Tigers, Eagles or Cockle Divers - what makes up an Australian Rules football club's name?

Australia is a land of extremes. The nation mixes landscapes as diverse as desert flats, soaring mountain ranges, boundless plains and dense rainforest across its vast landmass.

The near-Antarctic frosts of the southern tip of Tasmania feel a world away from the tropics of Melville Island in the Northern Territory. But one thing seemingly draws the fabric of the country together more than anything else.

The Tigers.

Australia's most northerly team — from Imalu, on the Tiwi Islands — and one of its most southerly — from Kingborough in Tassie — both share the most common name of all.

The Tigers roam across the country, across its length and breadth. It's far from the only name to be a leitmotiv drawing together many communities and clubs.

Names like the Roos, Magpies, Panthers, Roosters and Blues pop up on signs next to ovals across the country. By contrast, a number of unique names only exist in one region, representing an industry or feature specific to that place.

A club's name provides an identity for towns and clubs to coalesce around. Beyond merely a mascot, a good name provides direction to those who pull on a guernsey or sit on the outer every weekend.

The ABC has analysed over 1,500 senior Aussie Rules clubs for patterns in how clubs have named themselves, and what they represent. Here's the lowdown on the humble football club name.

The first names

Picture the scene: a packed stadium with tens of thousands of fans screaming in support of the Blues. The team has led from the start, but now looks wobbly. At the final turn, Blues fans watch in horror as their rival takes the lead.

Before they know it, the Blues have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory once again.

But this isn't the MCG, and those fading Blues aren't Carlton. The year is about AD 500, and 150,000 chariot racing fans are packed into the hippodrome next to Justinian I's imperial palace. The Blues faced intense competition from the Greens, Whites and Reds on and off the track.

In old Constantinople, chariot team rivalries and their fans went beyond the bounds of sporting competition. The sides and supporters influenced politics and led to massacres, and threatened emperors. But the teams of the hippodrome were just one of the more vivid examples of how a team name has evolved to be more than just an on-field symbol.

Rather than a recent invention, the sporting nickname dates back thousands of years and a variety of different cultures. For example, Persian polo sides organised by military units or royal leaders, or city-state athletes in relay races at ancient Olympia. Some of the earliest forms of football had variants of teams such as the "Uppies" and the "Downies" in English villages for hundreds of years.

In the early days of Aussie Rules, club names were informal and fluid. Names could come and go quickly, until something more permanent stuck. Few early clubs have retained their first names.

Numerous past nicknames like the Mayblooms (Hawthorn) and Fuchsias (Melbourne) sound quite odd today, while few would associate Carlton with the Bulldogs. Almost all the teams of the old VFL have changed their name at least once, with the exception of Collingwood.

As a result, Richmond wasn't the first major club nicknamed the Tigers. That honour may possibly go to the first version of North Adelaide (the Victorians) in the SANFL. It's also worth noting that "the Tigers" is also the most common name for rugby league clubs in the country.

Some past nicknames have been revived for new purposes, like the invocation of the Bloods and Shinboners, to evoke perceived harder, tougher times of the past. Some lower-level clubs also have multiple nicknames — both officially and unofficially.

Modern names

If you're looking for what makes the most common footy team names these days, it's worth starting your search in the animal kingdom.

Animals are by far the main source of inspiration for Australian football teams. About two-thirds of clubs have an animal-themed name, with birds being the most common.

Australian native animals are strongly represented, with just over half of all animal names being native. There are familiar examples, such as the Kangaroos, found on the coat of arms, but also more unique beasts like the Mudlarks, Magpie Geese and Goannas.

If a club's name isn't an animal, chances are it's a name originating with an AFL club — such as the Bombers, Demons and Power. There's also representation for clubs named after SANFL or WAFL sides. For example, the Panthers (11th overall) are the most common moniker never to see official V/AFL action.

Beyond the Panthers (of South Adelaide SANFL fame), common names like the Roosters (North Adelaide), Sharks (East Fremantle) and Falcons (West Perth) feature at the top level in the SANFL or WAFL.

The Roosters have the distinction of being the most successful moniker in football. Ten of 25 Roosters clubs around the country have double-digit premierships, including Western Eyre's 34 and Whyalla's 29.

The most popular name never to feature in the big time is the Rams, with the most popular non-animal name the Jets. Both names have storied histories in other sports, both local and international, often the leaping point for nickname selection.

Names referencing types of people are notably rarer than in some other sports (think of the NRL with its Cowboys, Raiders, Steelers, Knights and Warriors).

Surprisingly, the Warriors are the most popular human-related name, pipping the Dockers. The Dockers are about the least common AFL club nickname amongst local clubs, with most of Australia not near a working dock, and most portside clubs predating Freo's creation.

Generally, most human-related team names are occupations (Vikings, Miners, Centurions), though there are many Rovers, some Mountain Men, and even the Buchan Cavemen, who break the vocational pattern.

Regional favourites

There are strong regional flavours to some names as well. For example, if you're watching the Robins play on the weekend, it means you're almost certainly in Tasmania.

There are also places where some names are less popular. The Northern Territory is the only place where Tigers don't reign supreme, with the Eagles topping the list. Perhaps reflecting the timing of a northern footy boom, both New South Wales and Queensland have several Power teams.

Following the current North Adelaide side, two-thirds of the Roosters are in South Australia. Even Victoria has its quirks, with about 80 per cent of Bears and Bloods hailing from the state.

Geographic concentration and frequency of certain names often mean teams will face off against others with the same name in the same league. Over a quarter of football leagues have two or more clubs with the same name. This happens often in multi-division competitions like the VAFA or Adelaide Football League, but other leagues face far more confined name competition.

The Spencer Gulf Football League has just six teams, but two Bulldogs — Port Pirie and South Augusta — sit in their ranks. That's been the case since 1961, with both clubs holding strong to their identities. Each Bulldogs side has 13 premierships apiece, more than any other club in their league.

Then there's the case of the Rhinos. Only three teams nationwide have the moniker of the rampaging beast, but two of them are in grade C5 (or 7th division) of the Perth Football League. The Rossmoyne and Forrestfield Rhinos have waged war over the past few years in one of the more unlikely double-ups around.

The unique ones

Rather than using common names, some clubs like to present a little differently, reflecting what their club means to players and communities. Many such names are derived from who they represent, such as the Old Brighton Tonners or the La Trobe Uni Trobers.

A handful are even more inventive, with one hotspot providing inspiration for some of the most creative club names across the nation.

South Australia's Southern Football League is rife with imaginative names such as the Norlunga Shoes, Reynella Wineflies, Ironbark Cherry Gardens Thunderers and Port Norlunga Cockle Divers.

One part of Australia, which is perhaps unfairly not known for creativity, is Canberra. The nation's capital marches to its own drumbeat and features the highest frequency of unique names of any state or territory. AFL Canberra features the Juggernauts, Hogs, Griffins and Tricolours — all names found nowhere else in the country.

Several unique names are amongst the nation's most successful. In Tasmania, the Irishtown Canaries have won 41 premierships in the north-west, while in Boulder, WA, the Mines Rovers Diorites (junior club of Eddie Betts) have claimed 44 flags.

Regardless of whether a name is as common as any of the Magpies or as adventurous as the Bridgewater Mean Machine, a club's name helps tie the place together.

Seeing the sign of a country footy club on the road into town can shine some light on the community itself, or may confirm that you are entering Tigerland yet again.

Click here to read article