It isn't just about buying replica shirts or whether or not we win trophies. Your club crest is your identity.

Adidas as a business for example have had one or two different logos for different things and use both very well depending on the product. Would they ever ditch the 3 stripes though? No would they . Would Coca-Cola ever simply become Cola? No.

In sporting terms as I've said, United modernised their crest but the devil remained. Liverpool kept the Liverbird, Arsenal the gun, Chelsea the lion, West Ham the hammers/irons, even Latics kept the tree and crown. Similar style crests to this new one for clubs like Bristol City and Brentford keep the history and identity of the club with the Robin and the Bee.

There is no issue in attempting to modernise the brand, but the new design has taken away every aspect of the old crest that defines the clubs identity aside from sticking 'Ancient and Loyal' underneath some clip art drawing that looks like a viking as opposed to a 'warrior'. Had the design been better this may not have received so much negativity.

Clearly the idea is to look to market the name Warriors much more than we do now which in itself splits the fanbase (and it isn't 50/50 as was claimed at the infamous fans forum) but I am pretty sure we can do that without using the design we have chosen.

Leeds did it, Saints did it, Wire did it, in fact almost every club did it, and I expect there will be some changes to many clubs badges in the next couple of years.
I don't like the new badge, but it's hardly a showstopper especially in these trying times.

That all depends on how much it cost and what return we get from it. A few social media clicks won't pay the bills should merchandise sales collapse.

Personally, I don't see us gaining any new fans nor do I see us losing any. Shirt sales may struggle at first but if we end up being succesful then people will buy. They always do.

This would be the perfect time to create a retro department (something else I have suggested multiple times) that uses the traditional crest and I would hope that that is exactly what they do rather than completely disregard it.

I've explained why it worked for the Rhinos

NK is referring to the 'hope no other teams follow suit' comment. There's no following to be done as most other clubs have already done similar. No one is disputing the rationale behind your post as far as I can see.

Fair enough.

To be fair after the backlash I can't see many clubs following suite in this fashion!

FWIW I think quite a few clubs need to update their branding I just hope they do it in a more considered way.

Pemps?

Not seen it. As pointed out in referring to a comment that says they hope other clubs don’t do the same, well they did what we’ve done now donkeys years back and I’m sure there was a fuss kicked up by their fans at the time but nobody cares anymore. I had a look at the superleague table yesterday to see the clubs badges in one place and pretty much every team has ditched their original crest. We have a Big Rhino, a Giant bloke, a Tiger, a wolf and so on. Other clubs may tinker a bit but it won’t be the extreme change like ours has been because the extreme amendments were made many years ago. It would’ve taken some time for people to get used to them originally but now they’re just the norm.

Your clubs biggest asset is the name Wigan - that is the brand it's synonymous with RL.

Warriors isn't.

Yes some clubs went all in with daft Monikers (like Leeds) but they made it work (some more successful than the others) Wigan Went with the Warriors name, never really committed to it and 25 years later nobody really equates RL in Wigan with Warriors - the better decision would have been to focus on what is successful about the Wigan brand and it is the name Wigan and it's history in the game.

Would you say the older Leeds fans bought into the Rhino's name? I thought they would have always preferred to remain either just Leeds or Loiners as previously nicknamed?

Similar to Warrington, most older supporters prefer to refer as Wire/Wires rather than the silly Wolves tag.

I think the most successful team rebrand was Bradford Bulls, I think they brought in a large new fan base and saw huge crowds in the late nineties/early 2000's. However whilst it brought them a lot of success it ultimately saw their downfall, all the new supporters who were brought in as young kids grew up and fell away, it was all a flash in the pan. Crowds reduced back to the size they were in the 'Northern' days and ultimately were left with only a few thousand loyal supporters rattling around Odsal. Now look where they are.

I suppose that more or less summarises 'Super League', had a massive rebrand in the nineties, big fan fare, attracted huge crowds, huge SKY money handed out but now looks tired and outdated. SKY know this to be true as the rumored new TV deal is significantly less than previous.

Agreed. I think the club could have gone about it differently too and engaged the fans more from the off.

A simple email outlining why they needed to rebrand and a "would you prefer a simplified version of the current crest using its key elements or a full rebrand using the Warrior theme' would have been far more effective and would have reinforced the bond between the club and its fanbase. Instead they go down this route and manage to overshadow a fantastic derby win and the French signing in the process!

