The fan who marked the football Lance Franklin kicked for his 1000th AFL goal is planning to give the “pill” back.
Saturday’s social media post.
A picture was posted to the Instagram account of Alex Wheeler on Saturday afternoon and shared by his friend, Matt King. The pair were photographed with the ball and a message that read “The pill is safe, folks. She’ll be back at Swans HQ soon.”
King posted a short message that showed a close-up of the ball. It read: “Update on the pill. She’ll be returned. Big things coming on Tuesday.”
Earlier on Saturday, it emerged the Swans had spoken to the fan who claimed the ball that Lance Franklin kicked for his historic 1000th goal.
The Swans said they were confident the supporter would give the superstar forward the prized Sherrin.
Footage emerged on social media of the lengths a supporter – adorned in a Swans scarf – went to souvenir the ball from Franklin’s famous SCG kick.
The ecstatic fan can be seen cradling the ball, telling onlookers: “I’ve got the pill, I’ve got the pill, I have the pill, I have to get out of here.”
The Swans launched an appeal on Saturday asking for the ball – valued at $200,000 – to be returned to Franklin.
The Swans were relying on the goodwill of the fan and offered him an invitation to meet and present the precious piece of sporting memorabilia to the superstar forward at training.
“To the person who caught the ball, we would love to get it back for Buddy! We’re inviting you to training to meet Lance and present the ball to him. Get in our DMs pls!!” the Swans tweeted on Saturday morning.
The Swans asked the fan who souvenired the ball from Lance Franklin’s 1000th goal to return it.Credit: Getty Images
The ball – if signed by Franklin – has been valued as high as $200,000. The likelihood of the 1000-goal landmark not being reached again would add to the price.
“I don’t know if I should be doing this because the guy might say ‘bloody hell, if it’s worth that much I’m going to keep it’,” memorabilia valuer Rick Milne told The Age and the Herald.
“I’ll say $50,000 because I don’t think it will happen in our lifetime again, I can’t see it I can’t imagine it.
“It’s one of those things where if you put it up for auction you only need two Swans fans with egos who go head-to-head.
“If they got him pictured signing it, it’d be double, triple, quadrupled.”
Amid the mayhem of the mass pitch invasion, fans also took off with a batch of unused spare Swans jumpers on the bench.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said that Franklin’s milestone moment and the outpouring that followed was one of the most “euphoric, joyful scenes ever seen in football”.
“Last night at the SCG was one of the best moments I have ever seen in football,” he said.
“Lance Franklin achieved a remarkable milestone, a feat we may never have the privilege of witnessing again.
“Everyone at the SCG was glued to his every move and, as he has so many times across his career, Buddy delivered a most magical moment and created one of the most euphoric, joyful scenes ever seen in football.
“The supporters at the ground shared in the milestone, I thank them for celebrating in the right way. To watch all the footage coming through this morning reminds us why we have the greatest fans in the world.”
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