Written by Mike Carter, Hull KR Shirts
It has been a busy few weeks for Hull KR, and thus, in turn, for me at Hull KR Shirts. I have been trying to do my best to keep on top of everything, like the rest of the supporter base. The morning after Hull KR’s 10-8 victory over Warrington Wolves, Hull KR revealed their Players’ Training range ahead of the 2025 Betfred Super League season.
The reveal was at 10:00AM on Saturday, 5th October, and is a new slot for Hull KR merch drops for 2025 releases, having been used for the 2025 home kit, too. New stock has been on the shelf just in time for the retail shop at Craven Park opening its doors ahead of the weekends trade. A marketing departments dream!
In 2024, our home shirt was predominantly white, and as we know, this case will be similar for the 2025 season, too. Hull KR used the Matchday Range in 2024 to have an explosion of red and this time, it has fallen upon the Players’ Training range. Once again it’s such a smart move to cover the red-offering in a training range – we have a fan base that loves us playing in a predominantly white shirt, but there has to be some people who chose not to buy it due to the unpractical nature of wearing white, right? Red is the colour that I most associate with the club, so I really enjoy having a range in red to raid the proverbial piggy bank for!
My first impression was that I could see myself spending hundreds on this range. I haven’t yet (the key word being yet), but I suspect that will change as we head into 2025. As a shirt collector, October-December can be an expensive time of the year for me. The end of the season brings shirts from the freshly completed season to the market. That alone can be a financially tough time of the year for me, especially considering the financial burden of the festive season, too. Player shirt collecting is what I live for, so these little extras sometimes have to wait, but I have my eye on multiple items within this range that will likely be purchased in the future…
What is included in the 2025 Players’ Training Range?
The full range consists of 10 garments; a tee, a vest, and a tempest sweatshirt as well as a standard hoody and full zip and quarter zip hoodies. It also includes a quarter zip pullover, some tracksters, and two pairs of shorts, all in predominantly red with white detailing, and that isn’t including the ladies and junior variations of certain lines. As you can tell, there is plenty of choice for those who are intrigued by the Players’ Training range for 2025, so let’s take a closer look.
(Credit: Hull KR)
It is probably easier and less repetitive for me to describe the consistent design features for the 2025 Players’ Training range in one go. On the upper body garments these are; Robin icon taping down the sleeves, ‘Robins’ wordmark on the upper back with the Robin icon just above and either one of chest or central ‘Designs’ sponsorship placement.
(Credit: Hull KR)
The long sleeved tempest sweatshirt is my favourite item in the range. I really like the symmetry delivered by the trio of sponsorship, maker marker and club crest on the chest – which also features on the standard hoody, too.
The sleeve taping, using the Robin icon, isn’t completely new to us. We’ve seen elements of it on the 2023 home shirt, but before that we used OXEN logo taping on the 2022 anthem jacket – a design element that has become popularly used across a plethora of brands in world sport for decades. It works, though, doesn’t it?
There isn’t too much that can be said about the basic tee and vest. I can see them being very popular items within the collection. The tee is one that I will look to get for myself in the future, should it still be available when I am in a position to get one. The Designs branding is quite domineering on these two items, but due to the colour integration, I think they get away with it. The Robin icon taping on the tee is from the collar to the cuff and on the vest, this moves to the armpit to the waist hem.
There are three different styles of hoody within the range, all of which have been pictured towards the start of this review. There is a standard pullover hoody, a full zip hoody and a quarter zip hoody. More on a design feature of two of these hoodies soon…
The Players’ Training range also features two pairs of shorts, both once again have zip pockets. One uses the club crest and the other pair uses the Robin icon as its main feature. The shorts with the crest also use the Robin icon taping down the side panel. However, the other pair is more subtle with its design approach. This was also the case in 2024 with the marble Players’ Training range, too. Another instance of delivering choice to supporters when it comes to deigns that they may favour. The other lower body option is a pair of slim fit navy tracksters also with zip pockets.
There are three items in this range that have maker marker placement that we haven’t seen at Hull KR before, and one of them is the players’ quarter zip (QZ) jacket. The other two items are the full zip and QZ hoody. The OXEN branding is applied above the club crest, a placement which OXEN have used on Leeds Rhinos garments for a few years now, so it isn’t a shock to see it make an appearance for us at Hull KR.
For what it’s worth, I really like it. It allows for a chest sponsor to be applied to a garment with a zip, and is a sensible non-obstructing place for the OXEN logo and wordmark to be applied side by side instead of in its usual stacked placement (as it is on many of the garments in this range).
Grand Final Anthem Jacket and Polo Shirt
(Credit: Hull KR)
The two pieces which were coined as ‘The Grand Final’ range – which was a polyester polo shirt and anthem jacket – of which both had the same sponsor, maker marker and crest placement as the QZ jacket. These items were worn by the matchday squad and non-playing staff at Old Trafford for our maiden Grand Final appearance on 12th October. All club staff had game embroidery on their uniform (including the playing roster), unlike those available for purchase in the club shop. Due to the incredibly tight turn around between reaching and playing in a Grand Final, logistically, it meant these couldn’t be embroidered for supporters and returned in time to be dispatched or collected. The risk clearly wasn’t worth the reward here. Naturally, this is a shame as they make a lovely keep sake for those who wish to have something to remember the occasion by. I will try and source a player/staff embroidered style in these lines for my collection.
(Credit: Hull KR)
That pretty much brings a close to the 2025 Players Training Range, a wonderful range with plenty of choice for everyone to get their teeth sunk into. The squad in 2025 is going to look mega wearing this for the training sessions. So far, this is my favourite release, but I wouldn’t rule out it being topped as we have evidence of Hull KR and OXEN improving time and time again!
The 2025 Players’ Training range can be purchased by clicking here or can also be purchased from the Hull KR store at Sewell Group Craven Park. I have also noticed that some of the lines are available from newly opened ‘Rugby Store’, in Princess Quay, too so make sure you have a gander at what they have to offer to city centre shoppers.
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