"It's a special team in the respect that we are nomads, really," lock Wheeler said. "We come from all over the country from Northland to Invercargill and Japan. We all go down there for one reason and that is to play Super Rugby and hopefully become an All Black.
"When you have a team that doesn't know each other ... you've only got one choice and that is to buy into that team culture and buy into the whole mantra of numbers 1-39, the brotherhood, we've got down there, and get into it, because it can be a lonely place if you don't.
"The footy team, the Highlanders, the club, it becomes your family in many respects.
It's pretty special and everyone's encouraged to show their personality in the team and I think you see that in a lot of the stuff that we do. We have a lot of fun."
The Highlanders clearly had a lot of fun in the metropolis of Hong Kong before travelling to farmer Fred Booth's paddock for a match held in conjunction with the Southern Field Days, and Wheeler said both were special in their own way.
"Obviously travelling Hong Kong had its own challenges," he said. "A lot of us had never been there before but we had a really good week over there. It was unique for us in terms of the fact that we are from little old Dunedin and used to training on Logan Park - to being in the middle of skyscrapers and going to gala dinners and all that sort of stuff. Most of us are from small towns so to go to an event like that was really special.
"Then we came back to Waimumu and to be honest the guys were just as excited about that... it took us right back to when we played club footy as kids - getting changed on the side of the field and then running out on a farmers' paddock in front of a packed embankment. We will cherish it for a long time."
