Hawthorn recruit Tom Barrass has revealed he considered walking away from the AFL before Sam Mitchell came knocking with a pitch that reignited his career.
Barrass was a member of West Coast’s 2018 premiership side, won the club best and fairest in 2022 and had three years remaining on his contract.
But the 29-year-old was traded to the Hawks in a blockbuster deal that included an extra year on his contract.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today
In an exclusive interview with 7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary, Barrass admitted he was feeling “dissatisfied with his life” during the middle part of the year.
The star defender, who considered joining Sydney 12 months earlier, had previously shut down any talk of leaving the club, but a secret meeting with Mitchell in July changed everything.
“Sam approached me and I was at the time in my life where I’m ready for a new opportunity and football was getting quite stale,” Barrass told 7NEWS.
“I’ve lived in Perth my entire life for 29 years and I’ve got a couple of young kids and I thought, what better time to go have a crack at something at a new opportunity in a new state before I put them in school and disappear into Western Australia.
“I could only ever be open-minded to Sam coming to Western Australia once I realised I was dissatisfied with my life and I was looking for something new, whether it be a new career in another industry or a new opportunity.
“I think before I was open-minded to anything, that feeling came first, and Sam came over and pitched to me and my partner about what it might be like playing for another club and what a new opportunity might be like.
“48 hours after that it became pretty clear to me what the best thing for our family would be, not the easiest, not the most comfortable, but the best thing for our family, and I’m really excited I’ve arrived here.
“I was really running out of steam. I had spent 11 years at West Coast. I love the footy club and I’ve got a lot of respect for West Coast and I really respect the way they treated me when I had to appeal to their good will and ask to break my employment contract.
“But, yeah, I was finished with what I was doing and I needed something new to make me excited again, to make me feel young again, bring my energy.
“It’s a really tough industry and this rejuvenation is hopefully what I need to finish off my career with some good form.”
While Barrass was getting swept up in the Hawks’ rise from cellar-dwellers to finals contenders, he admitted he started hoping they would lose to improve his chances of getting to the club.
Hawthorn’s first pick in the draft was long seen as the likely trade for Barrass, but as the Hawks kept on winning that pick became less appealing for West Coast.
The Hawks ended up trading that pick before using future selections to seal the trade.
“To be honest, I was hoping Hawks would lose a bit more towards the end of the year than they were to improve the likelihood of me getting over here, “ he said.
“I thought they were going to get pick 18 at one stage, which wasn’t going to help me or either footy club.”
Barrass is looking forward to linking up with Mitchell again after the pair formed a strong relationship in 2017 when they were teammates and the following year when Mitchell was an assistant coach at West Coast.
“I really look up to him as a mentor so I think that his mentorship was something that really appealed to me,” he said.
“Learning the game off one of the greats to have ever done it, really appealed to me.”
Barrass is confident of success at his new club and was full of praise for Eagles for how they handled his departure.
“Like I said, I’m really appreciative of both Hawks and West Coast for being able to get the deal done,” he said.
“Ultimately this is a commercial decision and I need to represent the interests of my family and it’s been really humbling (from) the public and their understanding of that.
“I’ve been thanked for my service and it really makes my heart glow because it can get nasty at times.
“But I think that people within the club and within Western Australia more broadly do know that I love that football club.”
