The Dolphins have been officially unveiled as the 17th NRL team with a reported huge signing in Wayne Bennett as coach.
The Dolphins follow the Brisbane Broncos, Gold Coast Titans and North Queensland Cowboys as the latest Queensland side after the Australian Rugby League Commission approved the license.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald Wayne Bennett has agreed to terms to coach the Redcliffe-based side from 2023.
The report says that Bennett is likely to put pen to paper in the coming days just weeks after falling short of another premiership with the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
He would start his role from November 1 in order to start preparing the franchise for the NRL and building the roster with the already talked about wish list.
Meanwhile, there’s been anger about the team name with NRL CEO Andrew Abdo confirming that officials had agreed that the club would simply be known as the Dolphins – dropping the Redcliffe part to encourage the entire Moreton Bay region and Sunshine Coast to support the team.
While Redcliffe will continue to have teams in the lower ranks, the team name news was met with disbelief by some on social media.
In its bid process the club referenced the name issue and hinted that a name change could be possible:
Will the Dolphins NRL team be called the Redcliffe Dolphins and will they wear the same colours and jersey as the Redcliffe Dolphins QLD Cup team?
The new Dolphins NRL team will represent Brisbane and the whole of SEQ and be positioned as a second Brisbane team. The club intend to work with the community to look at what the club is to be named to take into account the Brisbane, Moreton Bay Sunshine Coast regions that the club will represent as part of the bid process. The team will represent not only, Brisbane, Moreton Bay and the Sunshine Coast but a larger SEQ region and be positioned as a national NRL brand.
The NRL team will NOT be called Redcliffe but the Redcliffe Dolphins will still and will always remain in the QCUP. The NRL team will have its football and administration operations based at the Redcliffe Headquarters which is just over 20mins from Brisbane airport and just over 30mins from the Brisbane CBD.
The Dolphins NRL team will keep the Red and White colours but will add an additional colour to the NRL team.
It’s also been confirmed that the Redcliffe-based side will play the majority of its matches at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
Moreton Daily Stadium in Redcliffe (Redcliffe Dolphins)
The Dolphins were successful over the rival bids of the Brisbane Firehawks and Brisbane Jets with the Redcliffe location 45 minutes out of Brisbane one of the reasons why they got the nod.
It was no secret that the club was the front-runner and it was leaked earlier this week that the team was going to get the nod.
It’s the first new club in the competition since the Titans joined in 2007.
Under the license granted by the ARL the Dolphins have agreed to invest $2 million per year into grassroots rugby league and women’s rugby league.
Due to the extra team the NRL will become a 26-round competition with each team playing 24 games with two byes each. That means there will now be 204 regular season games, up from 192.
“Today is an exciting moment in the history of our game. The NRL Telstra Premiership will expand to 17 teams in 2023 and on behalf of the Commission I would like to congratulate The Dolphins on being granted the 17th licence,”, ARLC Chairman Peter V’landys said.
“I would also like to acknowledge and thank the other bid teams for the work they put into their submissions. All 3 bids were of the highest calibre and highlight the strength of rugby league in Queensland.”
“Our priority as a Commission was firstly to ensure all 16 clubs came through the pandemic financially secure and we have achieved that.”
Mick Gold Coast QLD
Roar Guru
I do hope they find good administrative office people who can write a lucid letter with punctuation and stuff! :stoked:
Big Fish
Guest
Fantastic to have the Dolphins! Woo!! Surely then: 18 - Brisbane Jets, 19 - Perth Pirates (too many West Coast names), 20 - Second New Zealand side with strong Pacific connection. 21) Adelaide Rams 22) PNG Hunters 10 local games a year / 2 games in Cairns / with Cairns training base / PNG Gov to pay. Then 23 - Central Coast Bears (Meaning entire East Coast covered). 24 - Hawaii Volcanos (drawing players from all over the Pacific) Make it a 26 game comp. You play each team once, then 3 teams (derby teams) twice. Change the Grand-final rules so that every player in your squad gets a championship ring. Imagine the strength of International RL with: NZ Warriors; NZ 2 local / Pacific Combine; PNG; Hawaii Pacific Combine. Then 20 Australian teams. That's RL set for 100 years.
