Three-time champion coach of the Brisbane Lions, Chris Fagan, has fulfilled a promise to his players and immortalized the club’s philosophy on his own body. The coach’s shin now bears three words – “Pound the Rock” – and three numbers: 24, 25, 26. These are the years the team won the Grand Final, achieving an unprecedented three-peat. The club posted a video of the tattoo on social media, and the players were shocked: Will Ashcroft simply used a surprised face emoji, Cam Rayner wrote “Different Gravy,” and Scott Draper simply called the coach “Daddy.”
Fagan himself treated the publication with his signature irony. When asked if he would allow the video to be released, he replied with a smile, “Well, if you think everyone really needs to know.” In the footage, the coach was sitting in a tattoo artist’s chair, and the fresh design was wrapped in protective film. The club also shared a personal message Fagan sent to his staff – without explaining why he decided to mark the triumph in this way.
Minimalism as a Statement
From a tattoo culture perspective, this design is a classic example of a so-called statement tattoo in the sports world. No decoration, just text and numbers in a restrained font on the shin. This approach is characteristic of people who perceive a tattoo not as an adornment, but as a personal manifesto. In Australian Rules Football (AFL), tattoos have long ceased to be a mark of rebellion; they have become part of the team’s visual language, a way to solidify belonging to the collective and its history. But when the club’s internal mantra – the one heard in training and in the locker room – appears on the skin, the gesture goes beyond self-expression. It’s a public contract: the coach is literally inscribing himself into the narrative he has been building since 2016, when he joined the Brisbane Lions.
The phrase “Pound the Rock” has become the team’s unofficial motto. Logan Morris recalled how, after a disastrous third quarter against Carlton when the opponent was crushing them, Fagan called it a “pigsty” and forced the players to regroup. “We went out and just pounded the rock, slowly chipping away. We ended up winning, and it was great,” the forward said. Oscar McInerney repeated the mantra after Jarrod Berry missed the 2025 Grand Final due to injury: “Jarrod is a typical brotherhood guy. We now owe it to keep pounding the rock for him.” Rayner and Berry had also previously called this phrase the club’s motto.
A One-Season Legacy
Fagan has already announced that he will step down as coach, leaving one season on his contract. After the final whistle, he was on the verge of tears, and at the awards ceremony, he methodically addressed each of the 23 players who took the field in the winning match against Fremantle by seven points. The club is looking for a new coach: Football Manager Danny Daly withdrew his candidacy earlier this month. The coach who comes after Fagan will try to do what no one has managed since 1927-1930, when Collingwood won four championships in a row. Fagan himself, who will be cheering louder than anyone if his players “pound the rock” again in 2027, took the idea of a four-peat calmly: “Nothing prevents the club from achieving four wins in a row, even if someone else is the coach. I will be the happiest person on the planet. I am not chasing history.”