Written by Mike Carter, Hull KR Shirts
It has been announced that Hull KR and Elite Pro Sports have extended their partnership, which will see them, via their OXEN brand, continue to manufacturer the on field and off field ranges for Hull KR until at least the end of 2030.
OXEN will become one of the longest standing manufacturers in Hull KR kit history with this new deal. It has been a rarity for Hull KR kits to be produced by the same company for longer than 3 or 4 years in recent times, however OXEN is currently in their fifth season and now with this agreed extension, it will reach at least 11 years.
It didn’t start with OXEN for Hull KR and Elite Pro Sports, though. They have actually been producing merchandise for Hull KR since the end of 2016, initially using their X-Blades brand. This was before an internal shuffle saw them create and develop a new brand, called OXEN, which was formed in 2019 and first seen on Hull KR shirts in late 2019, ahead of the 2020 Betfred Super League season. This means that Elite Pro Sports will have been responsible for manufacturing Hull KR kits for at least 14 seasons by the time this deal expires.
If you missed part one where we took a look at what Elite Pro Sports offered to Hull KR between 2017 and 2019, before you read on, you can catch up here. Once you’re ready, lets pick-up where we left off in part one and start again in 2020 with the launch of OXEN, a brand that was originally created in Hull…
Let’s take a look at what Hull KR & OXEN have produced on the field since 2020…
2020
Elite Pro Sports debuted their OXEN brand on Hull KR merchandise ahead of the 2020 Betfred Super League season. A year that will live long in the memory for so many reasons. Covid-19 halted the world during a global pandemic, and if it wasn’t for Toronto Wolfpack’s troubles the Robins could have found themselves back in the second tier of Rugby League once again. The OXEN era could have started very differently though, had this not been a rib… An interesting way to ‘start’ a partnership, eh!
If you’d like an in-depth review of each shirt, just tap the capital text at the start of each segment.
HOME: For the second time in two seasons the home shirt was predominantly white. This was somewhat of a novelty looking back as we didn’t see it again until 2024. It was a nice shirt, with a broad red band across the chest of the shirt. 40 years on, the shirt was designed with the 1979/80 Challenge Cup Final in mind. Admittedly, the main front of shirt sponsor isn’t the most appealing thing to have written on the front of a shirt, but it is what it is.
Hull KR Shirts Grading: 7/10
AWAY: I have to believe that this shirt was based around the 2003 home shirt, as it has a very similar resemblance to that shirt used back then. If we did a poll of the best shirts of the Elite Pro Sports era, I could see this finishing within the top selections. It is simple, yet effective. Sadly, we never saw Hull KR win a game in this kit, but that means nothing when judging it based on appearance. The navy and red work so well together and the broad red band is excellent. A perfect juxtaposition for a white home kit.
Hull KR Shirts Grading: 9/10
THIRD/MIND: The creative element that went into getting this kit manufactured is quite special. It took the Club many draft attempts to make this kit happen but boy am I glad they never gave up on it. The grey and purple work so well together and the inclusion of the MIND squiggles being adapted into Robins is sensational!
Hull KR Shirts Grading: 9/10
2020 Full Season Hull KR Shirts Grading: 25/30 (83.33%)
2021
Little did we know at the start but 2021 was going to be the best on field season that Hull KR would have in the summer rugby era. A 6th place finish in regular season was backed up by an exquisite 19 points to nil victory over Warrington Wolves at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. That performance then set us up to jet off to France for our first ever Super League Play-Off Semi-Final.
HOME: This is one shirt that upon my first impression I wasn’t impressed with. However, when the season started, I adapted to it. The all red kit wasn’t bad any point by any stretch, it just didn’t appeal to me at first. I ended up doing a total 180 on it though, and finished the season disappointed when we wore it for the final time against Catalans Dragons. That could have just been the outcome of that defeat, but the shirt is definitely one that I look back fondly on.
Hull KR Shirts Grading: 8/10
AWAY: These hands. Two words which will always be synonymous with this kit for me. It was a marketing slogan used to describe the shirt during its reveal. The design included shapes that created a resemblance to hands connecting, with fingers interlocking. There was different shades for different backgrounds and experiences. It carried a deep message for a sports shirt, really. The many shades of green and grey away kit was easy on the eye and completed the 2021 kitset off nicely, as we already knew what the third kit was going to look like.
