The mighty Hawthorn Hawks used to be called the not-very-scary Mayblooms. In this extract from his new book, Kevin Sheedy's Bomber Jacket, GLEN HUMPHRIES recalls how every team in the AFL got its mascot.
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Today, footy teams all have an official mascot or emblem. For the older sides, their mascot was often a nickname given by the barracking spectators in the crowd or the newspapers only to have the club later adopt it.
The newer teams conducted contests and polls where fans were given a choice of what they wanted their team to be called, though that was no guarantee the club would listen.
Sometimes the names would change over the years, because as time marched on the clubs realised they no longer worked.
Here's how each club ended up with their current team name.
Adelaide Crows: the South Australian side wanted to be known as the Sharks, but the name was unavailable due to copyright issues. They then decided on the Rams, while other American team names Giants and Falcons were also considered. When the AFL knocked back Rams the board chose the Crows, possibly because of South Australians being known as crow eaters.
Brisbane Lions: this side is a combination of the Fitzroy Lions and Brisbane Bears after the former went into administration in 1996; mergers with Footscray and North Melbourne had also been floated in previous seasons. The Fitzroy side gets the prize for one of the best mascots ever. In the early years they were known as the Maroons due to the colour of their jerseys, but in the late 1930s the club decided they needed something tougher - and so entered the awesomely named Fitzroy Gorillas. In a head-scratching decision, although one that may have been prompted by rival supporters making fun of the name, club officials decided it needed an animal that was really scary so Fitzroy lost the Gorillas tag to become the much less fun Lions.
The Brisbane Bears' story is nowhere near as good. When they entered the VFL in 1987 their emblem was a koala, which many, many, many people have pointed out isn't actually a bear at all. 'Our Brisbane bear will be cuddly when it suits and angry when it is necessary,' the club said in a media release, convincing no one. As soon as they took over Fitzroy's AFL licence they very quickly jettisoned the Bear for the Lion, which perhaps suggests they also thought little of the koala.
Carlton Blues: the Carlton club has probably the oldest name in the AFL, with it stemming from a change to navy blue jerseys in 1871 or 1875; reports differ. While they've long been known as the Blues the name Bluebaggers, sometimes shortened to Baggers, had been a colloquial nickname for a time.
Collingwood Magpies: some match reports of the early 1900s refer to Collingwood as the 'Woodsmen', derived from the last four words of the suburb's name, but the black and white colours the club has long sported meant the Magpies name was a no-brainer.
Essendon Bombers: Essendon was one of the seven clubs to move away from the VFA to start up the VFL in 1897. Given that predates the invention of manned flight by six years, the club obviously wasn't known as the Bombers back then. They started out being known as the Same Olds before someone chose the odd option of abbreviating the back half of their name, and so they became the Dons.
There is an urban legend that says that due to the club's black jersey with its diagonal red slash looking similar to the Swans' white with the same slash the South's nickname was also appropriated. The Swans were the Blood-stained Angels, so the legend has it that Essendon were the Blood-stained N word. However, there doesn't appear to be any contemporary news reports that use that name, and not due to a reluctance to print the N word as papers of the early 1900s had no qualms about using that word.
The Bomber name came into being during World War II because of the home ground's proximity to Essendon Airport, where Beaufort Bombers were built and repaired. In 2023 the club carried out some ill-advised market research to find out if a wartime logo was still the best way to represent Essendon. Unsurprisingly, the idea of even considering changing the name was not greeted warmly by fans. In a letter to fans posted on the Bombers' website, club president Dave Barham tried to hose down the controversy: 'There is no immediate action to change the club logo or any elements of the club brand. We will always be called the Bombers.' This raised the question: what the hell was the market research about, then?
Fremantle Dockers: the second Western Australian side to enter the AFL, the Dockers joined the comp in 1994. The name the Dockers reflected Fremantle's history as a port city but it was also the source of a long-running legal dispute with Levi Strauss, which made a brand of pants called Dockers. As part of an agreement the club couldn't officially be referred to as the Dockers but Fremantle Dockers was okay, as was Fremantle and Freo, but not the word 'Dockers' on its own. You'd have thought Levi Strauss would have loved the free advertising for their pants that people had already stopped buying by this stage. Eventually the pants maker relented and the Dockers name was free to be used.
Geelong Cats: when it comes to club names, Geelong was once saddled with one of the worst. Initially called the Seagulls by the fans, some bright spark decided they should be known by the truly awful name of the Pivotonians. It apparently was a reference to the city being a pivot point for the state's rail and shipping. By 1923 a better option surfaced: legend has it that a black cat followed the team onto the ground and they played well. A Herald cartoonist by the name of Sam Wells played up the black cat story, suggesting the mascot could give them good luck - and so it did, so from there the name Cats gradually became synonymous with the club.
Gold Coast Suns: the Suns was nobody's first choice as a team name - well, no one except seemingly the AFL. Queensland team the Southport Sharks was involved in the bid for a Gold Coast AFL club, and the AFL said 'Yes' to their money but 'No' to the Sharks name. The league then ruled out the Dolphins and the Pirates, which had polled highly with AFL fans, and when the name went out to a public vote and the public liked the Marlins or the Stingrays the league said 'No'. It seemed the league had already picked a name: the Suns. In a less than inspiring attempt to promote the name in 2010, club chair John Witheriff said on the Suns' website: 'The sun is bold, it's fresh, it's dependable and it's relentless. It can also be fierce and uncompromising - what other AFL teams will learn to respect about the Gold Coast Suns.' Nope, not buying it.
