Nathan Vardy gets QR code tattoo in honour of West Coast’s 2018 premiership

Footballers are known for getting tattoos to remember their Grand Final wins but an ex-AFL star’s fresh ink is next level.

Nathan Vardy's tattoo has to be seen to be believed.

A former AFL player’s hilarious premiership tattoo has shown the extraordinary lengths footballers are going to in order to honour their grand final triumphs.

In a video posted to social media over the weekend, ex-West Coast ruckman Nathan Vardy revealed he had got some fresh ink to help remember the Eagles’ 2018 premiership win.

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It’s one of the more unusual tattoos you’ll come across and has to be seen to be believed.

Vardy shared a video to his Instagram account of a large tattoo of a QR code on the top of his foot.

A companion can be seen hovering their phone over the QR code and remarkably, it takes them to the AFL’s official YouTube account to watch a clip titled “Dom Sheed seals the Eagles premiership”.

Vardy captioned his Instagram post: “Never forget”.

The 90-second video shows the famous coast-to-coast play in the dying minutes of the 2018 AFL Grand Final in which the Eagles clinched victory thanks to Sheed’s epic goal with less than two minutes remaining.

"Never forget" 🦅🏆

This is a next-level premiership tattoo from Nathan Vardy!

(via: nathan_vardy/Instagram) pic.twitter.com/FKzt0onb7r

— AFL (@AFL) October 31, 2021

The passage of play began when West Coast defender Jeremy McGovern peeled off his opponent to take an intercept mark in the Eagles’ defensive 50.

He played on immediately, hitting Vardy right on the chest. The ruckman then kicked to Liam Ryan, who took a spectacular flying mark on the wing before delivering the ball inside 50 to Sheed in the forward pocket.

Nathan Vardy won’t forget his grand final win anytime soon.

The highlight of his career is only a QR code away.

Sheed kicked the set-shot goal from a tough angle to put the Eagles four points in front.

They managed to hold on for a 79-74 victory over Collingwood, which is considered one of the greatest grand finals of the modern era.

With Vardy playing a pivotal role in the decisive play, there’s no wonder he wanted to get a memento so he could easily reminisce about the moment.

There were mixed reviews for the tattoo from Vardy’s West Coast teammates.

Eagles premiership player Chris Masten commented on his post: “Whatttttt????”, while Mark Lecras, who also played in the grand final win, added: “love that!”, along with several cry laughing emojis.

Vardy played a key role in West Coast’s 2018 Grand Final win. Picture: Nicole Garmston

West Coast teammate Jake Waterman thought the tattoo was hilarious, commenting: “Hahahahaha”, while ex-AFL player Rhys Palmer simply said: “I love”.

Eagles defender Tom Cole wasn’t a fan though, responding with three vomit emojis.

For Vardy’s sake, hopefully the ink doesn’t run, otherwise he might be getting a 404 error message instead of reliving his glory days.

The 30-year-old retired at the end of the 2021 season after 11 seasons in the AFL.

He played 25 games for Geelong before moving to West Coast in 2017, where he made 52 appearances.

Vardy will continue to play Aussie rules in 2022, suiting up for the North Warrnambool Eagles in Victoria’s Hampden league.