Tom Barrass

Thomas Barrass (born 8 October 1995) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He has played as a key defender since his junior career with Claremont. Barrass was drafted by West Coast with pick 43 of the 2013 national draft, but did not make his senior debut until round 17 of the 2015 AFL season. He was nominated for the 2016 AFL Rising Star and won a premiership with West Coast in 2018.

Tom Barrass
Barrass playing for West Coast in July 2019
Personal information
Full name Thomas Barrass
Date of birth (1995-10-08) 8 October 1995
Original team(s) Claremont (WAFL)
Draft No. 43, 2013 national draft
Debut Round 17, 2015, West Coast
vs. Sydney, at Subiaco Oval
Height 194 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 95 kg (209 lb)
Position(s) Key defender
Club information
Current club West Coast
Number 37
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2015– West Coast 73 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of rd8 2020.
Career highlights
Source: AFL Tables AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Barrass grew up in Western Australia and played for Scarborough Junior Football Club. After the club was unable to field an under-17 team due to a lack of players, he started playing for his school Hale. Barrass underwent a growth spurt and was recruited by Western Australian Football League (WAFL) club Claremont. He suffered two injuries which restricted him to three games for Claremont's colts (under-19s) in 2012.[1][2]

Barrass rebounded to captain Claremont in their 2013 colts premiership.[3] He recorded 18 disposals in Claremont's six-point grand final victory over South Fremantle,[4] and believed he was close to lining up for the senior side before dislocating his finger.[2] Barrass played for Western Australia in the 2013 AFL Under 18 Championships, where he was mentored by fellow backman and then-West Coast captain Darren Glass.[3] He recorded an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank above 98 and contemplated attending university to study medicine.[2]

AFL career

Barrass was drafted by West Coast with pick 43 of the 2013 national draft, their third selection.[5] On arrival at the club he expressed interest in eventually filling a leadership position.[3] In January, prior to the 2014 AFL season, Barrass underwent an arthroscopy to repair a torn hip joint, ruling him out of training for three months.[6] He returned in April to play his first game for East Perth reserves (West Coast's WAFL affiliate). Playing slightly over half the match, Barrass amassed 17 possessions.[7] He played a further seven reserves games for the year.[1]

Barrass made his WAFL senior debut against Peel Thunder in round 5 of the 2015 season, recording nine marks.[8] Gavin Bell, West Coast's Head of Development, was impressed with Barrass's performance and noted his marking and ball use as standouts.[9] Teammate Josh Hill likened him to fellow defender Jeremy McGovern for his intercept marking and ability to "read" the play,[10] a comparison later echoed by teammate Mark LeCras.[11] In July, coach Adam Simpson said Barrass was ready to play at AFL level, but noted the backline was "pretty settled" and it would be hard for the defender to claim a spot.[12] After McGovern hurt his left hamstring against Collingwood, Barrass replaced him in the senior side against Sydney in round 17 of the 2015 AFL season.[11][13] On debut, he recorded 15 disposals and five marks.[13] Simpson was happy with Barrass's performance, saying "it's good to get exposure in such a big game", and noted the side's scarcity of key defenders after Will Schofield injured his calf. Fellow backman Xavier Ellis praised his efforts to play on dual Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes.[14] Barrass played two more matches to end the year; round 18 versus Gold Coast and round 22 against Adelaide.[13]

Barrass missed the first half of the 2016 AFL season but replaced Eric Mackenzie in round 12 after the defender fell ill. In July he was named as one of West Coast's key players under 23 by AFL.com.au journalist Alex Malcolm.[15] He retained his spot for the majority of the second half of the season,[13] culminating in a 2016 AFL Rising Star nomination after a twenty-nine point win against Adelaide in round 23. Barrass recorded seventeen disposals at 94.1% efficiency, ten spoils and ten marks, six of them interceptions.[16][17] He polled one Brownlow vote for the performance.[18] Barrass said he had been galvanised by his previous match against Adelaide in 2015, when he had been outplayed by their forwards.[19] He went on to play in his first AFL finals series, but only managed an elimination final after West Coast were knocked out by the Western Bulldogs. Barrass had eleven disposals and took six marks;[13] his performance was rated a 6 out of 10 by AFL.com.au journalist David Reed, who noted he improved after a slow start on Tom Boyd and took several crucial marks.[20] Post-season, Barrass won West Coast's Rookie of the Year award.[21]

Ahead of the 2017 AFL season, Fox Sports journalists Riley Beveridge and Ben Waterworth named Barrass 'the rising star' at West Coast and a 'lock' in their defence.[22] He returned to pre-season training in improved condition after feeling 'pretty fat' near the conclusion of the 2016 season.[23] Barrass signed a contract extension prior to the 2017 JLT Community Series, tying him to West Coast until the end of 2019.[21] During pre-season training, Barrass fell awkwardly after a marking contest and was dazed for roughly a minute,[24] but returned later in the week on a lighter program.[25] After missing round 1, he played the next eight rounds of the season before being demoted to the WAFL after a poor performance against Essendon. Barrass returned against Geelong in round 13[26] and played the remaining games of the season, including the elimination and semi-finals.[13]

