to his coaching methods and staff.
Next week Fittler will announce on his assistants, but there will be plenty of standing room in the coach’s box come game one on June 6 at the MCG.
“I know Loz (former coach Laurie Daley) tried different things, and the year he won it, he went into a lot of science and had (big) staff numbers, but even from Loz’s point of view, it got out of control,’’ Fittler told The Daily Telegraph.
“It will definitely be ‘less is more’.
“If I look back over the coaches I had, especially in rep sides, Chris Anderson was all about less is more, Bob Fulton was good at that, as was Gus (Gould).
“The times I played rep footy, that worked well.
“But it’s also about picking the right players to make sure they’re doing the right thing when you’re doing less.’’