Buddy to get his Sherrin back! Fan who caught footy AFL legend slotted his 1000th ball with will return it today – and it could be worth $100k
- Lucky Fan who caught Buddy Franklin’s 1000th goal is set to hand the ball back
- Some have valued the sports memorabilia at hundreds of thousands of dollars
- The Swan’s fanatic will meet with Franklin on Monday to handover the ball
The lucky AFL fan who snatched Buddy Franklin’s 1000th goalball moments before 30,000 spectators ran on to the SCG to celebrate, says he will hand it back even though it could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Alex Wheeler was sitting right behind the goal square as the Sherrin sailed through the posts and into his arms.
In a video filmed which captured the magic moment, the Dubbo-born investment valuer who now lives in Sydney, screamed: ‘I’ve got the pill, I’ve got the pill, I have the pill, I have to get out of here,’ he said.
The lucky AFL who snatched Buddy Franklin’s (pictured) 1000th goal ball moments before 30,000 spectators ran on to the SCG to celebrate, says he’s going to hand it back even though it could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Swans fan can’t believe his luck after emerging with the Sherrin that Franklin slotted home to bring up his incredible milestone
‘There has been a lot thrown around on social media – half a million, 100k, some guy was valuing it at 200k…’ he told Ben Fordham on 2GB Monday.
‘At the end of the day it’s not about the money, it’s about getting it back to the club where young kids are going to cherish that ball forever and it’s a good feeling to hand something back like that so that everyone else can enjoy it.’
Swans fans clamoured around to reel in the ball once it reached the stands, with Mr Wheeler emerging from the chaos clutching the prize close to his chest in a state of shock.
‘It looked pretty dramatic on the video but I’d had a couple of cans,’ he admitted.
‘It was such a blur I couldn’t really believe what was happening. It just sunk into my paws and then I hit the deck… and got pummeled on the ground.
‘But so many people were trying to get to the fence so I probably had more space then I normally would have had.’
While his first thought was to flee the stadium, the Swan’s fanatic actually joined the tens of thousands of others and stormed the pitch.
‘I ran out on the field and did a couple of little shimmies and a couple of little handballs to myself,’ he said.
Mr Wheeler then tucked the ball under his arm and headed for the exit, hailing a cab outside the stadium on Moore Park Road.
Sydney Swans CEO Tom Harley said he’s very grateful to the young man and hinted the club will announce a reward at a media conference later today when he meets up with Franklin.
Franklin winds up and kicks his 1,000th AFL goal in the fourth quarter of their round two match against Geelong at the SCG on Friday night
Thousands of fans entered the fray after Franklin’s milestone moment, with play delayed for 33 minutes
‘Alex has been a great sport through this and we are looking forward to seeing Alex in a couple of hours time at the SCG with Lance to hand the ball back,’ he said.
‘It was a great life experience for Alex to be front and centre of that.’
But Fordham had one small request for Mr Wheeler before he finally handed over the famous ball.
‘Any chance we can meet down at the local park for a kick?’ the radio host asked.
‘Absolutely, why not,’ Mr Wheeler replied.
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