Luke Gerecke on his 'Kev' nickname and prospects for Rand-Walbundrie-Walla

He was born 'Luke' but is known universally by his nickname both on and off the football field.

The story behind it goes back a good 15 years.

"Me and my brother, Scotty, and some of our friends, I would have probably been nine or 10 and we used to watch this movie called Hot Rod," Gerecke explained.

"There was a bloke on there called Kev who was a bit slow.

"He did some pretty stupid things in the movie and it stuck.

"Even my parents call me Kev now, which is pretty full-on, but I'll cop it on the chin and keep going."

Gerecke is gearing himself up for a big year of Hume league football after making the move from Thurgoona at the end of 2020 and finding his feet with the Giants last year.

The 24-year-old will be one of the players coach Lucas Mellier looks to for leadership and that's a role Gerecke is happy to take on.

"I really enjoy it," Gerecke said.

"Wherever I've played, which is only Thurgoona and Rand, I love getting around all the boys.

"Your best mates are at footy so it's great to have a good old chat and a beer afterwards, it's grouse.

"As soon as you step on the field, your best mates turn into football mates and if a bit of criticism gets thrown around, you've just got to take it on board and work on it and get better.

"We had a pretty good side last year, finished third, and were starting to improve towards the end of the year.

"We've kept the same list and added a couple, which is good, so it's exciting times ahead."

The Giants have managed to retain almost their entire list and Mellier believes they're in a position to kick on after finishing 2021 with a 12-4 record.

"We've had good numbers, consistently 25-30 players each night," Mellier said.

"That allows you to do so much more training.

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"Last year, at certain times, we might have struggled to get over that 20 mark and when you're getting under 20, it makes it very difficult.

"But we've had really good commitment, being able to condense our pre-season this year.

"We've gone back to what we know and done a good three months before the season, which means we get a really good buy-in from everyone.

"They've been training seriously hard with the running and it's been very enjoyable."

Gerecke's willingness to learn from Mellier epitomises the mood in the group.

"I played a little bit of footy at Thurgoona with him and he's really good," Gerecke said.

"He talks to individual people about what they need to work on and he brought a lot last year to our midfield and down forward.

"We have a lot of respect for him.

"We had a bit of a slow start, getting used to each other, and that included a slow start for me.

"There were a few boys new to the club but in the middle of the season we started gelling together and towards the end of the season we were looking pretty good.

"My footy improved as part of that.

"I'm hoping to have a bigger year this year, trying to get fitter and going to the gym more often.

"My job, across half-back, is to run, run, run as much as I can.

"That's what got me motivated into getting a little bit fitter because if I can keep running, hopefully that helps the backs out a little bit."

The Giants will have leaders all over the ground in 2022.

"We don't put the emphasis on one person, we try to give everybody a voice to lift the group," Mellier said.

"To have so many experienced players through there is a massive asset to us."

Rand-Walbundrie-Walla start their season away to Jindera on April 2.

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