So the Dolphins are apparently going with the name 'The Dolphins' for 2023, which brings to questions is geographical names essential. Now you have old fashioned footy fans like myself who love calling teams but their geographical names (i.e. Parramatta, Penrith, South Sydney, St. George Illawarra etc.) but i do not like the non geographical name approach but i think i know why they are doing it.
It is not as uncommon for the only one name team, the Warriors are technically the 'New Zealand Warriors' but 95% of the time they are called the Warriors. In the early 2000's Canterbury simply went by the Bulldogs, before going back to Canterbury-Bankstown, but this is different to me as these teams have had geographical names prior, early 2000's though Canterbury did not go by Canterbury i still called them that. The Dolphins though not quite the same, people call them Redcliffe though this is not completely a take over to the QRL Redcliffe Dolphins to call them that.
Names that have been brought forward have been Redcliffe, though considered too small an area (fair enough). Another is Sunshine Coast or Sunshine State Dolphins (do not mind this), another is Moreton Bay Dolphins which is my favourite as it is a wider geographical area. Or even go with South-East Queensland Dolphins or Brisbane Dolphins or South Brisbane Dolphins or whatever. I feel with the Broncos taking hold of majority of the QLD market in terms of fans, this is a missed opportunity in branding, having Brisbane or Queensland in the name my not seem like a big deal though i feel it adds proudness of area, rivalry to other teams.
The reason though i can see to most names like Redcliffe or Moreton Bay is the Dolphins are playing most of their games at Suncorp in Brisbane. Now, Brisbane is roughly and hour from Moreton Bay area, so i do understand the NRL trying to avoid the talk of fans having to travel a long distance to see their team named Moreton Bay play in Brisbane instead of locally. Though why not call them Brisbane or South Brisbane or East Brisbane? Well again falls a trap of Redcliffe fans, they would feel betrayed having a team in the NRL but not called by that name, it is not theirs, it will be Brisbane's. The team play there, train there.
So i can see the point of view a little bit for the NRL as it is a difficult spot, and they chose the Dolphins rightfully so as they produced the most assests and money to last in the league, but i hope they find a comprimise in the situation of the name.
I know most reading this will be like who cares, though it is fascinating to me, love to hear what names you may like or even your thoughts on the situation, maybe you love the name being 'The Dolphins'.
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They are doing it because some marketing knob with a pony tail named Gavin (nod to Billy Birmingham) probably 'consulted' with management and decided that it was more 'inclusive' not to be defined by a geographical area.
I imagine they'll go with that for a couple of seasons and once they've got their fan base up and running, they'll probably change their name to Moreton Bay Dolphins.
But the issue is playing out of Suncorp.
Like having Manly play out of central coast stadium all the time.
Not an issue, public transport is excellent to Suncorp from anywhere in and around Brisbane
it is an hour away from Moreton Bay, hardly Moreton Bay if playing in a stadium and hour and a bit away
Yes but it's a free train to and from, trust me that's nothing here in Brisbane.
hahaha BM, never a truer word spoken.
I can throw a sinker from from my deck and land it in Moreton Bay yet it would take me the best part of an hour to Redcliffe
Anything but the Moreton Bay Dolphins
I don't feel strongly about it and being a Brisbane based supporter of Parramatta for the 42 years I have been here it maybe hard for some to understand the value of my opinion ......But.... I think Brisbane Dolphins defines a whole set of options if you live in Brisbane and are not aligned with any particular team since Brisbane Broncos polarised a lot of locals who chose not to follow them.
I believe it will be a succesful franchise and that also means Brisbane Jets (ipswich to Springfield) will also be the last/next team for Brisbane representation. AFL has the ability to take a lot of ground through the AFL connection to Springfield and it will need to be combated. Imagine a team in Sydney that has no representation for what we now call the West Tigers.
I believe they erred when they picked Redcliffe as the 4th QLD team. lpswich or even Logan would have been a much better base to grow the game instead of a place nestled between the Broncos and Storm feeder clubs
Yep, hate teams that are just nicknames, unless it is something culturally significant like Rangers or Celtic. I dont know why they just don't call themselves Redcliffe. It won't stop people who don't live in Redcliffe from supporting them. Brisbane isn't tribal in that way like Sydney is.
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