Wayne Bennett’s ‘Redcliffe Dolphins’ scored a historic victory in their first NRL match against the Sydney Roosters. But unlike literally every other team in the league, they don’t have a namesake location to add to the mix for their “phins up” celebrations.
While it was originally the Redcliffe Dolphins who launched a bid for inclusion into the NRL back in 2020, when it came to actually granting the license a year later, a new team simply called “the Dolphins” was announced.
The NRL team retains the same red and white colours of the semi-professional Redcliffe side founded in 1947, that plays in the Queensland Cup. Yes, some gold detail was added to avoid a clash with wooden spoon favourites St George Illawarra Dragons. But the side is based in Redcliffe, so why didn’t the northern Brisbane suburb get naming rights?
Why aren’t the Dolphins the Redcliffe Dolphins?
While every other club is colloquially known simply by their mascot, such as the Rabbitohs or the Roosters, the Dolphins are the only team that has to be. And while the new club obviously represents a geographical area, the NRL think they can control the narrative on this one.
Dolphins bid director Terry Reader has explained that the decision to drop Redcliffe from the name is part of a broader strategy to grow the club and be inclusive to new fans outside of the Redcliffe area.
“Part of the submission was on our brand and how we can attract a new audience to the game and grow the game. That was something we did as part of our pitch and when you think about it, Brisbane is bigger than the CBD now,” Reader told Fox Sports.
“Moreton Bay is the third-biggest council area in Australia and the fourth biggest is the Sunshine Coast – nearly 900,000 people live in that corridor before you get to Brisbane.
“So we had to be careful about how we name it because we don’t want to alienate anyone and we want to make sure we have the biggest reach.”
The NRL also had a say in the new name, with CEO Andrew Abdo echoing a similar sentiment that it was about growth.
“It’s important for us that we have a say in this because this is about the growth of the game,” he told Fox Sports.
“Historically it’s been a decision made by the club but for us it made sense for them to be the Dolphins because we’re talking here about not just the Brisbane area but north of Brisbane, we’re talking about Moreton Bay, the Sunshine Coast.
The other major factor involved in the naming rights situation is the fact that the Dolphins NRL team have partnerships with multiple Queensland Rugby League (QRL) clubs including the Central Queensland Capras, which — obviously — makes it hard to retain the same name as a QRL club.
“We weren’t allowed to be called Redcliffe or we wouldn’t be allowed to play in the Queensland Cup,” Reader said. “[NRL clubs] must have multiple affiliates in the QRL competition, so we have got Redcliffe and the Capras.”
“The NRL also had some conditions about what they wanted, and the reality is that when you look at our logo – the iconic Dolphin from the 1970s and 1980s, that has been modernised – it is like the Souths logo.”
It appears the club is still spiritually in Redcliffe
Despite years of rebranding efforts, it appears that fans aren’t going to let the Redcliffe Dolphins name die.
In their first game of the season on Sunday, fans loudly chanted “Redcliffe”, despite it not being the club’s name.
The team’s victory song also references Redcliffe.
Following their historic win against the Roosters on Sunday, fans on social media were calling for an immediate rename of the club — which so clearly longs to be named the “Redcliffe Dolphins”.
It remains unlikely that the club, and the league, will cave to popular demand and rename a team they’ve just spent years strategically branding, but stranger things have happened.
