It seems newly elevated AFL legend Tony Lockett remains as unaffected by his own fame now as when he was first inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame.
In 2006, Lockett famously drove down to Melbourne from his country New South Wales home, accepted his award then made the return trip the same night, so keen was he to avoid the fanfare that came with his induction.
The greatest goal kicker in VFL/AFL history became the 26th legend of the AFL Hall of Fame at a gala ceremony at Crown Palladium on Thursday night and planned a quick getaway in his trusty ute the next morning.
A day after receiving one of the game's highest honours, Lockett will hit the road to Alice Springs where he'll meet up with a group of mates for a motorbike trek across the Simpson Desert to Byron Bay on the New South Wales coast - a trip of around 2000 kilometres.
"You've got to enjoy life - get out there and get amongst it," Lockett said.
"Life does go on. You finish playing and you get other interests, but football was a huge part of my life and I'll always treasure it and be very grateful for what it was."
While never one for bright lights of the AFL scene, Lockett was truly humbled to have been elevated into the exclusive club alongside the likes of Ron Barassi, John Coleman, Alex Jesaulenko, Jock McHale and Jack Dyer.
"It's one of the greatest honours I've ever had - it's a feeling that's very hard to put into words," he said.
"It will take a while to sink in. I'm very humbled.
"Just to be in the same room as some of those great champions is amazing."
Lockett holds the all-time goals record with 1360 goals from a decorated 281-game career between 1983-2002, which included topping the century mark in six separate seasons.
"A lot of years went into (that record) but it certainly wasn't something I was aiming at," he said.
"It does mean something ... I look back on it and I'm very proud of it."
He took part in some engrossing one-on-one duels across his decorated career, with Carlton great Stephen Silvagni his toughest opponent.
"We had some great battles," Lockett said.
"I will mention that I kicked 10 on him one day at Moorabbin. When you kick 10 on SOS you're allowed to mention it."
A further six people were also inducted into the Hall of Fame - Brisbane triple-premiership player Jason Akermanis, North Melbourne dual-premiership player Peter Bell, former Adelaide chairman Bob Hammond, Swans premiership player Michael O'Loughlin, St Kilda Brownlow medallist Neil Roberts and prolific Subiaco goal kicker Austin Robertson.
The induction of those six takes the Hall of Fame's membership to 263 former players, officials or media representatives who are deemed to have made special contributions to the game.
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