Are Dolphins nomadic? Is that why they don't want to be tied down to one particular place? I guess the ocean's a pretty big after all.
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If Super Rugby's taught us anything, apart from how not to run a competition, it's that place names matter.
The fact the Dolphins, and not the Redcliffe Dolphins, are going against that sage advice feels like they're trying to please everyone. Which just means you end up pleasing no one.
It also looks like the NRL realised - all too late - that while an existing club brings rusted on fans and history - and in the Dolphins' case a massive bank balance - it also brings baggage. That baggage being people who already hate the club and will never support them.
So all the talk suddenly went from the Redcliffe Dolphins were going to become the 17th NRL team to the Dolphins are the 17th team. And then rugba leeg's trademark arguing about who's been robbed of what began and suddenly some people wanted them to become the Moreton Bay Bugs Dolphins.
(The Moreton Bay Bugs would've been a cracker of a name by the way and would've solved both problems. Very tasty too. You're welcome, now hand over some of that aforementioned cash.)
But back to the less palatable Dolphins. There's plenty of evidence around existing teams stepping up to a new competition and struggling to make much headway.
Port Adelaide went from the SANFL into the AFL and struggled for years. Simply because of their history. As we say in the City of Churches, there's two types of South Australians - those who barrack for Port and those who hate them.
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It took a shift to the redeveloped Adelaide Oval and enough time for a new generation of fans to come through for that to change.
North Ballarat did a similar thing stepping up from the local comp into the VFL. They won three premierships in a row and still they weren't widely embraced in Ballarat. Because there was years of hatred from the time they were a successful team in the BFL.
That's what the NRL and Dolphins are trying to avoid. But it comes at the risk of turning their back on the past and losing the fans they do have.
Back when South African teams played in Super Rugby (ask your grandparents) they too ditched their place names. But to give them some relevance to anyone who wasn't a Super Rugby nerd, or South African, The Canberra Times would always put one in.
I was forever asking colleagues where the hell the Cheetahs or Stormers or whatever the other teams were called were from. Was anyone ever surprised there was minimal interest in games involving South African teams? Especially when they played in the middle of the night.
And now they're gone. Hopefully it's a better fate for the Dolphins. Or, as their new coach Wayne Bennett likes to call them, the Redcliffe Dolphins. Knows a thing or two about footy that guy. Hope the powers that be were listening.
Vax what I'm talking about
With the AFL introducing mandatory vaccination for all players and football staff, it will be interesting to see what will happen in the NRL.
They've said they won't mandate, but their players and clubs will still have to deal with the consequences of things like Victoria's health order, which mandates it for anyone playing in their state. This includes visiting Canberra Raiders players.
More interestingly was the response from Adelaide Crows AFLW player Deni Varnhagen, who initially said she wouldn't be getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
But now, with her footy career on the line, she's open to talking to experts about the benefits of vaccination.
The thing is, she's a nurse. Surrounded by experts on vaccination and the coronavirus. Every day. How many more experts does she need to talk to?
You can't make this stuff up.