Sydney Sirens Name Clash: New Netball Owners Trademark a Name Already Taken — by an Ice Hockey Team
Super Netball's newest Sydney franchise has not yet named itself, but its preferred brand is already attached to a women's ice hockey club that has worn it for two decades.
Sports Entertainment Network (SEN), led by chief executive Craig Hutchison, acquired the Giants' Super Netball licence in early August 2026. Four days before that announcement, SEN's New South Wales entity lodged a trademark application for "Sydney Sirens" — a name that belongs to a fully amateur, self-funded women's ice hockey team founded in 2005 The Guardian.
The application is now under consideration by IP Australia, the country's intellectual property regulator. A trademark filing does not guarantee the name will be used. SEN declined to confirm the team's identity, saying it was exploring a range of options for the name and brand.
The existing Sydney Sirens compete in the Australian Women's Ice Hockey League (AWIHL), the highest level of women's ice hockey in Australia. Ice Hockey NSW describes the club as a powerhouse of that league. The Sirens have won three AWIHL championships, including the 2010-11 title, and wear red, black and yellow Wikipedia Elite Prospects. Sarah Edney is the club's captain; Natalie Caruso is the team manager.
The contrast between the two organisations is stark. The ice hockey Sirens operate without major sponsorship or financial backing, unlike the men's teams in the Australian Ice Hockey League. SEN, meanwhile, owns the Bendigo Spirit and Perth Lynx in the WNBL (Australia's women's basketball league) and the Melbourne Mavericks in Super Netball, and completed the sale of NBL team Perth Wildcats earlier in 2026 at a $40 million valuation.
Adding a wrinkle, the owner of the domains sydneysirens.com and sydneysirens.com.au — an ice hockey community member and coach linked to the team — received notification of interest in acquiring the web addresses. SEN's spokesperson said no one representing its stablemate Sports Entertainment Group had contacted the Sirens club about purchasing a domain.
The name "Sirens" is not unique to Sydney. The New York Sirens play in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), North America's top-flight women's hockey competition PWHL. The Guardian noted that renewed cultural interest in the mythical Sirens followed Emily Wilson's translation of Homer's The Odyssey, which reframed them as cognitively tempting bird-women offering knowledge rather than simply luring sailors to their doom.
For netball fans, the immediate question is straightforward: what will Sydney's rebranded Super Netball team be called when the 2027 season opens? SEN already operates the Melbourne Mavericks under the same competition umbrella, so a second distinctive Sydney identity makes commercial sense. Whether "Sirens" survives the trademark process — or the court of public opinion among ice hockey loyalists — is a separate matter.
The Giants licence move reshapes the Sydney netball landscape regardless of the final name. Super Netball (Australia's premier domestic netball competition, featuring eight clubs) gains a new ownership group with deep sports-media holdings, while the league waits to see how the branding resolves.
One club has built twenty years of history under the Sirens banner. Another is still deciding whether to borrow it.
