Did NRL Teams Steal Their Names From The NFL?
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- Опубликовано: 22 июл 2024
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With the NRL taking over Las Vegas, many Americans are getting their first look at Australia’s finest sporting export since Grant Balfour. It’s a great sport and one definitely worth checking. However, many folks who grew up watching the NFL will notice something familiar when they go over team names.
Six NRL franchises have names that can also be found in the NFL. Two others have names and branding similar to American counterparts. So, who had it first? Did the Australian rugby league sides simply poach their identities from the NFL? Or does the opposite hold true?
Of the six NRL teams to share a name with an NFL franchise, three have been copied, two are distinct and one was probably not copied.
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It's kinda funny how Broncos beat Panthers in the Super bowl but Panthers beat Broncos in last year's NRL Grand Final
Swings and roundabouts.
Balmain were known as "The watersiders" nickname initially but also had the "Tigers" nickname well over a century ago now.
With North Queensland, they were initially going to be called "The Marlins" as their nickname but switched to "Cowboys" later on, I know this because I knew someone who trained with them in the early 1990s.
Penrith before 2020 did not have a great club history, they had only won two premierships 53 years before that, the last four year has been a anomaly.
Brisbane is obviously the biggest copy on the list however they did have another names they were thinking of calling themselves including "Kangaroos" but they had threats from North Melbourne and also didn't want it to be confused with the Australian rugby league side.
The Canberra story is pretty accurate.
Last 4 years isn’t a anomaly for penrith that’s what happens when you have good youth
@@JamesSant1 The definition of the word in the dictionary is "something different, abnormal, peculiar, or not easily classified : something anomalous. 2 : deviation from the common rule : irregularity".
Between 1967-2021, Penrith won two premierships in 53 years. In 2019, they were bottom of the table midway through the year, the three year in a row before that they were kind of a Parramatta, make the finals and get bundled out at the second week. The last four year is out of the ordinary and doesn't follow the common rule which is with Penrith since their foundation up to 2020, they would have very short periods of success before sliding back down the table again.
The super league war podcast boys mentioned that Brisbane considered the name Brumbies which is inherently more Australian, however they didn’t go with it because they thought journalists would have a field day with headlines after a loss
An anomaly? What a patronizing prick.
@@RugbyLeagueHistory it’s not as unexpected as you say it was clear when they made the Flegg GF in 2018 the talent was there they just needed the right coach Ivan turned out to be that
As someone who’s a long life rugby league fan, you’ve taught me a great deal in history lesson on NRL teams.
Great video
So Carolina copied Penriths moniker? No mention of that.
Quite a few sporting sides in the US with the Panthers moniker.
I recently discovered your channel and have been really enjoying the content, especially the Bay Area-centric videos! After watching this video, I’ve become an even bigger fan…GO BEARS!
Many thanks! I actually have some Northern California-focused stuff coming up in September that I'm excited about.
The NRL began first as the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) in 1908.
nswrl in 1908 and brl in 1909. One could say nrl started in 1909
@@DarrylSteele69 ig, but the two comps merged in 90s im pretty sure
@@mrcrankypants72 yes that's correct. Officially 1998. Arl was in 1995. Super league in 1997 along with the Arl.
My point to my comment was to achnowledge the brl because you can't have a nrl with one state playing the game as was written in an earlier comment. So when the game was being played in qld 1909, it could be said that was the unofficial beginnings of the nrl.
Fun Fact, the Parramatta Eels considered changing their Nickname at one stage to the Rams.
But would they have kept the blue and yellow color scheme?
@@thetouchbackprobably
@@thetouchbackParramatta was the original location for the Australian wool industry, so probably not a copy.
@@thetouchbackThere's an Australian Rules football team in the Riverina district town of Deniliquin called the Rams, and they have a blue and yellow colour scheme as well! They were founded in 1933.
Ok. So, St George Dragons merged with the team from Illawarra. What was the Illawarra team name? The Steelers. Look that one up!
There are honestly only so many options for a team that connotes the sort of rugged masculinity you want in a sports franchise. It's not like the NFL didn't lift almost all their names from college football, after all...
The coolest thing about this video for me was the Grant Balfour name drop, lol.
