The Brisbane Bombers. At this point they're nothing more than a consortium and a 30-second promo featuring some of Queensland's worst actors.

But this would-be NRL team has already created publicity for itself and enflamed a large, passionate group of supporters in Melbourne who've been following a team called the Bombers for more than 130 years. I'm talking, of course, about Essendon, whose fans were instantly aggrieved at the thought of a rugby league team pinching their name.

Windy Hill CEO Ian Robson wasted no time calling in the lawyers to see if there were grounds for a complaint, but whether or not another Australian professional sporting club can legally call itself the Bombers is actually a secondary argument as far as I'm concerned. The more pertinent discussion is whether they should.

See, I believe the nickname Bombers is an anachronism and more to the point, borders on the offensive in this day and age. To call a brand new Australian professional sports team the Bombers is not only the epitome of anti-creativity, it's insulting.

The name Bombers no longer represents what was seen as (right or wrong) a positive, Western view of the brave, patriotic men who defended the world from the evil during World War II.

These days, the word "bomber" has a far more insidious meaning, whether it's terrorists striking in Mumbai, the Americans pounding Iraq or - closer to home - the horrific Bali bombings that destroyed so many lives.

The world has also become more sensitive to these things. The NBA's Washington Bullets, for example, morphed into the Wizards when they realised that the high crime rate in the nation's capital showed their nickname in a negative light.

The Brisbane Bombers' brain trust said they put it to their fans, who, along with Bombers, offered suggestions like Barracudas, Bayliners and Braves. Bombers, apparently, was the one that "market research" showed was most apt. Ah yes, market research. That wonderful thing that brought us the Toronto Raptors and Minnesota Wild.

I wonder what sort of market research would have advised a prospective NRL team to name itself after an iconic Aussie Rules club? It seems to me that common sense would be a more apt road to travel when attempting to create a new nickname.

The AFL's two newest names - Suns and Giants - while co-opted from American teams, certainly illustrate that there are plenty of suitable options out there. Melbourne Heart, while not exactly a powerful, ballsy nickname, does show outside-the-square thinking.

Brisbane Bombers? Not original, not creative and not appropriate.

(Author's note: 1. Let me stress that I am not including Essendon's use of the nickname in this discussion. Consider it "grandfathered." The club has been around since 1872 and didn't use the "Bomber" moniker until the Second World War; 2. I am certainly not forgetting the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.)