{"id":590032,"date":"2026-08-20T01:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T01:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/590032\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T01:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T01:08:11","slug":"sydney-sirens-unveiled-as-new-super-netball-brand-in-shock-to-ice-hockey-team-of-same-name-super-netball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/590032\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney Sirens unveiled as new Super Netball brand \u2013 in shock to ice hockey team of same name | Super Netball"},"content":{"rendered":"

The relaunch of a Super Netball<\/a> club under the brand Sydney Sirens on Wednesday was hailed by many fans as a source of celebration, energising the sport as it soars towards its Australian centenary in 2027 and a World Cup in the city.<\/p>\n

The coral and teal of the logo reflect a modern palette, designed to attract today\u2019s generation of netball fans, and tomorrow\u2019s. The slogan is slick: \u201c…impossible to ignore\u201d, drawing on the Sirens\u2019 mythological origins.<\/p>\n

And investment in the club by its new owners brings excitement around the high hopes for Australia\u2019s best attended women\u2019s sport league.<\/p>\n

For some, however, the birth of netball\u2019s Sydney Sirens triggered other emotions. \u201cI just felt a little bit sick,\u201d says Dawn Watt, the president of Ice Hockey NSW.<\/p>\n

Watt was also the first coach of the Sydney Sirens \u2013 not the netball team, but the three-time champions of the Australian Women\u2019s Ice Hockey League, and also one of the inaugural members of the competition when it launched in 2007.<\/p>\n

Watt has a long history with ice hockey in New South Wales, including as first commissioner of the national league. In her current role, the corporate entity she chairs has legal responsibility for the Sydney Sirens of the ice.<\/p>\n

Her connections to the club, however, are more personal; she even designed the Sirens\u2019 first logo. \u201cThat name [Sydney Sirens] was suggested by a player at the time, and it just felt right, it has been in my heart for 20 years,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

So on Wednesday when the Sirens became Sydney\u2019s second netball team \u2013 alongside the NSW Swifts \u2013 there was little for Watt to celebrate. \u201cI felt a little bit sick that we might get pushed by [what is] obviously a larger entity, with maybe more connections and more followers, to change our name to something that doesn\u2019t match, or doesn\u2019t give that feeling of success and achievement when you finally make the Sirens,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Sydney Sirens players celebrate after beating Melbourne Ice at O\u2019Brien Icehouse. Photograph: SOPA Images\/LightRocket\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

She had an idea Wednesday\u2019s announcement was coming due to a trademark application<\/a> made with IP Australia for the \u201cSydney Sirens\u201d name two weeks ago, but says the owners of the netball club only reached out to her about the rebrand \u2013 from Giants Netball to Sydney Sirens \u2013 on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

The netball club is now owned by the Sports Entertainment Group (SEG), widely known by their media brand SEN, after taking on the licence of the soon-to-be-defunct Giants to go with their other Super Netball<\/a> franchise the Melbourne Mavericks. SEN declined to comment on Wednesday, but challenged Watt\u2019s assertion that their first communication with the ice hockey club was on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The broader SEN conglomerate is an Australian sporting success story, having grown its footprint in media, broadcast, production and more recently club ownership over its 20-year existence. The Melbourne company is now a huge presence in the sector, employing hundreds across the country, and especially in women\u2019s sport. In addition to two netball teams, the group owns two WNBL clubs and last week clinched the purchase of New Zealand\u2019s largest radio business Mediaworks for NZ$130m ($108m).<\/p>\n

Its Sydney Sirens launch, backed by the announcement that mid-courter Amy Sligar had signed a new three-year contract, featured posts across Facebook and Instagram. They were largely received positively, even if some netball fans might have preferred another moniker. But by lunchtime on Wednesday, dozens of users had responded to the posts by noting the Sirens name was already connected to a Sydney women\u2019s sport team.<\/p>\n

A comment was quickly appended to the team\u2019s announcement : \u201cSEG and the Sydney Sirens Super Netball team have been in ongoing dialogue with the Sydney Sirens Australian Women\u2019s Ice Hockey League team, with a plan to establish an ongoing relationship between the two organisations,\u201d it read.<\/p>\n

The Sirens have been born out of the demise of the Giants Netball franchise. Photograph: Dean Lewins\/AAP<\/p>\n

The decision to pursue the Sydney Sirens brand despite the presence of another team in the market reflected SEN\u2019s affection \u2013 and vision \u2013 for that specific name. Richard Simkiss, the chief executive of SEN Teams, was not available to speak on Wednesday, but in a written statement provided for the relaunch he said it is \u201ca powerful, distinctive and contemporary identity that reflects exactly what we want this club to become\u201d, and it could become \u201cone of the most recognisable and influential brands in Australian women\u2019s sport\u201d.<\/p>\n

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There are Sirens in other sports, such as the WNBA expansion side the Cleveland Sirens and NWHL outfit the New York Sirens. Nicknames are also often shared between clubs in different competitions, such as the Tigers of AFL\u2019s Richmond and the NRL\u2019s Wests.<\/p>\n

It is rare, however, to have two teams with both the same geographical identifier and symbol, a situation that harks back to a dispute between the AFL\u2019s Brisbane Lions and the club in association football that once had the same name, following the AFL\u2019s Fitzroy-Brisbane merger. The matter was settled and the football club became the Queensland Lions, and eventually became Brisbane\u2019s A-League club the Roar.<\/p>\n

Some have pointed out there are also other Sydney Sirens entities, like the women\u2019s five-time national champion dodgeball club. Others argue Wednesday\u2019s marketing effort by SEN has led to an increase in awareness in ice hockey\u2019s Sydney Sirens, so rather than detracting or diluting the presence of the established brand, it has enhanced it.<\/p>\n

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But Watt is struggling to see the bright side. Her organisation\u2019s intention is to lodge an opposition to SEN\u2019s trademark application, and she has already been speaking to a lawyer in preparation.<\/p>\n

A trademark dispute might last for years, but according to Dr Ben Hopper, lecturer at Melbourne Law School, the ice hockey team will not be disadvantaged for failing to trade mark its name when it was founded. \u201cThere are procedures and there are laws that are designed to protect the interests of the first users of the trademark,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As the Super Netball season is in the midst of the signings period, the ice hockey Sirens are holding try-outs on Sunday as they seek a fourth national title in a competition where players are self-funded but still passionate.<\/p>\n

To Watt, the legal bills are an unfortunate necessity. \u201cCould we exist together? Potentially. Collaboration, potentially. But first and foremost, our intention is to not lose that name. I would not be comfortable if we had to change the name in any way, shape or form,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of angst around it. To a lot of people, [the Sydney Sirens] means a lot of things, so I\u2019m uncertain if it being tied to a netball team is something that our fans, our sponsors \u2013 hundreds of thousands of dollars of sponsorship over the years \u2013 I\u2019m not sure how they would feel about that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The relaunch of a Super Netball club under the brand Sydney Sirens on Wednesday was hailed by many…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":590033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-590032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/590033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}