They've got the NRL licence, they've got the GOAT as coach, all "the Dolphins" need now is a theme song.
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This column can exclusively reveal that the shortlist has been whittled down to two: That's in Queensland by Denis Carnahan, and Horse with no Name by America (a band formed in London).
It's utterly ironic that, of the three bids competing to be the long-awaited second Brisbane team, the one without 'Brisbane' in its name got the nod. In fact the NRL stipulated it be the case.
No doubt all three bids - Dolphins, Firehawks and that other one - made compelling cases. You just wonder why dropping 'Redcliffe' was such a necessity.
Our first thought was the game simply can't afford to have an NRL team with a vague name, multiple training bases and four home grounds 86 kilometres apart.
We've already got one, and it just paid branding and marketing people God know's how much to 'change' its logo and somehow keep it the same.
Fans in the Illawarra region will be well aware of how that whole name thing goes.
The NBL infamously made dropping 'Illawarra' from the name of its only foundation franchise a condition of granting ownership to a new consortium ahead of last season.
It was a monumental misstep that's thankfully been corrected, due in no small part to a campaign from this masthead and the efforts of Illawarra president Dorry Kordahi and coach Brian Goorjian.
It doesn't warrant wholesale rehashing in this column but there are similarities in the two situations. There are also stark differences.
The NBL was stripping its only foundation club of its identity and blaming its fans for doing so, despite having sat back and let it burn down on its watch.
The level of insult was substantially higher for the Hawks faithful, though there will no doubt be some devotees, if not of Redcliffe but of the Moreton Bay region, who take the NRL's call as a similar slap in the face.
There are perhaps more striking similarities to what we witnessed down the Gong through the A-League expansion process.
Our two-time NSL champion Wollongong Wolves were left competing with 'Southern Expansion'. It had heavy hitters galore, cash and all the rest, but couldn't answer the fundamental question of where they actually came from.
The A-League provided the answer - nowhere.
Unlike Southern Expansion, the Dolphins have got the nod, but the franchise now faces many of the same issues - chiefly trying to be all things to all people only to end up nothing to no one.
Just as the NBL wanted The Hawks to be a team for "all of NSW," the NRL seemingly wants The Dolphins to have limitless geographical reach.
The simple question remains though, is dropping 'Redcliffe' going to make fans in Queensland any more or less likely to support a new team?
The answer is no, for the same reason dropping Illawarra wasn't going to see Canberrans or Novocastrians suddenly flocking to buy Hawks memberships.
Redcliffe or not, the new franchise will struggle to convert the many Melbourne fans who reside on the Sunshine Coast given how the Storm has made it a development catchment and second home.
It's evidence of the fact that fanbases judge clubs on material and ongoing commitment to their area, not deliberately vague appeals to broad proximity.
South Sydney plays all its home games at ANZ Stadium, while the largest chunk of its membership is based in Western Sydney. Redfern is still home though.
Penrith boasts the largest junior nursery in the world, yet it has stretched its reach to Western NSW with Bathurst as its base.
In the AFL, Hawthorn have made Tasmania a second home because it kept going back. It now has 10,000 members in that state.
They did not have to become 'the Rabbitohs', 'the Panthers' or 'the Hawks' to do it. They did need a firm starting place and identity.
Likewise the Brisbane Lions club isn't basing its offensive on the 'western corridor' we heard so much about on semantics.
It's a difficult one because it's hard to say what is really in a name. The Vodafone Warriors dropped 'New Zealand' from theirs and no one even noticed.
For whatever reason, we know you can refer to Brisbane, Melbourne, Manly or Cronulla, but you can never call the Roosters 'Sydney'.
For the same reason, we all know you can call Wagga Wagga 'Wagga', but you can't call Woy Woy 'Woy'.
We'll have to wait and see on the name, but the new franchise will really be judged on how it meets all the criteria and challenges outlined above.
For now, as far as the NRL's concerned, Dolphins is the same place as Hornsby, Minto and Bowraville - simply 'in Queensland'.
The riskier prospect is that the Broncos' Brisbane rival becomes like that great London band called America; riding through the desert on a horse with no name.
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