@TheTouchback Ever since from Day (1 One) of (1908) & onwards after that our Rugby League Football Code in Australia that we had American Names for our Rugby League Football Teams like (1 One) Newtown Jets, (2 Two) North Sydney Bears, (3 Three) Illawarra Steelers, (4 Four) Canberra Raiders, (5 Five) Brisbane Broncos, (6 Six) North Queensland Cowboys, (7 Seven) South Queensland Crushers, (8 Eight) Adelaide Rams, (9 Nine) St George Dragons (aka) The Saints, (10 Ten) Gold Coast Titans, (11 Eleven) Newcastle Knights, (12 Twelve) Brisbane Dolphins previously was known as the Redcliffe Dolphins, (13 Thirteen) Penrith Panthers of course.
Also, our Australian Rules Football Code also do have American Names for our Australian Rules Football Teams like (1 One) Brisbane Lions previously was known of both Names of Fitzroy Lions from Melbourne & Brisbane Bears from Brisbane, (2 Two) St Kilda Saints, (3 Three) GWS Greater Western Sydney Giants, (4 Four) Gold Coast Suns, (5 Five) West Coast Eagles, (6 Six) Fremantle Dockers, (7 Seven) Port Adelaide Power of course.
Also, in Great Britain there are British Rugby League Football Teams also do have American Names for their Rugby League Football Teams like (1 One) London Broncos, (2 Two) Dewsbury Rams, (3 Three) Bradford Bulls, (4 Four) Huddersfield Giants, (5 Five) Widnes Vikings, (6 Six) Swinton Lions, (7 Seven) Leigh Leopards of course.
The Broncos ripped their logo off the 90's Detroit Pistons logo. Should never have dropped their original logo imo.
Nice video, very well researched. There are 3 other examples to note...
1. North Sydney - Entered the competition nicknamed the Shoremen in 1908, and changed their name to the Bears in the early 60s in honor of a supermarket that sponsored the team. Similar logo to Chicago, but too common to be a ripoff. The team folded in 2002, but are trying to get back in some capacity.
2. Newtown - Entered the competition as the Bluebags in 1908, changed their name to the Jets in the 1970's due to their proximity to Sydney's main airport. Unlike the Bears, the Jets logo is borderline theft of New York. Absolutely stolen. The team folded in 1983.
3. Illawarra - Entered the competition in 1982 (with the Raiders) and were known as the Steelers in honor of the steel industry, which was and still is strong in the region. Their logo was a Gridiron player until they switched to a low fi version of Thor. Definitely stolen from the NFL. In 1999, they merged with the St. George Dragons to become the St. George-Illawarra Dragons and remain in the league to this day.
I have seen that Newtown Jets logo, at least the NSWRL version, and calling it borderline theft is a nice way of putting it. And that is interesting to here about the North Sydney Bears being named as an ode to a sponsor. Even more so given that the Green Bay Packers are the same.
Thanks for sharing this info. As someone still relatively new to the sport, I'm always learning something.
Illawarra Steelers wasn’t stolen we were called the Steelers cuz Illawarra is the steel city
@@JamesSant1 In chronological order it goes: Pittsburgh Steelers, Pohang Steelers, Illawarra Steelers. All have different connections to steel, although I still have no idea what the hell that Illawarra spaceman logo was supposed to be.
For your information. The Illawarra houses the largest Steelworks in the whole of the Southern hemisphere, therefore it has a large University dedicated to all those across the globe that may be studying engineering of sorts. It is a very large and bustling city of NSW.
Enjoyable, thank you
Then u look at other professional sports leagues in australia with the AFL having pretty much no teams being copied maybe a certain eagles side but other wise it’s purely Aussie names compared to nrl teams
I mean the San Francisco Giants would like a word with the GWS Giants. I believe GWS was even going to try and play a game in San Francisco at one point which seemed kind of odd. Or maybe brilliant since all the colors would match up if they played at Oracle Park.
I'd say Dolphins was NOT copied (goes back to Redcliffe in 1960's), but Raiders WAS copied (this was the general view in Australia in early 1980's).
Look up the old Newtown Jets team (still exist in 2nd tier), literally just the NY Jets logo but blue instead of green
Mate New York copied Newtown there they were founded in 1908 and the ny jets were founded in 1959
ya think!
Of course, no one would want to copy the Miami Seahawks of the AAFC (the more contemporary version of Seahawks to the Sea Eagles' beginnings)!
Just weird that the Canberra Raiders are the Raiders... but have Vikings lore all over them. Maybe they didn't want it to be TOO obvious that they borrowed the Minnesota traditions (especially since Canberra doesn't ever get truly cold. Their lowest average winter temperature is right around freezing)...
