The Sydney Swans fan hailing from Dubbo who spectacularly caught and claimed Lance 'Buddy' Franklin's 1000th goal football, before returning it three days later, says the experience is something he'll cherish forever.
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He also hopes to move out of the spotlight soon.
Alex Wheeler etched himself into a piece of AFL history when he took a stellar mark to secure the match ball at the SCG on Friday night.
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He bagged the trophy - the moment captured in video posted to social media - and shot to fame as attention zeroed in on the fate of the prized Sherrin, with the Swans appealing for its return.
Mr Wheeler handed the football back to Franklin - only the sixth person to reach the 1000-goal milestone - on Monday, capping off a few days he's unlikely to forget.
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"It's been huge... since Friday night, and everything sort of happened very quickly," Mr Wheeler told the Daily Liberal.
"There's been a lot happen since the game, I feel like the game was sort of the minor part of the story, and everything that's happened since then.
"Everything that went out in the press on Saturday with my mug everywhere and then obviously progressing into being able to get the ball back to Buddy at the SCG yesterday probably being the pinnacle of it all."
Avid Swans fan Mr Wheeler, who moved to Sydney about eight years ago from his home town of Dubbo, was part of the 36,578-strong crowd watching Franklin, who had 996 goals before the match.
"...about 10 minutes to go, he sort of marked that ball about 10 or 15 inside the 50 and we sort of happened to be on a perfect line if he was to nail it between the pegs," Mr Wheeler said.
...it went straight towards me, stuck the hand out, did a couple of flips into the concrete, and managed to hang on to it...
- Swans fan Alex Wheeler
"And he smoked it, it went straight towards me, stuck the hand out, did a couple of flips into the concrete, and managed to hang on to it, which was awesome.
"It all happened very quickly, and it's not something I look back and think about that exact moment, the memory's there, but not really."
From experience Mr Wheeler can say there's no real "methodology" to keeping hold of the souvenir.
"You've just got to try and stick it under there and hope there's not a bloke coming past that's stronger than you to grab it off you," he said.
"I did have a younger lady... try to steal it out of my control, but managed to still hang on to it and then successfully got myself out of the ground and back home."
There the ball remained for the next three days, until Mr Wheeler took up the invitation from the Swans to meet Franklin on Monday.
"It was great to be able to get to the SCG in that moment, and give the ball to Buddy, meet Buddy, which was awesome," Mr Wheeler said.
"He's a real big guy, he really dwarfed me a lot in those photos, he looked like about six-seven or six-eight, you know I'm not the shortest bloke in the world, but he really dwarfed me."
As well as getting to shake the hand of one of the all-time greats, Mr Wheeler was gifted a signed pair of Buddy 1000 boots, a guernsey, football as well as Sydney Swans and SCG memberships.
Other highlights had been meeting people involved in the club, and a visit from Swans chief executive officer and former Geelong captain and two-time premiership winner Tom Harley, he said.
Monday was in no way a normal day, with several interviews before the man with the most wanted football in recent times even got to the ground.
"...had the whole Fox Sports team at my house, which was pretty confronting, all the lights and whatever else," Mr Wheeler said.
"It was pretty busy yesterday, and today I was on the Today show and there was a little piece on Sunrise as well, but it's definitely dropping off, which is nice, because I feel like I'm a bit of a broken record at the moment."
At a press conference at the SCG, Mr Wheeler said it was "a great story to tell the family" and something he would "cherish forever".
When asked by the Daily Liberal if he thought he'd be long-remembered for the episode, Mr Wheeler said: "I hope not", and laughed.
"I'm a bit over the spotlight now - it's been nice to be involved and meet everyone, but I think it will be nice to have it slowly get out of the news cycle, and hopefully more things become the topic, and not just me catching the ball," he said.
"It's more so about Buddy's thousand than me catching the ball."
The valuer who works in the alternative investments bracket still has ties to his home town.
"My folks are obviously still back in Dubbo," he said.
"Mum's running the humble lighting shop, Dubbo Lighting Centre, and Dad's still working away with David Payne there in Dubbo.
Mum's running the humble lighting shop, Dubbo Lighting Centre, and Dad's still working away with David Payne there in Dubbo.
- Alex Wheeler
"I'll probably be taking some of the memorabilia that was passed on to me yesterday back home.
"I can see the old man will definitely want to put it up in the pool room at home, so we'll try and get it up there, all signed and framed and whatever else."
Mr Wheeler is planning to get back to the SCG to watch his beloved "Swannies" in a few weeks, and is anticipating it might be a more low-key affair.
"I don't think anything's going to supersede what happened four nights ago, definitely peaked for sure, it doesn't get any better than that."
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