THE Gawler Districts Masters AFL Club, affectionately known as the Bunyips after your favourite local newspaper, is set to raise money for the fifth consecutive year to go towards White Ribbon Australia to fund education and prevention of violence against women.

Bunyips’ spokesman Mark Schuster said the idea was born after the Hillier murders, with the men at the club reflecting that more needs to be done to protect women.

“It was in 2016 when there was a triple murder at Hillier, which is pretty much in our backyard,” he said.

“As a group of fellas we were sitting around talking, and we were quite shocked by the nature of the murder and the domestic violence scenario that took place.

“I’m a social worker by qualification, so the more we talked about it the more we started to think there had to be more we could do, and I guess that’s where the idea first came from.

“We figured it would be a good thing to acknowledge that, as men, we’ve got the ability to stand up and speak out about domestic violence.”

After setting a goal of $500 raised for each of the first four years, Mr Schuster said he was confident the Bunyips would sail past that goal this time around.

“Fortunately for us one of our players, Leigh (Newman), works in the hardware industry and he’s been able to get us a wheelbarrow and fill it up with donations from local hardware stores,” he said.

“That’s going to be the centrepiece of our raffle this time around, where previously we’ve done things like lucky squares and asked people to bring gold-coin or small-note donations.

“I’m pretty confident we’ll easily exceed the $500 this time – and who knows, if we’re lucky we might double it.”

The game, in which the Bunyips will wear special White Ribbon jumpers, will be played on Sunday at Argana Park from 11am, and exclusively by players who are at least 35.

Mr Schuster said Masters footy was a pure game, contested purely by people there for the right reasons.

“Us footy tragics, when we give up the game, we just have that huge, vacant space in our lives,” he said.

“I played Saturday football until I was 40, and after I hung up the boots I missed the camaraderie more than anything. That opportunity to come together on a regular basis and have banter, and that social connection, and support is something that’s hard to replace.

"I decided to get back out there when I was 45, and while it’s great fun to have a kick again, a lot of us are getting older and it’s nice to have that support when we’re dealing with more health challenges or family issues.

“We don’t play for premiership points – there’s not even a scoreboard, although we all know who’s winning. It’s more centred on having a good time, and playing in the spirit the game is meant to be played in.”

Mr Schuster said while attendance at the Bunyips’ games was usually made up of immediate family, the public was welcome to come along to show support.

For more information about the Bunyips, head to the Gawler Districts Masters AFL Club Facebook page.