Dan Eggleton opens the doors for monthly mateship breakfasts in Tanunda
Grab Life By The Balls!
This simple, distinctly Australian motto supports men, one ball-squeeze at a time.
The Grab Life By The Balls movement is an Australian charity built on a simple idea – strong social connections help people cope better with life – especially men.
The movement focuses on mateship – regular, relaxed catch-ups, where people can easily connect. Burger nights, barbecues, coffee mornings and breakfasts. This is where real conversations happen without pressure. Not everyone opens up in a counselling room, but plenty will open up over a hearty plate of bacon and eggs.
Grab Life By The Balls calls this the ‘mateship movement’. It leans into something most Australians already understand. When people feel connected, they cope better. When they cope better, they speak up earlier. And when mates notice mates going quiet, lives change.
Across Australia, local volunteers known as ‘wingmen’ help bring the movement to their own communities.
Barossa winemaker Dan Eggleton is one of them.
Dan stepped up as a wingman and started facilitating a men’s mateship breakfast Barossa locals could access without pressure or expectation. The format sticks closely to the movement’s values. Laid back. Informal. No expectations. And for this group, you don’t even need a set of balls to join in!
For Dan, the urge to create this monthly group started after the sudden loss of his neighbour to suicide. It became clear how little people around him knew the severity of the situation. Around the same time, two other men connected to the wine industry also died by suicide.
Dan has faced his own mental health battles and knows how much people carry without showing it. He also knew a formal program or heavy approach wouldn’t cut through.
So he kept it simple. A monthly breakfast. A familiar place, and a reason to show up.
The mateship breakfast Barossa has landed at a time when pressure is already high. The South Australian wine industry has been under the pump for years. Grape oversupply. Falling prices. Rising costs. Tight export markets. Add drought to the mix and the strain deepens. For small and independent winemakers, the pressure stacks up fast, often with limited support and long stretches of uncertainty.
Resilience runs deep in the industry, but support hasn’t always kept up. That’s why these breakfasts are so important.
They’re held at Dan’s winery, Ben Murray Wines, and backed by the community. Foundation Barossa helps with running costs. The Fechner family from Apex Bakery Tanunda supplies bread, and the Werner family from Tanunda Traditional Smallgoods and Butchery literally brings the bacon! Mark Harris, a local wellbeing coach, also comes along to support the group, drawing on lived experience after losing his wife to cancer and now raising his kids on his own.
For Dan, the best part is the messages of appreciation he receives after each breakfast. A reminder that these breakfast mornings are having the positive impact he envisioned.
If you’ve thought about heading along, the next mateship breakfast runs on January 30.
THE MATESHIP BREAKFAST
WHEN: Last Friday of each month
WHERE: Ben Murray Wines, 73 Presser Rd, Tanunda
CONTACT: [email protected]
0438 824 493
Find out more and rsvp here
Learn more about the Grab Life By the Balls movement here.
If this story brings things up for you, support is available.
Lifeline
13 11 14
24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention.
Beyond Blue
1300 22 4636
Support for anxiety, depression and mental health concerns.
Suicide Call Back Service
1300 659 467
24-hour counselling for people feeling overwhelmed or at risk.
If you’re in immediate danger, call 000.
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