Leo Barry
Encyclopedia
Leo Barry is a retired Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er in the AFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 with the Sydney Swans
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

.

Originally from Deniliquin, New South Wales, he attended St Ignatius' College, Riverview
St Ignatius' College, Riverview
Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school for boys, located in Riverview, a small suburb situated on the Lane Cove River on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....

 before being drafted as a zone selection in the 1994 National Draft
AFL Draft
The AFL Draft is the annual draft of new unsigned players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League.-History:...

 and making his debut in the final round of the 1995 season against Collingwood
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

. 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 mark
Mark (Australian football)
A mark is a skill in Australian rules football where a player cleanly catches a kicked ball that has travelled more than 15 metres without anyone else touching it or the ball hitting the ground....

s, earning him the nickname "Leaping Leo".

In 2001, Swans coach Rodney Eade
Rodney Eade
Rodney "Rocket" Eade is a former Australian rules footballer and the former coach of the Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League...

 moved him 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
Fraser Gehrig
Fraser Gehrig is a retired Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League who played for the St Kilda Football Club and the West Coast Eagles...

 to two handballs for the whole game. Despite being only 184 cm tall, Leo Barry is surprisingly strong which has become a useful necessity for him when facing taller opponents such as Fraser Gehrig
Fraser Gehrig
Fraser Gehrig is a retired Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League who played for the St Kilda Football Club and the West Coast Eagles...

, Anthony Rocca
Anthony Rocca
Anthony Rocca is a former Australian rules footballer who has played with the Sydney Swans and Collingwood in the Australian Football League...

, Chris Tarrant
Chris Tarrant (footballer)
Chris Tarrant is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Collingwood Football Club, and has also played for the Fremantle Football Club. He announced at the end of the 2010 AFL season that he would return to Melbourne for personal reasons and would not extend his contract with Fremantle...

, Quentin Lynch, Matthew Lloyd
Matthew Lloyd
Matthew James Lloyd is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and was the captain of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League...

, Jonathan Brown and Matthew Richardson, amongst others.

Current coach Paul Roos
Paul Roos (Australian rules footballer)
Paul Roos is a former Australian rules football player and coach in the VFL and Australian Football League.Playing the majority of his career with Fitzroy, Roos was one of the teams greats, captaining the side for a long time and was acknowledged as its best player for several seasons, being named...

 rates him as one of the best defenders in the AFL, an assessment backed up by his inclusion in the All Australian Team in 2004 and 2005.

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

Barry is now an AFL commentator on Triple M, mainly riding the boundary line during Sydney Swans
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

 matches.

"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
2005 AFL finals series
-The finals system:The system is a final eight system. This system is different to the McIntyre Final Eight System, which was previously used by the AFL, and is currently used by the National Rugby League....

 AFL Grand Final
AFL Grand Final
The AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia to determine the Australian Football League premiership champions for that year...

 between Sydney and West Coast
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...

. After a kick from Dean Cox was sent into the forward line
Forward line
In Australian rules football, the forward line refers to a set of attacking positions on the field.The forward line consists of three players, a left and right forward pocket, and a full-forward. Up until approximately 20 years ago, the forward pockets were often the resting rover or ruckman...

, 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, with Barry claiming that the image was "worth A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...

50,000", despite other players being featured in the photo.

External links

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