Leo Barry

Leo Barry (born 19 May 1977) is a retired Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League (AFL) with the Sydney Swans.

For the Newfoundland politician and jurist, see Leo Barry (Canadian jurist).

Leo Barry
Personal information
Date of birth	(1977-05-19) 19 May 1977
Place of birth	Deniliquin, New South Wales
Original team(s)	Deniliquin (NSW)
Debut	Round 22, 3 September 1995, Sydney vs. Collingwood, at SCG
Height	184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	88 kg (194 lb)
Position(s)	Back pocket, fullback
Playing career^1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1995–2009	Sydney Swans	237 (56)
^1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2009.
Career highlights
International Rules 2003 All-Australian 2004, 2005 Premiership player 2005 Sydney captain: 2005–2008
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Originally from Deniliquin, New South Wales, Barry attended Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview before being drafted as a zone selection in the 1994 National Draft and making his debut in the final round of the 1995 season against Collingwood. For the next few seasons he played in the forward line without consistency, struggling to find a place in an already strong forward line. He did, however, display an ability to take spectacular jumping marks, earning him the nickname "Leaping Leo".

In 2001, Swans coach Rodney Eade moved Barry to the backline, where he prospered. Despite being short for a fullback at 184 cm, he has successfully played on much taller opponents, making use of his leaping skills and using his body well. Regularly playing on opponents 10–15 cm taller than he is, Barry rarely has multiple goals kicked upon him. Barry's unique defensive ability is observed in 2004 when Barry kept 196 cm St Kilda full forward Fraser Gehrig to two handballs for the whole game (for this effort, he received three Brownlow Medal votes).[1]

Despite being only 184 cm tall, Barry is surprisingly strong which has become a useful necessity for him when facing taller opponents such as Fraser Gehrig, Brendan Fevola, David Neitz, Anthony Rocca, Chris Tarrant, Quentin Lynch, Matthew Lloyd, Jonathan Brown, Daniel Bradshaw and Matthew Richardson, amongst others.

Barry has twice been included in the All-Australian team, in 2004 and 2005.[2]

On 18 August 2009, Barry announced he would retire from football at the end of the current season.[3]

Barry is now a portfolio manager at Fairview Equity Partners.

"That Mark"

Barry will always be remembered as the player who "caught the cup" for the Swans. Not only did he ensure the victory for the Swans but Barry's backline heroics were instrumental to the Swans' success which culminated with one of Barry's trademark spectacular marks during the 2005 AFL Grand Final between Sydney and West Coast. After a kick from Dean Cox was sent into the forward line, Barry marked in a big pack within the dying seconds of the game to secure the Swans' long-awaited premiership. Commentator Stephen Quartermain described the mark, as:

"Cox throws it onto the left, one last roll of the dice for THE EAGLES! Leo Barry you star!..(siren in background)..The longest premiership drought in football history is over! For the first time in 72 years the Swans are the champions of the AFL!"

This image was later used by Tabcorp for promotional purposes, and Barry sued for them using it without his permission, claiming that the image was "worth A$50,000".[4] A confidential out-of-court settlement was reached.[5] Since the court case, Barry has held the rights to the photo.[5]

Statistics

[6]

Legend

G

Goals

B

Behinds

K

Kicks

H

Handballs

D

Disposals

M

Marks

T

Tackles

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
1995	Sydney	21	1	1	0	6	2	8	4	0	1.0	0.0	6.0	2.0	8.0	4.0	0.0
1996	Sydney	21	5	2	0	13	10	23	5	8	0.4	0.0	2.6	2.0	4.6	1.0	1.6
1997	Sydney	21	10	12	9	67	39	106	30	13	1.2	0.9	6.7	3.9	10.6	3.0	1.3
1998	Sydney	21	16	9	6	82	62	144	38	16	0.6	0.4	5.1	3.9	9.0	2.4	1.0
1999	Sydney	21	17	10	8	127	96	223	88	16	0.6	0.5	7.5	5.6	13.1	5.2	0.9
2000	Sydney	21	17	15	5	112	76	188	63	18	0.9	0.3	6.6	4.5	11.1	3.7	1.1
2001	Sydney	21	19	1	1	143	92	235	84	35	0.1	0.1	7.5	4.8	12.4	4.4	1.8
2002	Sydney	21	13	0	0	89	75	164	43	28	0.0	0.0	6.8	5.8	12.6	3.3	2.2
2003	Sydney	21	24	0	2	182	151	333	133	56	0.0	0.1	7.6	6.3	13.9	5.5	2.3
2004	Sydney	21	23	0	0	139	148	287	107	34	0.0	0.0	6.0	6.4	12.5	4.7	1.5
2005	Sydney	21	26	0	0	213	128	341	152	37	0.0	0.0	8.2	4.9	13.1	5.8	1.4
2006	Sydney	21	25	0	1	224	147	371	173	39	0.0	0.0	9.0	5.9	14.8	6.9	1.6
2007	Sydney	21	18	4	0	145	131	276	116	36	0.2	0.0	8.1	7.3	15.3	6.4	2.0
2008	Sydney	21	20	2	0	149	154	303	125	35	0.1	0.0	7.5	7.7	15.2	6.3	1.8
2009	Sydney	21	3	0	0	20	23	43	14	3	0.0	0.0	6.7	7.7	14.3	4.7	1.0
Career			237	56	32	1711	1334	3045	1175	374	0.2	0.1	7.2	5.6	12.8	5.0	1.6

References

1. AFL Tables - Sydney v St Kilda - 06-Jun-2004 - Match Stats
2. "Ricciuto to lead All-Australian side". ABC News. 6 September 2005. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
3. Nicholls, Michael: Leo Barry announces retirement, AFL Online, 18 August 2009.
4. Robinson, Russell (16 September 2006). "Leaping Leo's grab for $50,000". The Australian. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
5. AFL Grand Final 2005: Leo Barry takes you inside his premiership-winning mark against West Coast, Billy Rule, Perth Now, September 23, 2015
6. Leo Barry's player profile at AFL Tables

External links

• Leo Barry's profile on the official website of the Sydney Swans
• Leo Barry's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• "Leapin' Leo takes flight". The Age. 22 September 2005.
• "Barry leaps to 150". Sydney Swans website. 20 April 2005. Archived from the original on 25 April 2006.