Dom Barry talks about giving up footy

[Grapeviney 9,538]

Interesting clip with three former players - Liam Patrick, Dom Barry and Richard Tambling - talking about the challenges which some Indigenous players face in their footy careers, and balancing it with family and cultural commitments.

Good to see that Dom obviously has no regrets about his decision whatsoever and is clearly loving life back home among his community.

[leucopogon 1,518]

Thanks for posting. Wishing these guys all the best in their future.

[dazzledavey36 52,884]

Im glad Barry is now happy. Always liked him.

[Phadraig 760]

Barry is looking very solid!

[Pirlo 813]

Listen to what Patrick says and remember that the next time you feel inclined to say that Adam Goodes doesn't know what racism is.

[P-man 13,366]

Geeze, he's added some bulk.

Good on him. Hope everything pans out well.

[IvanBartul13 2,564]

Listen to what Patrick says and remember that the next time you feel inclined to say that Adam Goodes doesn't know what racism is.

Funny thing is there is a likelihood Goodes' would have struggled through school in Darwin, ostracised by the full bloods and obviously morally unable to to mesh with the white students

[KingDingAling 3,740]

Listen to what Patrick says and remember that the next time you feel inclined to say that Adam Goodes doesn't know what racism is.

I could feel his pain. Very touching. Unbelievable to think Patrick had to learn english, learn how to adapt to a different environment - and also be expected to play football at the highest level. To then have to deal with racism on top of that. No wonder Patrick walked away, it is just a game football. We (fans) often forget that.

[Outside fifty 967]

At the end of the day for some people AFL isn't the be all and end all. For these guys family and culture obviously comes first. Gotta respect that. Patrick's depiction of racist comments as being like a knife to the heart and the obvious hurt that he endured puts racism in perspective, something that should never to be tolerated. Enjoy your Footy boys

[DeeSpencer 24,785]

A selfish perspective no doubt but I still think it's a shame Barry couldn't reconnect with his family in the offseason then find a way to keep that bond whilst down in Melbourne and keep giving AFL a crack. Tambling especially and Patrick had a crack at it and eventually finished up their careers when they weren't up to it. I'm not saying Dom did the wrong thing I'm just saying he's still playing footy for NT Thunder. So that means he's travelling to Darwin, NSW or QLD every week to play in the NEAFL.

In a way both the thread title and video title are wrong from Barry's point of view. He didn't give up footy and it seems the elite AFL challenges weren't really the problem (although you wonder if the reports about him slacking in the preseason which were denied might've been true). The main issue seems he couldn't be involved in his community and play AFL football with geography probably the biggest challenge more than anything. If there was a team based in Alice he could probably do both, unfortunately there isn't.

[Redbeard 497]

For anyone interested channel NITV (sbs 4) have the Brisbane Vs NT Thunder game on now with Dom Barry playing. He's certainly a bit more solid now than when he played with us.

[Henrietta Lumbago 331]

Geeze, he's added some bulk.

Good on him. Hope everything pans out well.

Plenty of turtle meat up his way...Wonnaemirri says hello ...

[Moonshadow 17,554]

A selfish perspective no doubt but I still think it's a shame Barry couldn't reconnect with his family in the offseason then find a way to keep that bond whilst down in Melbourne and keep giving AFL a crack. Tambling especially and Patrick had a crack at it and eventually finished up their careers when they weren't up to it. I'm not saying Dom did the wrong thing I'm just saying he's still playing footy for NT Thunder. So that means he's travelling to Darwin, NSW or QLD every week to play in the NEAFL.

In a way both the thread title and video title are wrong from Barry's point of view. He didn't give up footy and it seems the elite AFL challenges weren't really the problem (although you wonder if the reports about him slacking in the preseason which were denied might've been true). The main issue seems he couldn't be involved in his community and play AFL football with geography probably the biggest challenge more than anything. If there was a team based in Alice he could probably do both, unfortunately there isn't.

I agree insofar as the 24/7 demands of an AFL career meant that Barry couldn't connect the way he wanted to with his culture, which proved to be more important to him. AFL would be far more demanding than his local NT comp and he couldn't get that connection being in Melbourne 44 weeks of the year.

It's a bit harsh saying Tambling wasn't up to AFL though, he played over 120 senior games and that's a successful career in anyone's book, regardless of his draft number.