Hull KR Shirts Grading: 8/10
THIRD/MIND: What initially should have been a one-season kit, officially became the first two-season kit since the year 2000. The club felt with the Hull derby being played in St Helens, and supporters being deprived of the opportunity to wear this shirt to a game, as it was released during the lockdown, it was the right thing to carry this kit over into 2021 as well. There was a few slight changes to the players’ shirts from 2020. On the sleeve Bad Rhino was replaced by Iqoniq, before that was eventually replaced by a Super League competition patch and NEC on the reverse was covered up with a heat applied MIND patch.
Hull KR Shirts Grading: 9/10
2021 Full Season Hull KR Shirts Grading: 25/30 (83.33%)
2022
2022 was a rollercoaster of a year, even by Hull KR’s standards. The club was in its first season with its new crest, we reached the Semi-Final stage of the Challenge Cup for the first time in 7 years, but unfortunately missed out on the season extending Super League Play-Offs after finishing the season with just 16 available/fit professional players. All of that comes without even mentioning the Tony Smith saga… Anyway, back to the kits.
HOME: This is probably the ‘weakest’ home kit we’ve had in terms of its aesthetics. I appreciate what they were trying to do with this one, with a nod to our past, but it just isn’t as good as most of the other home kits that Elite Pro Sports and Hull KR have developed together. That factored with the launch imagery of Lachlan Coote in a replica that was too big for him, didn’t help the initial feeling, either. It isn’t a ‘bad’ kit at all. They’ve just made better.
Hull KR Shirts Grading: 6/10
AWAY: This was the first time that Hull KR had used yellow as the main colour on a kit. The first comments sparked a comparison to Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wolves and I think that is understandable. The idea behind the kit is fantastic. The ‘Icons of Hull’ that featured across the shirt and the message that it represented were special. Hull’s coat of arms features yellow and blue, so there was a connection that could be made. The shirt featured the three crowns on the back of the shirt, another link between Hull KR and the ‘Icons of Hull’.
Hull KR Shirts Grading: 7/10
ALT/BOILERMAKERS: We have had a fairly good track record with third/alternative kits with Elite Pro Sports, if we take some pity on the ‘A Little Respect ‘ shirt. Everyone is aloud one bad one, right? The Boilermakers kit though is one of the best. The dark green and gold colour combo just works! It oozes class and looks sleek with a pair of jeans in pub, just as it does on the field, too. This one sold out that quickly (in the middle of the season), that it was possible for a second order to be placed and delivered in time for supporters to wear before we wore it again just 6 weeks later. If you have this shirt and the sponsor is heat applied, it is from the first batch. If your sponsor is dye sublimated then it is from the second batch. Knowledge!
Hull KR Shirts Grading: 9/10
2022 Full Season Hull KR Shirts Grading: 22/30 (73.33%)
2023
2023… Wow. What a season it was for Hull KR. An appearance in a Challenge Cup Final for the first time in 8 years, and a second Play-Off Semi Final in just three seasons. Unequivocally, this was most supporters favourite season in the Super League era, and rightly so!
HOME: The weakest of the three shirts from 2023 was the home, in my opinion. It was a lovely shirt, and still receives an 8 out of 10, but 2023 was all about the alternate designs for me. This was the first home shirt to have different coloured sleeves (to the main body of the shirt) in the Elite Pro Sports era. The Robin Icon taping under the arms was a lovely touch, and this alone probably added a score to its grading. Couple that with a Wembley appearance, this one will be remembered for years to come.
Hull KR Shirts Grading: 8/10
ALT/QLD: In any other year this would have likely been my favourite kit, but not in 2023. That speaks volumes over the depths of quality Hull KR and OXEN found. This kit combined two teams, which is unusual, isn’t it? Queensland RL and Hull Kingston Rovers! It was a celebration of a game that took place 40 years prior. For the full story, just tap here. It is a classic Hull KR shirt design paired with the famous maroon and gold of Queensland. What is not to love? Lovely jubely!
Hull KR Shirts Grading: 9/10
ALT/DMD: I was shown a concept of this kit during a meeting with Hull KR and a group of fellow supporters in early 2022. I did my best to remember it as I knew the moment I saw it that this kit was going to be one of my all time favourites. Upon many conversations, I was lead to believe that this kit would be for 2024 and not earlier. I was gutted. I felt deprived! Little did I know it was in the works for 2023, so when it landed I was in awe of it. This is a personal connection, so my rating is biased to my tastes, but the idea behind ratings is always a personal opinion. The design had a dedication to the past with the diamonds that featured on the Hull KR away shirt from 1992-94, but the application felt modern and futuristic. A strange combination really, but I absolutely love it. Diamonds are forever!
