Goulburn Valley Giants coach Steven Tate (left) with players Jason Kelly, Jason Aspland, Nick Scali and Cam McGregor are ready to rip into the new season.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
A not-so-sleepy giant is about to awaken for another fun-fuelled season on the park.
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Goulburn Valley Giants, the region’s most unique football side, is sounding the klaxons ahead of the 2025 AFL Masters over-35 campaign.
The Giants have been a force on the field since their 2016 debut, giving retired or older-aged footballers a chance to relive former glory, or even give newbies a shot at joining a sporting community, in a safe yet competitively friendly environment.
Points aren’t tracked — and neither are wonky kicks — but what is certainly quantifiable are the good vibes emanating around Kialla Park Reserve at training and on game day.
Organiser David Davis said while numbers were healthy, the gates were always open for men aged over 35 looking to stay active in a positive mental health atmosphere.
“It’s been pretty good numbers, I think we’ve been averaging around 22-28 people at training since we started,” he said.
“From what I’ve seen, I don’t think we’ve lost any players and a few new faces have shown up and a few have come back after a bit of time away.
“I suppose it gives a bit of perspective and fun in football.
“Those who’ve retired, you get that little itch — you anticipate that you think your body wants to go at 100 per cent, but the realisation now is that you’re only going at 75 or 80.
“Realistically in our comp, that’s brilliant.”
Davis is one of two players to have stuck fat with the Giants since their inception alongside Rob Hearn and has witnessed the morphing masters landscape throughout that time.
Yarrawonga and Macorna have recently joined the country Victoria ranks to offer some closer competition, geographically speaking, to the Goulburn Valley boys.
The Giants have picked up some players from Benalla’s masters that have gone on a year-long hiatus in an attempt to build back up for 2026, while next season the Giants have a goal of their own to launch an over-45 side to complement the over-35s.
It’s all looking north for the boys based in south Shepparton and leading the charge is coach Steven Tate.
Goulburn Valley Giants put an emphasis on enjoyment and positive mental health through their program.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
A seasoned footballer and cricketer, Tate said Giants’ training was less time trials and bleep tests and more about sharpening the skills and wits.
“The main thing is about getting off the couch and coming down,” he said.
“You can start as slow or as fast as you want, but what we’ve really tried to do is make sure there’s a spot for everybody.
“We’ve got guys who’ve played over 350 games of football and we’ve also got guys who’ve played 10 games — and that’s because they’ve played those games with us.
“Everyone at the club has their own little spot that they fit into and everyone’s welcome — that’s what I’m really proud of, is no matter what the background or experience or confidence level is, everyone gets to have a fair go at all times.”
April 6 is marked as the Giants’ season opener away against Bendigo, with Tate and Davis hoping to see a strong turnout in orange for round one.
However, there’s one point the latter wants to drive home.
“We’re not trying to pull players away from clubs,” Davis said.
“We have a lot of blokes in our club who are runners for the Shepp Bears, or they do things out at Katandra or run bars on Saturdays, which is why we predominantly try and get as many of our games on a Sunday.
“We can accompany the blokes who want to do the Saturday football with their main club and donate, because we all know the biggest problem at the moment with our community clubs is volunteers.
“They all get the chance to have their volunteer time, but then they still can have a kick on Sunday.
“We just want to give them an option after they’ve done their club thing to come and have a kick.”
