NSWRL drops women’s Origin name amid legal threats from Sydney FC

Ahead of Thursday night’s women’s Origin opener, the NSW team’s moniker ‘Sky Blues’ has been dropped after threats of legal action were made by the A-League’s most successful club, who go by the same nickname.

NSWRL has been forced to drop the name Sky Blues for their women’s State of Origin side after threats of legal action were made by A-League’s most successful club Sydney FC, who go by the same nickname.

Ahead of Thursday night’s series opener at Suncorp Stadium, the former moniker ‘Sky Blues’ has been dropped from all official NSWRL communications as well as the team’s social media channels.

However, the changes weren’t made in time to make cut off dates for new kits for this year’s series, which were submitted back in November.

The NSW game day jerseys and training kits for staff and players still have the former logo including the words ‘Sky Blues’ in the crest, which will be worn on Thursday night.

The NSW women’s team will no longer refer to themselves as the ‘Sky Blues’. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

The official change on social media channels and communications was made earlier this year after NSWRL relented to ongoing requests from Sydney FC, despite the difference in sporting codes and teams.

The A-League giant claims the trademarked moniker ‘Sky Blues’ is a part of the club’s intellectual property and branding of their men’s, women’s and academy teams, as well as a recognisable part of their club culture and fan songs.

It was officially trademarked as the team’s nickname a decade ago.

Sydney FC’s legal attempts to protect their brand escalated in February and to avoid any further action NSWRL bosses opted for an official shift for their representative side to be known as the NSW Blues women instead.

The new name aligns branding with the men’s team, known as the NSW Blues, as well as the Queensland Maroons women’s team.

Jasmine Peters is in line for a Queensland debut. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

It comes ahead of Thursday night’s series opener which is expected to attract a crowd bigger than last year’s 25,492 to kick off Magic Round.

The new-look NSW Blues arrived in camp in Brisbane on Saturday, and will train at Ballymore Oval on Monday as they plan to avenge back-to-back series losses.

Coach John Strange has named a brand new 20-person team, including untested halves combination Tiana Penitani and Jesse Southwell, rookie fullback Abbi Church and fellow debutants Jayme Fressard, Ellie Johnston and Jocelyn Kelleher.

Originally published as NSWRL drops women’s Origin name amid legal threats from Sydney FC