Posted this on reddit, apologies reposting here too....
If the Dolphins are eventually re-basing in SC, proposing a name like Maroochydore Dolphins because it's a great sounding name, the city central to SC, has a unique famous flavor to it. Better than SC imo, but SC is ok as a Plan B.
If the Falcons make it to the NRL, I guess they'll go with SC. Tho I'd still propose Maroochydore.
If Dolphins are staying in Redcliffe, then just own it. Redcliffe is fine. Moreton Bay is ok for a Plan B. But the elaborate multi-region bland generic names are awful sounding and awful over-thinking.
Why so hung up on Maroochydore for a name?
When I was living in the US, names like Maroochydore, Coolangatta, Wollongong, Bondi, etc were famous, even more well known than some capital city names. They're like the Miami, Chicago, etc to Aussies. Exotic sounding, indigenous type names.
Names shouldn't matter, but they do. Like naming a kid. For sports, even team names like Essendon, Arsenal, etc stand out for being unique, specific.
Orgs over-think it, trying to embrace regions or not exclude, so think a mouthful generic compass name is best when really it's bland and loses context too. Like so many people said to me, "hang on, wheres West Coast Eagles and wheres Western Bulldogs, are they the same cities as Western Force and Wests Tigers and West Harbor Pirates?"
Reckon the Roosters should've/should rename to Bondi Roosters for the same reason. That whole thought that having a specific unique town name detriments having an expanding fanbase is false. Dallas and Pittsburgh and Las Vegas NFL teams have supporter bases that stretch nationally. So do the St George Dragons, Collingwood Magpies, etc. Success and having an iconic element to the team/history is what creates that.
Nothing wrong with Redcliffe Dolphins if staying in Redcliffe whilst embracing the SC. Just be Redcliffe, in its own way a unique name like Essendon, Arsenal. You can still attach to SC in many ways like regular meet and greets at schools, malls, all the joint programs for junior pathways, funding grassroots football, etc, until its time for SC to have their own team. SC fans know what you're doing for the region already.
The 49ers were originally from San Francisco, but moved to San Jose, hundreds of miles away, their catchment for supporter base now extends all over northern California in all directions. They kept the name SF because it was so famous and unique, they even admitted as such.
If the Dolphins are staying in Redcliffe, as a Brisbane-2, just helping foster the SC till the Falcons get an NRL license, That's fine. Stay called Redcliffe. Or Moreton Bay. It's not that difficult. You can't or shouldn't try to embrace vast lands in a name, especially when a proposed name is so clunky and bland generic compass related. And it's not going to affect the partnership with SC or help/hurt SC fans in the interim anyway.
SC is one of the fastest growing regions in Australia, big RL juniors, long term they should/will have their own team, NRL expansion continuing with Ipswich, SC, Central QLD. So, "The" needs to be tied to a specific name eventually, and shouldn't have even be removed at start-up.
Maybe there was a stigma with Redcliffe "bogans" association, but so what? Those people are everywhere anyway, are fans too.
