Written by Mike Carter, Hull KR Shirts
This weekend, Hull KR flies their Robins’ nest to head for Amsterdam to play in the inaugural RugbyLeague.com Amsterdam Challenge. Naturally, with that comes some merchandise for us to love or loath! It has been on sale for some time, including a Limited Edition line, which sold out within a week of release, but I felt the lead up to the game, was a good time as any to give it the Hull KR Shirts treatment!
As many will know, Hull KR heads to the NRCA Stadium in Amsterdam to play York Knights on Saturday, 25th January. It was confirmed back in November 2024 that Hull KR will wear their 2025 home shirt for their battle with the Knights. However, the Robins will wear something that pays homage to the host nation, the Netherlands, for their pre-match routines.
Supporters who also share their Rugby League interest with Football will likely recognise the design used for the warm-up shirts. The geometric chevron-based pattern was worn by The Netherlands at Euro 1988. A tournament the Dutch would win after Marco van Basten’s sublime volley against the Soviet Union in the final. The original shirt featured the adidas trefoil logo, three stripes branding and a had a lovely v-neck finish. Side note: When this shirt was worn by the Netherlands, Hull KR was also taking to the field in match gear produced by the brand with three stripes!
This kit is a clear inspiration for the 2025 Amsterdam Challenge warm-up shirt, and it’s an excellent design to recreate for our first ever game in the Netherlands. It’s a design (and colour) that under normal circumstances, we wouldn’t be able to use or replicate, but the Amsterdam Challenge works wonderfully for this. It’s truly iconic, and even non-hardcore football supporters will have likely seen this shirt design at some stage in their lives.
On the other hand, they could have sought design inspiration from Amsterdam based sports teams like AFC Ajax or Amsterdamsche FC, who both use red and white across their kitsets. This was a suggestion made to me by Les Motherby of Hull City Kits, and whilst I can see why Les would suggest this, I’m glad Hull KR didn’t take this route on this occasion as we have plenty of red and white merchandise, and I’m pleased the opportunity to create something different was taken. This could certainly be an option should it become a regular thing.
The geometric chevron-based short sleeved warm-up shirts have the same build of that of a replica shirt produced by OXEN, so naturally it features the premium qualities that you’d an expect, including embroidered club and NRLB crest. Sadly, we didn’t get the v-neck collar that featured on the 1988 Netherlands shirt. Instead, it has the usual cut-out collar finish that features across the two 2025 alternate replica shirts.
Each of the short sleeve variations of the warm-up shirt is individually numbered in the jock tag on the front of each shirt. These were limited to 500 units, so they are numbered from 1 to 500, making these true collectors items.
The image that Hull KR shared on their social media platforms showed the number 6. I got number 104, myself.
On each sleeve is the RugbyLeague.com 2025 Amsterdam Challenge logo, situated like we would expect a competition patch to feature on a shirt. These sit much nicer on the shirt than some competition patches have in the past. The one criticism I have of this shirt is that under the wrong lighting, the crest can look black (and white) and not navy. I think I’d have been tempted to go orange to avoid this. It isn’t the end of the world, but I thought it was worth a mention. Similarly, the Robin icon is in navy in its usual position on the reverse.
As well as the limited edition short sleeve variation, there was also a long sleeve version produced, as well as a lightweight hoody. I wasn’t fully sure on the hoody, as I prefer a more ‘substantial’ hoody with a thicker lining. However, the long sleeve shirt was right up my street. Everything on the hoody and long sleeve shirt is dye-sublimated into the shirt. These lines weren’t numbered, giving the short sleeved version a uniquity! It really is a nice touch.
During the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship, Jack’s Broadbent and Brown had the pleasure of appearing at Alexandra Palace to meet up with Dutch darts player Wessel Nijman and present him with a warm-up shirt, that had been personalised with Nijman and 180 on the reverse. An excellent touch from the Robins as well as a wonderful marketing stroke ahead of the first ever RugbyLeague.com Amsterdam Challenge! I guess we’d run out of ‘small’ J’s!
Complementing the warm-up lines is a full range of the Amsterdam Challenge merch, compiling over 10 further items from rugby balls to tees to outerwear and hats for supporters to purchase to celebrate the occasion by. There really is something to suit everyone, especially those who are making the trip to the Dutch Capital! The Amsterdam Challenge range can be viewed in full by clicking here.
I hope that everyone who is travelling to Amsterdam has a safe journey and an enjoyable stay! I look forward to seeing many of you there! Up the Robins!
Never miss a new article when you subscribe to Hull KR Shirts. Just pop in your email below and tap ‘Subscribe’…
Hull KR Shirts 