Us Aussies love to give out nicknames. The great Chautauqua, who has a race named after him running at Moonee Valley on Saturday (the 1200m Ladbrokes Chautauqua Stakes) was nicknamed the Grey Flash.
He was a grey horse, and he was super quick, so that makes sense…
Some are certainly more creative than others. This week, we are taking a look at some of the best nicknames across Australian sport.
Daniel Rich “Flavour”
This one is a bit obscure but one of our absolute favourites.
If you were an AFL fan back when Triple M Footy was run by James Brayshaw, Garry Lyon, and the late great Danny Frawley, you’ll agree that there wasn’t much better listening.
Their banter and on-air chemistry was second to none, and one of the absolute highlights for us were the nicknames that JB and the crew gave to their favourite players.
Enter Daniel Rich, who at the time was an up-and-coming prospect for our struggling Brisbane Lions, but the Triple M boys saw his potential and latched onto him as one of their favourites during commentary.
They labelled him “Daniel Rich Flavour”, or Flavour for short.
Why?
Because some of the commentators used to indulge in a “rich flavoured” cigarette in their youth. Classic.
Another honourable mention for the Triple M team was giving Jared Grant the nickname “Microphone Head”, because his hair looked awfully similar to a microphone. Funny stuff.
Chris “Anthems” Whitaker
It’s not often that someone who played 31 tests for their nation might feel hard done by.
Tell that to Chris Whitaker, who was the second-best scrum half in Australia for the best part of a decade.
He kept the bench nice and warm while our most capped Wallaby, George Gregan, was doing his best work carving up around the ruck.
That’s where the undeniable Australian wit came up with one of the greatest nicknames of all time; “Anthems”.
That’s because the only time Chris got to go on the field was when he was standing beside his teammates, singing the Australian national anthem.
Brilliant.
Mark “Junior” Waugh
Although he is only a few minutes younger than his brother Steve, the Australian cricket great was quickly known as Junior.
Probably a more savoury nickname than his other one.
When Mark was plundering runs for New South Wales at a State level, Steve was already making a name for himself in the Australian set-up across ODI’s and Tests.
At one stage, Mark had the most runs at a State level without ever representing his country.
This led to him being known as “Afghanistan” because he was the forgotten Waugh…
Stephen Silvagni and Shaun Marsh
One is a Carlton and AFL great, the other has played a stack of cricket for Australia.
What do they have in common?
Both have the nickname SOS.
Stephen is the son of another Carlton great, Serge.
Son of Serge – SOS.
Shaun is the son of Australian opener Geoff…so, SOG?
Nah, Geoff Marsh’s nickname for whatever reason was Swampy.
Therefore, Shaun is the son of Swampy, SOS.
Gotta love intergenerational nicknames.
Phar Lap
Had to include this Aussie icon.
With his reddish coat, Phar Lap went by many nicknames, but our favourite has to be “The Red Terror”.
He also went by “Big Red” or as his strapper affectionately referred to him, “Bobby”.
There’s a stack of others we haven’t mentioned. What are your favourites? Let us know on our socials below!
Written by,
Declan Jones & Dan Hutcheon
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