NRL club's name changes

[blue bags]

That's pretty close. In the early days, the nicknames were mostly coined by fans and media. And St George were naturally called "Saints" by the supporters. The "Dragon Slayers" most likely originally came from a local sports writer in The St George Call... and that went to print, so it stuck for some time. The "Red and Whites" was also popular quite early on. Or simply, "St George".

The most enduring nickname through all this has been "Saints", since they were first considered for the NSWRL in 1908, and their entry into the first grade in 1921 and right up to the here and now.

Canterbury once had the unfortunate nickname of Country Bumpkins - most likely opposition fans sending up the "CBs". Back in the 1930s, the Canterbury-Bankstown area was more rural, plus the Canterbury club were buying up loads of country-based players - all this gave rise to what was essentially a sledge. As I'm sure you know, for some decades, Canterbury fans preferred the Berries. The Bulldogs came about during that period in the 70s (and 80s) when the League took ownership of nicknames as a branding tool.

Joint venture actually. The nickname "Dragons" had already been around since the 1950s - probably earlier, possibly pre-war - no one is sure. Remember, this was a time when nicknames usually evolved from the fan-base so it's very difficult to pin an exact date on these things. But obviously the 'Slayers' part just dropped away and it got shortened to the 'Dragons', and this didn't happen overnight.

I always found "the Illawarraites" to be an interesting lost nickname. It can be described as 'pre-war' but I suspect it disappeared in the 1920s (there's one publisher who reckoned it was around in the 1960s but that's just incorrect).

To put this in perspective, the St George area historically had a close association with the Illawarra, as was the case with everything on that side of the river. There's a reason why there's an "Illawarra Road" in Marrickville heading south towards Cooks River. We now know the team ended up being called "St George", named after the parish.
But what a different discussion could be had if the club based in Kogarah became known as the Illawarra DRLFC in early days of the 20th Century.

Yes back in Old days. The dragon's club. Team
Was known by a lot in the league
As the Illawarra club or team

 

[blue bags]

Yes, lots of Illawarra in the region. The first house I lived in as a little tacker was in a street that ran off Wollongong Rd.

St George's 1st home ground I believe was right near . Next to . woolongong Rd Arncliffe
Just over the Cook's River
I would like to list all of the st.georges
Home grounds. I believe about 7 or 8 has been used

 

[RedVee]

St George's 1st home ground I believe was right near . Next to . woolongong Rd Arncliffe
Just over the Cook's River
I would like to list all of the st.georges
Home grounds. I believe about 7 or 8 has been used

A bit further east I think, north side of the station.
There (Earl Park), Hurstville, Jubilee, SCG, Allianz, WIN, Olympic Stadium.
plus in 1910 our 3rds played out of Sans Souci I think.

 

[blue bags]

A bit further east I think, north side of the station.
There (Earl Park), Hurstville, Jubilee, SCG, Allianz, WIN, Olympic Stadium.
plus in 1910 our 3rds played out of Sans Souci I think.

I think Saints used Cahill park. Arncliffe
As home ground aswell. Briefly

 

[RedVee]

I think Saints used Cahill park. Arncliffe
As home ground aswell. Briefly

Belmore Sports Ground for 1 year as well

 

[blue bags]

Belmore Sports Ground for 1 year as well

Yes thanks I forgot about that year

 

[RedVee]

Yes thanks I forgot about that year

I try

 

[blue bags]

A bit further east I think, north side of the station.
There (Earl Park), Hurstville, Jubilee, SCG, Allianz, WIN, Olympic Stadium.
plus in 1910 our 3rds played out of Sans Souci I think.

Yes Earl park. Arncliffe. The 1st original home ground of St George. Just right near
woolongong Rd Arncliffe. And Cahill park about 500 metres away. With St George rowers club. Next door. A lot of players rowed aswell. Both footy . Rowers. Club's had connections
Earl park gone now. It's all high rised unit's in the area's. There was tramway on woolongong Rd many years ago. That tramed all the way to Hurstville. I believe. This was before car's
Or you rode a horse and . Or carte

 

[blue bags]

I remembered the Gladiators after I'd gone to bed last night, so I've updated my post to include that now too.

Funny thing is: I live in Perth and completely forgot about their name change! I think I was going over all the current clubs and wasn't thinking about any non-current ones.