Barrass played on Sydney forward Lance Franklin in round 1 of the 2018 AFL season and conceded three goals in the opening term.[27] West Coast captain Shannon Hurn was confident Barrass was not shaken by the experience.[28] In June, during West Coast's round 12 bye, Barrass injured his back while using a dustpan and missed the next six rounds.[29] He returned for West Coast's finals campaign and played on Mason Cox in the qualifying final. Cox did not score and was restricted to four kicks and two marks.[30] In the grand final, Barrass again played on Cox; the match-up was named one of three key match-ups for the grand final by Terry Wallace prior to the game.[31] Barrass outplayed Cox to half-time, restricting him to just one possession. However, Cox improved in the second half and finished with seven marks and two goals,[32] while Barrass recorded ten marks and 17 disposals.[33] Barrass signed a contract extension until the end of 2022 after the grand final. He was ranked as 'elite' (in the top ten percent of defenders) by Champion Data ahead of the 2019 AFL season.[34]

Statistics

Correct to the end of the 2018 AFL season.[13]

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
2015 West Coast 37300221537172007.35.012.35.70.7
2016 West Coast 37100069461154913006.94.611.54.91.3
2017 West Coast 371901164912551212100.18.64.813.46.41.1
2018† West Coast 37190019349242124150010.22.612.76.50.8
Career 51 0 1 448 201 649 311 51 0 0 8.8 3.9 12.7 6.1 1.0
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References
  1. "Thomas Barrass". wafl.com.au.
  2. Walsh, Courtney (18 November 2013). "Talented Tom Barrass keenly awaits national draft". The Australian. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  3. Elborough, Brad (23 November 2013). "Colts rivals Barrass and Main drafted to West Coast". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  4. Pike, Chris (22 September 2013). "Claremont ends South Fremantle's colts reign". wafc.com.au. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  5. Roberts, Ben (22 November 2013). "Pick 43: Tom Barrass". westcoasteagles.com.au. AFL Media. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  6. "Barrass sidelined". westcoasteagles.com.au. AFL Media. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  7. Stocks, Gary (19 April 2014). "Royals thwarted by Lions". westcoasteagles.com.au. AFL Media. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  8. "Colledge earns top marks". westcoasteagles.com.au. AFL Media. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  9. "WAFL Report: Round 5 v Peel Thunder". westcoasteagles.com.au. AFL Media. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  10. Malcolm, Alex (15 June 2015). "Eagles on top for forward pressure". westcoasteagles.com.au. AFL Media. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  11. Malcolm, Alex (20 July 2015). "'Gov' injury leaves Simpson with a headache". AFL.com.au. AFL Media. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  12. Hagdorn, Kim (15 July 2015). "Young West Coast Eagles defender Tom Barrass closing in on AFL debut". PerthNow. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  13. "Tom Barrass". AFL Tables. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  14. Malcolm, Alex (26 July 2015). "Eagles sweating on another injury to a key defender". AFL.com.au. AFL Media. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  15. "The untouchables: Every team's essential under-23s". hawthornfc.com.au. AFL Media. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  16. Guthrie, Ben (29 August 2016). "Rising Star adds to Eagles' embarrassment of riches". AFL.com.au. AFL Media. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  17. Quayle, Emma (29 August 2016). "West Coast defender Tom Barrass wins last Rising Star nod". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  18. "2016 Brownlow Medal". AFL Tables.
  19. Robinson, Chris (28 August 2016). "Emerging West Coast defender Tom Barrass admits he had a point to prove against Adelaide". PerthNow. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  20. Reed, David (9 September 2016). "Every Eagle rated: The midfielder who can hold his head high". AFL.com.au. AFL Media. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  21. McArdle, Jordan (31 January 2017). "Jack Darling, Tom Barrass ink new deals with West Coast". PerthNow. Seven West Media. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  22. Beveridge, Riley; Waterworth, Ben (10 January 2017). "Best 22: The players who can fill Nic Naitanui's void at West Coast". Fox Sports. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  23. King, Travis (23 November 2016). "Battle of the bulge: Eagle trims down after feeling 'pretty fat'". AFL.com.au. AFL Media. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  24. Miller, Dale (30 January 2017). "Scare for Eagles as Tom Barrass falls heavily at training". The West Australian. Seven West Media. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  25. King, Travis (3 February 2017). "Barrass on light duties after crash landing". AFL.com.au. AFL Media. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  26. King, Travis (15 June 2017). "Enemy Camp: Eagles back Barrass". geelongcats.com.au. AFL Media. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  27. Chadwick, Justin (26 March 2018). "Lance Franklin boots eight goals in menacing warning to rest of AFL for 2018 season". Fox Sports. Australian Associated Press. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  28. Chadwick, Justin (11 June 2018). "Eagles' Barrass not scarred by Franklin". Newcastle Herald. Australian Associated Press. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  29. Chadwick, Justin (6 September 2018). "Eagle Barrass brought undone by dustpan". The Age. Fairfax Media. Australian Associated Press. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  30. "AFL grand final: West Coast's Tom Barrass ready to tackle Collingwood giant Mason Cox". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  31. "Wallace's three key Grand Final match-ups". 1116 SEN. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  32. "Eagles backs stand tall in AFL grand final". SBS. Australian Associated Press. 29 September 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  33. Balmer, Matt (30 September 2018). "AFL Grand Final 2018: Every player ranked from 1 to 44". Fox Sports. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  34. Quartermaine, Braden (13 January 2019). "West Coast Eagles defender Tom Barrass joins AFL's elite, says Champion Data". The West Australian. Seven West Media. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
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