I don't think it is really an important subject and maybe a little pedantic but I guess no US team ever used or borrowed team names and ideas before , in the end who gives a shit.
So all QUEENSLAND teams are RIPOFFS. Interesting.🤔
especially titans..so generic..they could have got a really decent name
@@brentinnes5151actually it's only the dolphins eventhough they joined the NRL in 2023 they were formed in the1940s around 20 years before Miami
What a surprise Brisbane is now calling itself Bris Vegas - they never did have much imagination north of the border even ther clocks are an hour behind everyone else.
@@user-bi8wp6wy3l that too and we still can't beat them in Origin
i thing you need check the NRL that NRL teams was create in 1900- and 1980s that the NFL copy NRL
Nah mate you're spot on 😉
I'm an Aussie and I have always disliked the Americanized Logos in the NRL.
I'm also a Queenslander and I remember when the Broncos entered the Comp.
They had a few different names to choose from and Broncos would have been the last on the list for me.
So of course they chose it 😂
Brumbies would have been better being an Aussie thing and that was before the A.C.T was even thought of.
There is so many better Logos they could have gone with than the bloody Broncos 😂
So yeah I felt embarrassed for them going to America.
They're not unique !!!
I say no.
Ummm yeah
It's a good thing there no NRL 🏉 Team called the 49ers because there are no gold mining towns in Australia
Where do you get the idea their are no gold mining towns in Australia , really ?.
I mean Ballarat is the most famous but that’s never gonna happens another nrl team in Melbourne no one care about nrl btw im not taking a jab at the sport just stating
I can’t tell if you are trying to a) be funny, b) just wanting to get reactions from people replying to this message OR c)…You are not all there in the head…a bit special ! (You have a low IQ.) Mining towns are ALL OVER Australia. The mining industry is one of Australia’s biggest employers of more than 200,000 people !
I live in Glasgow. My team is Celtic. Same colours and almost identical badge as Boston Celtics. Four leaf clover and a shamrock. Celtic was founded in 1887 playing it's first game the following spring. 58 years earlier. Celtics say it is a coincidence??
Broncos it’s actually more common in Australia to call broncos brumbies why not just go with that
Also Penrith is up in the blue mountains where there is a myth that a circus went bust and let their panthers go up in the mountains
It’s an urban legend that they bred and still up there hunting roo
Also across the bay from red cliff is tangalooma where you can go and feed wild dolphins that show up to be feed every day by humans
Broncos couldn’t use brumbies because of a rugby team act brumbies
@@MrRugbyLeague act brumbies founded 1996
Broncos 1987
Also other possible names could have been used and still give them horse vibes Stallions or mustangs or colts or Clydesdale
They didn’t have to go the one for one rip job
@@carpetsnake83 I didn’t actually know that I thought brumbies made firsy
The cowboys are definitely stolen by the NRL especially since the word cowboy was a North American terminology and occupation
The beef industry is big in north Qld so I understand why they would use the name Cowboys but to be more Australian maybe something like Stockmen or Drovers would have been more appropriate.
Stole their rules as well. Stole finals systems from the Australian Football League too. Page-McIntyre Final 4, 5 & 8. NRL is not a pot of originality. And Gold Coast’s first logo was the Giants.
In fairness, that is the best playoff format and I would love for the NFL to use it.
@@thetouchback Yes. Teams with the best records make the finals in Australian sport, not by being geographically/divisionally lucky.
It’s a better finals system then the old stuff
lol you seriously getting mad about a finals system? Get a life bro, AFL sucks. That's pretty much all we needed from them.
@@Navigator_Isle No, just stating a fact. Aren’t you mature enough to handle that?
So what. Who cares.
Redcliffe Dolphins are older than Miami.
The team is older but not the Dolphins nickname which wasn't formally adopted by Redcliffe until after Miami's AFL franchise.
Redcliffe dolphins founded 1947. Miami dolphins 1966.
@@hudsonsled454 1968 - The club takes on the name that has made it famous across Queensland, Australia and now the globe - The Dolphins.
That is from the Dolphins' own history: www.dolphinsnrl.com.au/about/our-history/
@@thetouchback who in Australia even knew about the Miami Dolphins in the 1960's. Redcliffe Dolphins are named the Dophins for geographic reasons seeing as though Redcliffe is situated on a peninsula in Moreton Bay where you can find plenty of Dolphins.
@@BigBadAds9 Did you not watch the video? Because I say that it would be very unlikely for Redcliffe to name their team after an expansion side in America's second choice football league.