I don't ever recall hearing 'Perth City' Reds ever. This is quite literally the first time I've ever heard that. It was Western Reds => Perth Reds as far as I know.

Soon to be the western Bear's
Or Perth Bear's

 

[Leighton Rhino]

England’s version of the Gold Coast;
Fulham RLC - London Crusaders - London Broncos - Haliequins RL

And of course now back to London Broncos

 

[Leighton Rhino]

Soon to be the western Bear's
Or Perth Bear's

I think Perth Bears is better....always prefer a city name over a region

 

[RedVee]

Yes Earl park. Arncliffe. The 1st original home ground of St George. Just right near
woolongong Rd Arncliffe. And Cahill park about 500 metres away. With St George rowers club. Next door. A lot of players rowed aswell. Both footy . Rowers. Club's had connections
Earl park gone now. It's all high rised unit's in the area's. There was tramway on woolongong Rd many years ago. That tramed all the way to Hurstville. I believe. This was before car's
Or you rode a horse and . Or carte

My parents lived just off Wollongong Rd when I was born. Athelstane Ave. Then my Grandmother lived there for her last few years.
Dad’s parents were in May St Bardwell Park when they moved to Sydney in about 49.

 

[MRN]

Soon to be the western Bear's
Or Perth Bear's

Nah PVL and Abdo have said they don't want western bears as a name. It needs to be more definitive like Perth, as you mentioned, or WA or something along those lines.

 

[Nuke]

While WA would my preferred choice, I'm expecting it to be Perth.

 

[blue bags]

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.
Were known as the Seagulls.
Many decades ago
Until name change.
And Northern Eagles. When merged with North Sydney Bears. Central coast. Gosford

 

[Leighton Rhino]

Nah PVL and Abdo have said they don't want western bears as a name. It needs to be more definitive like Perth, as you mentioned, or WA or something along those l

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.
Were known as the Seagulls.
Many decades ago
Until name change.
And Northern Eagles. When merged with North Sydney Bears. Central coast. Gosford

Might end up like Redcliffe and just the Bears....in fact I'll bet it is

 

[RedVee]

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.
Were known as the Seagulls.
Many decades ago
Until name change.
And Northern Eagles. When merged with North Sydney Bears. Central coast. Gosford

Their song used to say “sea gulls” in the old days but well after they changed to Sea Eagles. I don’t know these days.

 

[MRN]

Might end up like Redcliffe and just the Bears....in fact I'll bet it is

No, actually PVL and Abdo have stated they want a direct geographical location on this one. Hence WA or Perth as opposed to Western.

The Dolphins was a special situation because of some rule with the QRL that an NRL team cannot have a direct reserve grade team in the QCup, as they prefer the feeder system. Hence 'The Dolphins' in the NRL, Redcliffe Dolphins on QCup. They could have taken another name like Moreton Bay but I think they thought if they can't be Redcliffe, then they won't attach any other location and went with simply; The 'Dolphins'.
Also the name 'Moreton Bay' limits the areas they wanted to reach as it only covers north to Caloundra, and they wanted to represent further north along the sunshine coast and Coral sea. Realistically they can probably claim up to Hervey Bay or Bundaberg on their own, and all the way to Rockhampton with their feeder club deal with Central Capras before they start stepping into Cowboys territory.

 

[Leighton Rhino]

No, actually PVL and Abdo have stated they want a direct geographical location on this one. Hence WA or Perth as opposed to Western.

The Dolphins was a special situation because of some rule with the QRL that an NRL team cannot have a direct reserve grade team in the QCup, as they prefer the feeder system. Hence 'The Dolphins' in the NRL, Redcliffe Dolphins on QCup. They could have taken another name like Moreton Bay but I think they thought if they can't be Redcliffe, then they won't attach any other location and went with simply; The 'Dolphins'.
Also the name 'Moreton Bay' limits the areas they wanted to reach as it only covers north to Caloundra, and they wanted to represent further north along the sunshine coast and Coral sea. Realistically they can probably claim up to Hervey Bay or Bundaberg on their own, and all the way to Rockhampton with their feeder club deal with Central Capras before they start stepping into Cowboys territory.

Bayswater Bears!!!

 

[NK Arsenal]

With the bears coming to Perth is this essentially treated as the north Sydney bears re-located or a new franchise for history purposes?