I'd say the club not only shot themselves in the foot with this but the ricochet shot and killed their dog too.

I get you, I’ve said I’m not happy with the design but simply responding to the fact that somebody said they hoped other clubs don’t mess with their badges. Well that ship sailed years ago and has had varying degrees of success. You say we didn’t commit to it years ago but now it looks like we will and I’m sure in another 25 years, if we stick to it, then the badge and the name will be second nature. I do think the Warriors name has stuck to a degree, I know many people who just refer to us as the Warriors (people who don’t watch the game much funnily enough) but it’s not been as successful as ‘The Rhinos’ or ‘The Wolves’ because we didn’t totally commit to it. We went back to a traditional crest and the ‘Warriors’ part seems an afterthought, that shouldn’t be the case now. It was quite interesting reading why we adopted the name Warriors. There is a workable link there and I’m not sure that’s the case with the Rhinos or Wolves (I’ve certainly not seen any Rhinos trotting round Leeds City Centre), so we can hopefully make it work.

Just get rid of the badge, the Warriors name and Rads at the same time, everything he touches turns to cack.

From what I remember the Rhinos name wasn’t well received in the first few years, but luckily for the Club it coincided with an upturn in performance both on and off the field which will have made the transition easier.

The bulls demise has literally nothing to do with branding it was down to the mismanagement of the club.

There’s a big difference from 25 years ago, your club too on the moniker ‘warriors’ it hasn’t really worked which is why it seems an odd decision to now try and make it work, they should be looking at was does work and push that.

I 100% agree with the branding needing to be updated but I 100% disagree it needed updating this way.

I may well be wrong but to alienate your core fan base at this time seems a strange move to say the least.

https://www.skysports.com/share/12119078

https://www.skysports.com/share/12119078

It's certainly generating a lot of interest. It was on Granada news at lunchtime today, and even Red Vee has three pages about it.

Guess those guys love it



No opposition fan comment though or you’ll be told you smell or that you’re a nonce. All the grown up stuff.

Going over old ground here, but I fundamentally disagree with his logic and reasoning.

SL and the game needs a shot in the arm, but if they think updating a few badges will provide a boost, then I really despair. In fact it sums up British RL perfectly - they don't want to really tackle the big issues.

A weak on field product, substandard grounds, weak leadership & a tin point production from Sky all do more damage to the game than the what the Wigan badge looks like imo.

They can sugar coat and avoid the uncomfortable truths as much as they like - the real and only way to grow the game is to improve what happens on the field. That will never happen if the RFL won't get serious about bringing standards up and demanding more of the club's on the playing front. It's not ok to have a dilapidated ground, no academy or to reject increasing the cap to fit in with the current going rates for too RL players.

If every game was like the one on Friday, then the greater the chance we have at bringing in new fans and getting them to stick around. You only need to look at the NRL to see the shot in the arm it has had off the back of improving what happens on the field.

You can put the world's best logo on a pile of horse cr@p and it will still be horse cr@p.

So is this how it ends then?

We all just moan and end up inevitably accepting something that 99% of the fan base does not like and does not want?

I wouldn't say it ends here, ultimately people will vote with their feet.

your right, remember in the 90's when we had games, boots n all and even academy games shown every weekend, now look at it, sky need to shoulder some of the blame

Just seen the pictures of the new off field kit it looks good. I'm still not happy with the club reasons for the change of badge.

At first I did not like it! but then again look at the club badges in The NRL, they are similar! and accepted! I do like the old borough emblems and motto's but do they unfortunately mean anything to the young of today, the future Fans?

What makes me laugh is the mockery on another clubs site/forum across The Hill! the way they are mocking it, and they have had a figure which looks like a child may have drawn it, and have had it for years! if anything looks a joke!

The St Helens Star, have a great photo from last night, showing the New Warriors Logo lit on the side of the totally wicked stadium lol

It’s the thing that’s making me laugh. I read about social media and people are taking the mick, yet they support Leeds, Saints, Wire, Huddersfield etc. It shows how things will blow over when fans of those clubs have forgotten that their own club badges are of a similar ilk.

The thing here is what do Wiganers and what do the club think their club is and what is at the heart of its identity ?

They've chosen to put the warrior (and not a particularly good one) front and centre rather than Wigan. But it's an, at best, unloved name and ignores the strength of the brand, namely the Wigan bit. It's bonkers if you ask me.