Fans to help Dolphins choose name if club granted NRL licence
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Fans and members of the public will help choose the name of the NRL's 17th team if the Redcliffe Dolphins are given the nod to join the competition in 2023.
The Dolphins are vying with Brisbane Firehawks, backed by Easts Tigers, and the combined Brisbane Bombers-Western Corridor bid, which is headed by Ipswich Jets chairman Steve Johnson, to become the city's second NRL team.
With the Dolphins, Tigers and Jets being long-time rivals in the QRL's Intrust Super Cup, Redcliffe officials are aware of the need to find a new name to ensure they appeal to fans and sponsors beyond the peninsula in Brisbane's north-east.
The Dolphins name will survive after the club launched a legal challenge to prevent Gold Coast from using the moniker when they became the NRL's most recent expansion team in 2007 but officials said they would not be known as Redcliffe.
"The Redcliffe Dolphins will always exist and they will play in the Q-Cup and down to juniors and under-6s but the NRL entity will have a broader appeal so we want the public, who are going to be our fans and support the team, to take ownership of it and suggest a name that best represents us," Dolphins NRL bid chair Terry Reader said.
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"We operate from Brisbane north through the Moreton Bay region and the Sunshine Coast corridor, and the Moreton Bay region is actually the third biggest council area in Australia and the fourth biggest is the Sunshine Coast.
"The Moreton Bay region is set to grow by 15 per cent in the next 10 years and the Sunshine Coast by 25 per cent so we are conscious that we have got to appeal to more than just people in Redcliffe and the Dolphins as an NRL entity will hopefully do that."
Redcliffe Leagues Club chairman Bob Jones told NRL.com that a number of names had already been suggested.
"The Sun State Dolphins and River City Dolphins are quite popular but when it is time we will seek input from the community to suggest names," Jones said.
"Very rarely do you ever hear anyone say 'Brisbane Broncos', it is usually 'the Broncos' and it will probably be the same with the Dolphins."
Redcliffe have had NRL ambitions since the Broncos became the first interstate team admitted to the NSWRL premiership in 1988, and forced Gold Coast to drop the Dolphins name and become the Titans in 2007.
Since then, the club has been ensuring it was prepared for the next opportunity to join the NRL and boasts a shopping centre, fitness and aquatic centre, boutique stadium and 40,000 leagues club members.
"A lot of people forget that the Titans tried to take the Dolphin and the club said 'no, we always aspire to be in the NRL'," Reader said.
"The club operates to play rugby league at the highest level possible and it used to do that in the old BRL [Brisbane competition] before the Broncos came in.
"They have been working in the background and building infrastructure and facilities, while immersing themselves in the community, to one day do that."
Dolphin Stadium is home to the Brisbane Roar's A-League and W-League teams, and will host a number of NRL trials in coming weeks, with the Warriors meeting the Storm on February 20 and the Broncos playing the Cowboys a week later.
"We have got a diversified business away from just leagues club funding and football grants to make sure we can stand on our own two feet from day one," Reader said.
"We have even got office space that the club had the foresight to build on top of the leisure centre that is currently leased out to a company, and that is for the NRL administration so if we are granted the licence we can move in there and start building the club and building a roster."
