Australian national sports team nicknames

In Australia, the national representative team of many sports has a nickname, used informally when referring to the team in the media or in conversation. These nicknames are typically derived from well-known symbols of Australia. Often the nickname is combined with that of a commercial sponsor, such as the "Qantas Wallabies" or the "Telstra Dolphins". Some names are a portmanteau word with second element -roo, from kangaroo; such as "Olyroos" for the Olympic association football team.

The oldest nicknames are Kangaroos and Wallabies for the rugby league football and rugby union teams. The other names are more recent, mostly invented to help publicise sports not traditionally popular in Australia. Some journalists have criticised the practice as embarrassing, gimmicky, or PR-driven.

The name "Wallabies" was chosen by the 1908 rugby union side, making its first tour of the Northern Hemisphere.British newspapers had already nicknamed the 1905 New Zealand touring team the "All Blacks" from their kit colour; the 1906 South African tourists had adopted "Springboks". "Rabbits" was first suggested for Australia, but rejected since rabbits there are notorious as pests. Until the 1980s, only touring sides were "Wallabies"; players on the eight tours up to 1984 were "the First Wallabies" up to "the Eighth Wallabies".

The rugby league tour side arrived in Britain later in 1908 with a live kangaroo as mascot and were nicknamed "Kangaroos". "Kangaroos" originally referred only to teams on "Kangaroo Tours" to Britain and France. In 1994 the Australian Rugby League extended the nickname to all internationals for sponsorship reasons, drawing criticism for the break with tradition. The first such game was a 58–0 win over France at Parramatta Stadium on 6 July 1994.

...
Wikipedia