THE Central Coast Crusaders basketball club have sought legal advice to protect their name from being taken by the rugby league team formed last week between the Country Rugby League and Newcastle Knights.
The Crusaders, the senior arm of Gosford City Basketball who play out of Bridgecoast Stadium at Terrigal, have drawn their swords since the CRL and Knights announced last Tuesday that rugby league teams with the same name would play in the NSW Cup and NSWRL junior representative competitions next year.
Gosford City Basketball Sports Stadium general manager and Crusaders committee member Chris Ohlback said his club's name was registered three years ago and the clash could have been avoided if the CRL and Knights "had done their due diligence and researched it".
"Even something as simple as 'Googling' Central Coast Crusaders, they would have seen that our name was well and truly established in the marketplace," Ohlback said.
"If they're linked with the Newcastle Knights, then call them the Central Coast Knights. When they were linked with Melbourne Storm, they were called Central Coast Storm. From an outsider looking in, that would seem a logical thing to do.
"We would like to work this out amicably, but when I rang the Country Rugby League they were dismissive and said both could exist, so we said we'd seek legal advice and go from there, but we don't want it to be a war of words.
"We don't want it to be rugby league versus basketball . . . but I don't think it's that difficult to come up with your own brand, your own name. Why copy someone else's?"
The Crusaders fielded five teams in the Basketball NSW State League men's and women's and Youth League men's (division one and two) and women's competitions this year, winning the State League women's and Youth League men's titles.
CRL chief executive Terry Quinn said the basketball and league teams could co-exist but there had been no communication with the basketball club since last Tuesday.
He said the basketball club formally lodged their name with the Department of Fair Trading on Thursday "and we've put our name in as well, so we're waiting for the outcome".
"If the Department of Fair Trading say we can't do it, we can't do it, but at this stage we've got an application lodged so we'll see what happens," he said.
"It's the same with the Bulldogs in the AFL, the Bulldogs in the NRL, the Bulldogs in Kurri Kurri; there are Bulldogs all over Australia.
"I don't think it's going to hurt them in any way.
"It will probably give them a bit more publicity if anything else . . . at this stage, we don't think that we've done anything incorrect. We're not trying to undermine the basketball by any means."
Ohlback said the same names would "create confusion in the marketplace, because we're a relatively small community".
"It's totally different to the Bulldogs in the NRL and AFL because they're operating out of two different states," he said.
Knights chief executive Steve Burraston said his club was being advised by the CRL "but we're happy to work with the basketball club and hopefully come up with an amicable solution".
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