Greater Western Sydney Giants: these days there is little romanticism in team names, with no chance for them to evolve organically. Instead, they need a name from day one, and that opens the door to market research - which so often gets it all wrong.
Entering the AFL in the 2012 season, there was a six-month campaign to work out GWS' name that which included online feedback and newspaper polls. They were left with more than 20,000 suggestions, though presumably they weren't all different names. The options, which included Rangers, Pioneers, Stallions and Wolves, went before focus groups to decide the winner. As club CEO Dale Holmes said on the AFL NSW website: 'We realised that if we wanted to capture the hearts and minds of the people of Greater Western Sydney we needed to have a bold and ambitious name.' Nevertheless, they went with the bland, American-sounding name of Giants.
Hawthorn Hawks: from the Victorian Football Association years Hawthorn was known by the not very scary at all name Mayblooms. The origins of the name are in dispute, but one suggestion is that it stems from the alternate name for the hawthorn bush with its yellow fruit and brown foliage: it is also known as the May bush and its flowers are called Mayblooms. It prompted the joke among rival fans that the club, like the flowers on the bush, bloomed in May but faded as the year wore on. In 1943 the club opted for the much tougher moniker of the Hawks at the behest of coach Roy Cazaly.
Melbourne Demons: initially known variously as the Invincible Whites and the Redlegs, the Demons soon became known by the definitely not fear-inducing name of the Fuchsias. This was because their jersey colours apparently resembled that of the fuchsia bush, although they actually don't. It wasn't until Frank Hughes signed on as coach in 1933 that the Demons tag came to the fore. According to the story he blasted the players during a break in play, telling them that they were playing like a lot of flowers and to lift their heads and play like demons. For a short period in the late 1930s they were also known as the Red Demons, before the colour reference was dropped.
North Melbourne Kangaroos: the unofficial nickname for the club was long the Shinboners, either a reference to the butchers and abattoirs in the area or the players' liking of kicking opponents in the shins. The Kangaroo tag was formally adopted for the 1950 season, though the tough nature implied by the Shinboners name saw it return in recent years. In the 1920s the club was briefly known as the Blue Birds, but they understandably ditched that pretty quickly.
Port Adelaide Power: in the South Australian competition the Port Adelaide side were known as the Magpies. When the top side moved into the AFL for the 1997 season the Magpie name was already taken, so something new was needed. Names such as Black Diamonds, Pirates, Sharks and Mariners were bandied about. Club president Greg Boulton said in 1997 that they didn't want another animal mascot but rather 'we wanted it to reflect our on-field, hard-hitting desire'. Power it was, and it had the neat alliterative option of calling the team Port Power.
Richmond Tigers: the name of the Tigers had been around the club for ages, back to the late 1800s, when they adopted a black and yellow-striped jersey that resembled the animal. The jersey colours also gave birth to the nickname the Wasps, and while it didn't last long it was better than the other name they had been called: the Richmonites. The Tiger name was effectively locked in thanks to a supporter in 1918 who couldn't afford the price of a ticket and apparently climbed a tree outside Punt Road Oval to watch. During the game he cheered them on, saying 'Eat 'em alive, Tigers!'
St Kilda Saints: due to the suburb's closeness to the water St Kilda spent an early stint as the Seagulls. In 1945 they joined the line to adopt a scary mascot and became the Panthers, but throughout the club's existence they were known as the Saints, a name that outlasted all the others.
Sydney Swans: the Swans were originally based in South Melbourne but the board had concerns about its future, so in 1982 they packed up and moved to Sydney, taking their colours and mascot with them. Due to the red and white colours on their jersey the club became known as the Bloods and the Blood-stained Angels; it's possible the latter was shortened to the former. The Swan story is that in 1933 journalist Hec de Lacy jokingly referred to the side as the Swans because of the number of Western Australian recruits; the swan is a symbol of Western Australia. While it's hard to find any newspaper report confirming that, the club has adopted it as part of its history.
Tasmania Devils: the obvious choice for the Tasmanian side was the Devils, though Swifts and Penguins were reportedly in the mix, but Warner Bros and their copyright of the Tasmanian Devil cartoon character stood in the way. 'When it got to the point of them understanding the Tasmanian devil was actually a real animal, things freed up,' chair Grant O'Brien told InDaily. 'They understood why we were so keen to have our own animal represent the team.'
West Coast Eagles: founded in 1986, the Eagle nickname refers to the wedge-tailed eagle: the largest bird of prey in Australia, which has been known to attack kangaroos. The story goes that the nickname was chosen because as a side based on the western side of the country there would be a lot of flying involved to matches.
Western Bulldogs: while playing in the Victorian Football Association the western club was known as the Scray (the club was originally known as Footscray) or the Tricolours. There were also some more colourful names floating around in the early years: Saltwater Lads, Men from the Land of Boulders and Representatives of Stoneapolis. By the time the club joined the VFL the Bulldogs name was already there. According to legend, in 1920 club president David Mitchell was presented with a red, white and blue flag with 'Bulldog tenacity' written on it, which was potentially a link to the British Bulldog given the club colours were the same as the Union Jack. Two years later a bulldog was being stamped on members' tickets, and in 1928 the team came onto the field with the first of many bulldogs that have served as the team's mascot.
In late 1996 the club dropped the Footscray name and rebranded itself as the Western Bulldogs to market themselves to all of Melbourne's western suburbs.
- This is an extract from Kevin Sheedy's Bomber Jacket by Glen Humphries (Gelding Street Press, $29.99).