Hull KR Shirts Grading: 10/10
2023 Full Season Hull KR Shirts Grading: 27/30 (90.00%)
2024
It is difficult to write about 2024 as the season is still progressing, but at this point Hull KR has featured in a 5th semi-final in 4 seasons, with the hope of reaching a 6th as the club sit comfortably inside the top 3 of the Super League table. We did briefly reach the summit after our Round 20 win at Warrington, and what is to come next is yet to be seen…
HOME: For the first time since 2020, the Hull KR home shirt is white with a red band! A design that we were told not to expect any time soon, due to poor sales in 2019 and 2020. For contrast, the 2024 home shirt has ‘sold out’ on more than one occasion this season. Success for a kit for me is how visually appealing I find it. Success for the club is usually how many go through the checkouts. I think it is safe to say that this shirt is a success on both of those fronts. The red sleeves with the inclusion of dye sublimated Robins is an excellent touch.
Hull KR Shirts Grading: 9/10
ALT/MARBLE: The Marble alternate kit is another one which I feel really harsh about when I talk about it. It’s a good kit, I just like others more. It works perfectly colour wise with the home and other alternate kits, to provide options when required, so its purpose is there. I was able to help the club launch this shirt, which was pretty special for me and that will always hold a fond place within my heart. The colours work well together and it has a nice story around it. I was toying with a 7.5 for this one, but I settled on 8 for this one. I think that is more than fair.
Hull KR Shirts Grading: 8/10
ALT/ELECTRIC PINK: For years I have badgered for a pink kit at Hull KR. Part of me wonders if this was created purely to shut me up… Joking aside, I know it wasn’t but it makes me smile to think that I could have created a positive impact on something that I love. I do feel the connection to Flash Flanagan was a bit of a hyperbole but the design of the shirt works for sure either way. It is bold and striking, something that Hull KR has been so far in 2024. Is it possible that I’m grading this at 10 out of 10 just because it is pink? Some may think so, but we’ve looked brilliant wearing it. That isn’t just on the field either. Look in the stands either when you’re there or looking back at images and videos, we’re covered in pink everywhere you look in 2024, and that’s not because the red has bled into the whites of our shirts, like it did that one time in the early 2000s.
Hull KR Shirts Grading: 10/10
2024 Full Season Hull KR Shirts Grading: 27/30 (90.00%)
What could we expect to see next?
It is exciting to think about what we will get to see next. I can understand that some supporters may feel let down by some of the home kit designs over the last 7 years, however I feel it is impossible to feel the same way about our alternate kits. There has been some incredible designs, and I feel there will be many more to come. All of this without mentioning the many great training and off-field ranges that we have had, too.
The home kit in 2024 reverted to traditional design, and we’ve been told via multiple ‘sell outs’ and ‘back in stock’ messages that it has not only been a hit with the fanbase visually, but it appears that we have collectively put our money where our mouths are and bought in to it too. A return to anything dramatically different for 2025 could be seen as a collective let down now, in my opinion. My preference would be to see a switch to mostly red for 2025, but I understand I am in the minority for this.
Elite Pro Sports have enabled Hull KR to be innovative in the retail market during the partnership and I don’t see that stopping any time soon. Retail is at an all-time high, in a time where supporters stereotypically have less disposable income than ever before. It is impressive from all sides, it truly is! It goes beyond shirts and kits and I think we will see this grow further and further in the future as new avenues are explored.
I couldn’t end this without mentioning the input of three people, starting with Lee Jenkinson (and his team at OXEN). Lee has been brilliant and a key asset to ensuring that we have the best designs and quality possible. Add to this the Hull KR element of Laura George and Craig Franklin who compete the trio of people entrusted with, what I can imagine to be an unenvious task, of creating something that will appeal to one of the biggest demographics that you will ever find in a single item.
If my opinion is worth anything, I believe this was the right move for the club to renegotiate and continue the partnership with Elite Pro Sports at this time, instead of moving to another manufacturer for 2025 and beyond. They’re on this journey with us and have been for some time now. It is clear to see that they’re growing as a business, just like Hull KR as a club. I for one can’t wait to find out what Hull KR will be wearing next in 2025 and beyond, courtesy of Elite Pro Sports and OXEN.
Up the Robins!
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