If you started a sports team, what would the colours and mascot be?
If I ever started a sports team, it would be something distinctively Australian. The Brolgas.
Not the loudest bird, not flashy, but unmistakable—tall, graceful, and somehow ancient. Our colours would be gum-leaf green and rust-red, like the Australian bush after rain: earthy, lived-in, and honest. The mascot wouldn’t be some cartoon bird with boxing gloves; it would be a brolga mid-dance, wings slightly spread, in that moment between elegance and readiness.
Because that’s the whole identity of the team: beautiful to watch, and strong when the moment calls for it.
Out in the wild, brolgas are social birds, famously monogamous, and known more for their year-round dancing than for aggression. But they do have a line they won’t let you cross. When threatened or defending their young, they’ll turn that grace into presence: wings out, heads high, posture sharpened. It’s not malice for its own sake; it’s clarity. A reminder that beauty and strength aren’t opposites. They dance with ceremony, and when needed, they stand with conviction—gentle by nature, assertive when necessary
On the surface, The Brolgas would look like a team built on footwork and finesse. But beneath that? Quiet resolve. Good instincts. A kind of competitive stillness that doesn’t rattle easily.
Sometimes the most beautiful thing on the field is also the one that stands its ground. That’s The Brolgas—and that’s the banner I’d run under.
The Afterword 
Leave a comment