Mr Canterbury

Last week on Foxtel I saw a bit of the Sydney Swans versus Western Bulldogs game. I was surprised when I noticed that the Western Bulldogs club STILL has “BALLARAT” on the players’ shorts! Apparently (according to a Google search I did) the club has had “BALLARAT” on the players’ shorts since 2016! I guess that AFL people think that this is normal because it has been the status quo for so long. To use an analogy all I can say is that I would find it bizarre if my NRL club Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (which represents a large chunk of south-western Sydney) had on their players’ shorts the name of a NSW regional city like “DUBBO” or “GOULBURN”! There surely MUST be some people who think the Western Bulldogs club comes from Ballarat in regional Victoria (particularly in “non-AFL” Australian cities like Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Newcastle etc) because of the “BALLARAT” on the players’ shorts (although I think this would be only a small fraction of the number of people who think that the Western Bulldogs come from Western Australia).

What is it about clubs with West and Western in their name and ambiguous/meaningless identities in Australian sport? We have of course Western Bulldogs AFL club of which much has been said about their identity problems on this forum.

Then there is the recently formed A league soccer club Western United (started playing in 2019). For the first 2 years or so of their existence I thought they were from Perth (Western Australia) until I was made aware that they (like Western Bulldogs AFL club) apparently represent western Melbourne!

We have the defunct ARL club (the ARL is the predecessor of the NRL) Western Reds and the Rugby Union side Western Force. At least these 2 clubs come from Western Australia (Perth).

There is the West Coast Eagles AFL club. OK at least they are based in Western Australia. But they occupy only a small fraction of Australia’s 3000 km west coast (Cape Leeuwin to Cape Leveque). As I understand it West Coast and Fremantle AFL clubs are divided by the Swan river in Perth (with West Coast north of the Swan river) so West Coast Eagles would have only northern Perth beachside suburbs like Cottesloe and Scarborough as actual west coast. Maybe it is just me (or my non-AFL background) but when I hear “West Coast Eagles” what first comes to mind for me is California beaches (eg Malibu and Venice Beach), the rock band The Eagles (who were formed in Los Angeles in 1971 and whose style of music is often described as “West Coast”) and The Eagles’ classic 1977 song Hotel California! I am sure I am not the only Sydneysider who thinks this way! If a worldwide opinion poll were done of “where does the sporting team West Coast Eagles come from” (and no mention of giveaway clues like “AFL club” in the question) I am certain the vast majority of people would say California!

Lastly we have the Wests Tigers NRL club (arguably the most meaningless club in Australian sport). I wonder how many “NRL ignorant Melbournians” think that Wests Tigers come from Western Australia? IMO the answer to this question is “probably about the same as the number of AFL ignorant Sydneysiders who think that the Western Bulldogs come from Western Australia”!

Have I missed any West/Western clubs in Australian sport with an ambiguous/meaningless identity? Let me know (I have a feeling I have overlooked at least one West/Western sporting club in this category)!