Sea Eagles stars Jake and Tom Trbojevic have tonight pulled on an exciting new strip for the NSW Blues in 2019.
The Manly and NSW stars joined Blues coach Brad Fittler in welcoming the NSWRL's innovative move to launch the first "limited edition" alternate strip in State of Origin history.
They were also joined at The Star tonight by Tyson Frizell, True Blues including Greg Alexander, Danny Buderus, Nathan Hindmarsh, Brett Finch, and Manly legend Steve Menzies, NSWRL Chief Executive David Trodden and NSWRL Chairman Dr George Peponis OAM.
The bold new design, which will only be worn by the team for the second game of the 2019 Origin series at Optus Stadium in Perth, is predominantly navy blue with the chevrons in the team's traditional colour of sky blue.
Fittler, who was appointed as coach for the 2018 series and adopted a fresh approach after blooding 13 new faces on the way to ending a four-year series drought, said the Blues supported the game's decision to take Origin to new areas in Perth (2019) and Adelaide (2020).
"We pride ourselves on being innovative and this will be the first time in State of Origin history that a team has used an alternate jersey," Fittler said.
"It aligns with our vision of taking a fresh new approach to the series, and the game's decision to take Origin matches to new frontiers. We fully support any move to grow Rugby League's showpiece event to even more fans.
"We're confident our alternate strip will inspire a new generation of Blues supporters, and give the crowd in Perth even more reason to get behind us as we defend the Shield."
NSWRL Head of Commercial Jodie Cross said it had been a challenging but rewarding experience to come up with a design which respected tradition while welcoming a new era of fans.
"This is an exciting new era for the Blues and one that the NSWRL had readily embraced," Cross said.
"It was important for us to keep NSW's core elements intact, which is reflected in the chevron being incorporated into the design and the sky blue colour retained in the jersey.
"We urge all NSW supporters to get behind their team and take advantage of a unique opportunity to own a limited edition jersey."
