DRAGONS BLOG: Truth about premiers T-shirts

Around this time last year, you may remember the Dragons copping flack for allegedly designing their 2009 premiers shirts before the finals even began.It’s a claim that led many to label the Dragons as arrogant because it meant they figured the premiership was a lay-down misere.Since then, it’s become another way of mocking the Dragons with people leaving website comments along the lines of ‘‘don’t order those premiers T-shirts yet, Dragons’’.Funny thing is, it’s not true. The clubs don’t have anything to do with the designing of T-shirts for the premiers, the finals or even the minor premiers.And that information comes from the NRL, so you’d think they’d know, right?According to an NRL spokesman, the shirts are designed by Classic, who holds the licensing rights for this sort of stuff.This year, they made up a range of prototype designs featuring nine teams and submitted them to the NRL about a month ago.The NRL then chose which designs they liked for the minor premiers, finals and premiers shirt - and those are they shirts the clubs are stuck with.That’s why the finals T-shirts for all eight teams are essentially the same - the design is chosen by the NRL and not each club.As for that infamous premiers shirt, that design has already been chosen by the NRL too. They’ll just add the colour, team name and emblem to the shirt once the winner is known on grand final day and they’ll hit the shops soon afterwards.Incidentally, the NRL actually print a small batch of premiers shirts for both teams playing in the grand final. The spokesman says it’s about 30 - just enough for the team and coaching staff to wear during the post-match celebrations.As for what happens to those 30 premiers shirts featuring the losing side - seems they get pulped.So next time you hear someone make that claim about the Dragons ordering premiers T-shirts, you know they don’t have a clue what they’re talking about.