Stirling Coates
Editor
We'll have one up in due course.
Big Fish
Guest
Can we get a 'Dolphins' hyperlink up in the Roar > League > Clubs Links?
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
He probably fell asleep watching a game of AFL! :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Micko
Roar Rookie
That's ageist Roberto! :silly:
Marco
Guest
So after this, how many Thursday and Friday night TV matches won't "feature" Brisbane or Redcliffe? Let me guess. 0. More seasons of prime time showing of loser teams fighting it out for the wooden spoon. Yawn.
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
I'm like you . I'm bit so sick of these Americanised names. Let's call all teams by their traditional name like Eastern Suburbs, South Sydney and why not Redcliffe etc.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
"And we can add Roma as a dip to Artie Beetson" I only just learned that Artie played for the Redcliffe Dolphins. Wouldn't he be over the moon with this news? What a legend. :thumbup:
London Panther
Roar Rookie
I’m trying to think about how the draw looks. With 26 rounds and 24 games that means that there are a total of 34 byes for all teams. With an odd number of teams there is at least one bye a round, so that leaves an additional 8 byes to be had, presumably around state of origin. Do they mirror what we did this year, with half the top 10 getting a bye the week before SOO 1 and the second half around SOO3? Do they have a week off around SOO2 again (extending the season by a week?). If we return to a World Club Championship with the Premiers travelling to Europe, it makes sense for the Premiers to have the first week off. But is that fair on them (long season after having you bye first week and then another during Origin) and also the NRL will want the defending premiers playing the first week. And who gets a guaranteed two points in the final round? Positioning of the byes is going to become the next thing that fans complain about.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
I made a similar statement years ago re the "influence News and Foxtel had on the NRL" and they called my a lunatic in a tin foil hate. You make the same assertion today and you sound like Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein breaking Watergate, BD. I guess timing is everything. But the truth always comes out in the end. :stoked: :thumbup:
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
"I would imagine the NRL have every right to have a say in the name given they are the one’s issuing a license to play in their competition." Hang on... Andrew? Abdo? Of course you would! :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Then be consistent and don't discriminate leaving only one team at a commercial disadvantage in marketing their product. Take the geographic identifying name off ALL 16 clubs! Let's see how that goes for Abdo and Vlandy's. It will be like the closing scenes of Beauty and the Beast when the angry mob storm the fortress with torches and pitchforks! :laughing:
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
and apparently some third colour… I think it is a safe bet it will be gold. With enough local community and NRL supporter public outrage there is still a chance the NRL will buckle to public pressure (as they usually do) and relent on their Draconian position of denying the Dolphins a REAL name.
Bee bee
Guest
There will be more Qld teams in the future? There is a huge gap south west of Brisbane. Sunshine Coast. Central Qld. 3 clear and massive growth areas that just don’t affiliate with the 4 current Qld teams. 20 team comp by 2032.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Lol. Jeez that Zardoz was the most insane movie.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Mick, a word of advice… it’s a dangerous thing to learn your history from movies and advertising. They seldom get it right. We all make mistakes. In fact, I believe that’s what Sean Connery said after making “Zardoz” (1974), a movie he filmed in a red bikini and a wedding dress. (see link). https://www.zimbio.com/The+Greatest+Bad+Movies+Ever+Made/articles/wbEmKb2qt_x/Zardoz+1974 https://www.denofgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/11_3-2.jpg
Bee bee
Guest
Retro is cool. Some great nursing homes in the area too. Wayne will be in paradise. He will be the first coach to appoint an assistant in nursing instead of an assistant coach.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
“Do you mean King Richard?” :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :thumbup: Even the BWS ad shows the tale of King Arthur and the sword in the stone not joining the Crusades in the middle east 500 – 700 years after his reign! :laughing: If we need clarification perhaps we could ask Wayne Bennett? He was around then wasn’t he? :laughing:
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
That's better than their current name but it might open a can of worms respecting one Indigenous language and area over another. Shouldn't the others feel hard done by? I think the Rabbitohs are certainly an example of a club that shows how you can respect and support your local indigenous community without having to include the areas original custodians in the name of the club. But that is just my thoughts. Others might have a different opinion.