Written by Mike Carter, Hull KR Shirts.
This weekend, Super League celebrates its 30th birthday. Hull KR was fairly late to the SL party though, as they didn’t join the top table until 2007 after 11 seasons. The club did suffer relegation in 2016, but sealed an immediate return to the Super League for 2018, where they have remained ever since.
All told, Hull KR have taken part in 19 of the 31 Super League era seasons, which is around 61%. In that time, Hull KR have worn 49 different shirt designs in match action – and that is without including any mid-season sponsor changes or trips to France, meaning for me to pick out a top 5 would have been incredibly tough, so I have bottled it a little bit and will be creating two articles, a top 5 of home shirts and a top 5 of away/alternate shirts, to make it a little bit easier. Shirts manufactured by Carlotti, Kooga, Burrda Sport, FI-TA, X-Blades and OXEN will all be considered.
It is worth noting that this is just my opinion, and most people will disagree with what I think. Kit and shirt aesthetics are subjective, as are most things around appearance, beauty and practicality, so I’d love to know what yours would be, too!
Fifth place on this list is not to be snubbed at, as any shirts that make the cut would be graded by a score of at least 90 out of 100 on my ratio scale. I don’t allow a game, a memory or a performance to affect my feelings towards a kit, be that good or bad – everything here is based on appearance alone, even though I will be including a ‘Memorable Use’ for each kit that is mentioned to tie in with its use.
Let’s get cracking, starting with the away and alternate shirts…
5️⃣ – Away/Alt Fifth Place – 2012 Away Shirt
Burrda Sport produced merchandise for Hull KR for the first time in 2012, and both of the kits they produced were identical in terms of design and build. We all love the idea of using a ‘band’ on a Hull KR shirt, and this white one on a blue shirt looks great. The addition of HIREBASE in red, (which is their natural colourway), looks good on the shirt, too. The red piping that features across the main body, was a lovely design element, too. I quite like a V-neck, too (if I can’t have a turnover collar), and this one finished the shirt off nicely.
MEMORABLE USE: 2012 Magic Weekend ~ A comeback victory for the Robins, as Dave Hodgson scores in the final moments against Hull FC at the Etihad Stadium.
4️⃣ – Away/Alt Fourth Place – 2019 Poppy Third
2019 was our final season with X-Blades, before a move to sister-brand OXEN. The shirt was launched in late 2018 around Remembrance Day, as a tribute to the end of World War I. The all-red shirt features a white band, with poppies, crosses and silhouettes of soldiers. This one loses a few points based on its sponsor integration – if those were coordinated, then this would have been a top 3 shirt, in my opinion.
MEMORABLE USE: Catalans Dragons 6 – 24 Hull KR ~ A Danny McGuire-inspired performance helped secure the win in the South of France against the Dragons. It set up Hull KR to avoid relegation for the second time in 4 years, by the skin of their teeth.
3️⃣ – Away/Alt Third Place – 2007 Away Shirt
2007 saw Hull KR make their debut in Super League with Carlotti. The home kit is probably the one that most people will gravitate towards, but the away offering shouldn’t go unnoticed. It is a simple navy shirt with gold detailing and my favourite – a turnover collar! The shirt that wasn’t overpowered with sponsors, but those that did appear were heat-applied in white and are very inoffensive!
MEMORABLE USE: Salford 24-30 Hull KR ~ Most people I have spoken to about it acknowledge this game as the one that really did put the club on the path to survival in 2007. A win over Salford in a game that would have seen the City Reds leapfrog the Robins in the table if they’d have won proved to be a huge momentum swing for Rovers.
2️⃣ – Away/Alt Second Place – 2026 Red Robin
The top two shirts in this category were manufactured by OXEN, which isn’t a surprise when you consider the quantity of shirts they’ve produced for us ~ more than any other manufacturer in the Super League era. Whenever I do something like this, I always do my best to consider recency bias and make sure that it isn’t at play with my decision-making, and I hope I have successfully achieved this here. The Red Robin alternate shirt for 2026 is stunning. The feather effect that is prominent throughout the design is a stroke of genius to use for a design element and ties in really well with the celebrations of the club’s anthem, “Red, Red Robin” turning 100 years old in 2026. I am a big fan of Rovers in red, and this ticks that box nicely.
MEMORABLE USE: After back-to-back defeats against York and Catalans, it is safe to say the Red Robin Alternate’s memorable use is still TBC for Rovers fans.
1️⃣ – Away/Alt First Place – 2023 Diamond Alternate
Any avid followers of Hull KR Shirts should have been able to guess that this would be in my top 5, giving it a very good chance of finishing where it does, in the number one spot! I have a story and a memory around the 2023 Diamond alternate shirt, that probably plays a huge part in my affection towards it. I was shown it as part of a consultation group for merchandise in early 2022 and the second I saw it, I thought it was ace. A modern-looking shirt, with a futuristic design that shares a nod to our past ~ a wonderful cocktail that produced one of the best-looking Hull KR alternate shirts of the summer era!
MEMORABLE USE: Wakefield Trinity 12-56 Hull KR ~ the final round of the regular season saw Hull KR head to Wakefield chasing down the Leigh’s points difference. The Robins knew a win by 30 points or more would be enough to steal the home advantage from the Leopards in the play-offs. A late flourish of points saw the Robins put the Trinity to the sword to set up a game with the Leopards at Craven Park.
So that is my top 5 away/alternate shirts of the Super League era, and whilst there are a few that have missed out, I am content with my picks. I have actually replaced one of the shirts I voted in the top 10 of the decade (2010-19) with another in this list, and that just shows that people’s opinions can change. I was really tempted to include the Electric Pink from 2024, but that is a shirt that I love for what it is, and what I like, without it being one of our best Hull KR shirts.
I’d love to know what you think is our top 5, so feel free to let me know in the comments section below or via social media! You can check out the Shirt History page if you need a source of inspiration…
I will be back this weekend with my top 5 home shirts of our Super League history.
Up the Robins!
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